Evaluate Your Driving Ability

Every time you get behind the wheel of a car, you must decide how to react to other vehicles and drivers, traffic signs and signals, highway conditions and your vehicle’s performance – and often take quick action. Would you like to know your driving performance?

Drivers 65 Plus is a brochure that features a 15-question self-rating driving assessment exercise designed to help you examine your driving performance. After answering the questions, follow the instructions to calculate your score and get information about your driving performance. The driving assessment will list your strengths and weaknesses, along with suggestions for how to improve your driving.

Because you want to be a safe driver as long as possible, consider getting a professional driving assessment. Your driving performance should be assessed regularly. Not only can this help you recognize and correct possible shortcomings, it also can result in a specialized drivers’ training plan to help you continue driving safely. Think about getting a professional driving assessment the same way you look at visiting your doctor for annual wellness checkups – as a smart way to identify and manage any physical or mental changes.

Professional driving assessments generally fall into two categories: driving skills evaluations and clinical driving assessments . A driving skill evaluation includes an in-car evaluation of your driving abilities and a recommendation regarding any further specialized drivers’ training. Clinical driving assessments are used to identify underlying medical causes of any driving performance deficits and offer ways to address them, so driving remains a safe option.

Consider getting a comprehensive driving skills evaluation or clinical driving assessment if:

Conducted by state-licensed and trained driving instructors, in-car driving skills evaluations can provide a relatively quick and inexpensive checkup. Results may:

Clinical assessments by trained specialists are the best way to learn the true level and cause of a decline in driving health. In some cases, getting a clinical driving assessment can help you to decide if you should continue to drive and if so, under which conditions. Results may:

If you are interested in getting a professional driving assessment, it’s important to understand the options. Two major types of trained professionals can provide skills evaluations or clinical driving assessments: driving skills evaluators and occupational therapist driving rehabilitation specialists . The services provided by each may seem very similar, but they are distinctly different.

Clinical driving assessments are best if you have a broad spectrum of physical and cognitive disabilities, including dementia, stroke, arthritis, low vision, learning disabilities, limb amputations, neuromuscular disorders, spinal cord injuries, mental health problems, cardiovascular diseases and other causes of functional deficits.

Components of a clinical driving assessment

Cost

To get a clinical driving assessment The American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) provides a nationwide database of driving programs and specialists. If you cannot find a resource here, contact your local rehabilitation hospital’s occupational therapy department for assistance.

Source: American Occupational Therapy Association and the Physician’s Guide to Assessing and Counseling Older Drivers

Evaluations are best if you are concerned that your driving skills may have diminished; were recommended to take a driving skills evaluation by a physician, occupational therapist or family member; or may benefit from supplemental in-car training.

Components of a driving skills evaluation