How the Driverless Car Could Transform Older Adults’ Lives

The dawn of the driverless car promises a transportation revolution. Advocates claim this will change lives as radically as the Internet changed communication. But there are speed bumps ahead. Whether the growing population of older adults will fully realize the benefits remains a question subject to many moving parts.

With populations aging across the world and 10,000 U.S. baby boomers turning 65 every day, maximizing the potential of driverless technology for older adults should be an obvious priority.

There could be no more uncomfortable conversations about taking the keys away from aging parents suffering from vision, memory or physical challenges. With the majority of older adults seeking to age in place and remain independent and self-sufficient as long as possible, the loss of a driver’s license wouldn’t mean the end of mobility and a contracting life. Disconnected retirees could reconnect. New opportunities for work and volunteer activities could flourish. Access to health providers could improve.

And the benefits could spread. With reduced dependency, caregiving family members could have more freedom to attend to life’s other demands. Young people could profit from more intergenerational engagement.

It all sounds wonderful. We just have to make sure we get from here to there.

One potential roadblock: Although aging baby boomers are more technology friendly than their silent generation forebears, older adults have generally been later adopters of technologies than their younger counterparts. What’s more, wealthier and more educated individuals are more positive about the benefits of technology than those less affluent, according to Pew Research Center.

This could mean that the older adults who might benefit most from driverless cars, including a large number dealing with isolation, financial stress and health challenges, may be left on the side of the road.

The message? Planners must act now to ensure a successful transition to driverless cars for all.

Mobile phones, call devices and apps must be re-imagined to engage users and to overcome resistance and the physical challenges of aging. Age-friendly homes, sidewalks, streets and communities must optimize the utility of driverless cars. Passengers must comfortably and safely get from the front door to their vehicle and from their vehicle to their ultimate destination.

Realizing the opportunities also requires social innovations to match this potentially transformational technology.

With the additional mobility, older adults will have a chance to become involved in their communities in new ways. Many will want to pursue work and volunteer opportunities and they’ll need public and private institutions to recognize their potential for productivity. With universities and colleges in easier reach, they’ll need welcoming environments where they can enhance their skills and knowledge. With freedom to move, they’ll want shopping, dining and cultural venues that are attuned to their tastes and sensitive to their needs. They’ll require help to become technologically literate–to know the questions to ask and the resources available to navigate a changing environment.

The driverless revolution must be about more than innovative technology; it must be about change at a system-level. By planning with the aging population in mind, re-envisioning communities, and shifting attitudes about the value of older adults, we’ll ensure that driverless cars put people of all ages on the road to a better future.

Paul Irving is chairman of the Center for the Future of Aging at the Milken Institute and distinguished scholar in residence at the University of Southern California Davis School of Gerontology.

Source: Wall Street Journal

Latest Developments

We keep our members and partners in touch with the most recent updates and opinions in the worldwide dialogue on population longevity and related issues.

What Old Age Might Be Like for Today’s 30-Year-Olds

Get ready for a new old age. With the U.S. fertility rate in a decadelong slump and the life expectancy of 65-year-old Americans approaching roughly 85, our aging nation is likely to grow older by midcentury, as the ratio of young to old continues to decline. The trend is likely to upend how our society is organized, making life very different for today’s 30-year-olds when they reach their 60s compared with life for 60-year-olds now.

World Population Reaches 8bn As It Grows Older

The world’s population reached 8bn people on Tuesday and will hit 9bn in 15 years as it experiences an unprecedented surge in the number of older people, according to the latest UN data. The global fertility rate has more than halved since the 1950s to 2.3 births per woman. With mortality also falling, the number of people aged 65 and over is expected to rise from 783mn in 2022 to 1bn by 2030 and reach 1.4bn by 2043, the UN population data revealed.

Global Coalition on Aging (GCOA) Launches Cross-Sector Alliance Committed to Health Innovation at High-Level Forum on The Silver Economy

Today, the Global Coalition on Aging (GCOA), along with cross-sector stakeholders representing patient advocacy, policy, industry, and academic communities, announced the launch of the Alliance for Health Innovation at the High-Level Forum on the Silver Economy in New York. The Alliance is dedicated to establishing the importance of innovation in achieving healthy aging and health equity through investments, policy reforms, and strategic partnerships.

Japan Must Face Up to Growing Danger of Drug-resistant Germs

In the wake of more than 6.4 million COVID-19 deaths worldwide and unprecedented economic destruction, the global community has no excuse to be caught unprepared for the next pandemic. Yet right now, a devastating parallel plague is already underway and worsening. Some years, it is killing well over 1 million people, according to medical journal The Lancet.

A Bipartisan Bill Could Prevent The Next Pandemic

In Washington, Republicans and Democrats are typically at loggerheads when it comes to healthcare policy. Just consider the recent Inflation Reduction Act, which made extensive changes to Medicare and also extended Affordable Care Act subsidies. Every single congressional Democrat voted for the legislation, while every single member of the GOP voted against it. But occasionally, a bill is such an obviously good idea, and so desperately needed, that it commands significant bipartisan support. The PASTEUR Act, co-sponsored by 31 Democrats and 31 Republicans in the House and two members of each party in the Senate, is just such a bill.

Korea Must Act Now to Combat Growing AMR Threat

Public officials are overlooking one of the gravest long-term threats to the Korean people, the health system, and economy: antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Some pathogens ― bacteria, fungi, parasites, and viruses ― have evolved strains that resist the antimicrobial medications we currently have available to fight them. Health care professionals often must watch helplessly as patients succumb to infections that antibiotics could once have easily beaten. They know that new antimicrobials, including and especially antibiotics, could easily gain the victory ― but they have none at their disposal.

Policy Statement on the Impact of Price Negotiations on Innovation, Healthy Aging and Equity

As the CEO of the Global Coalition on Aging (GCOA) and a newly formed cross-sector Alliance for Health Innovation, we write to express our deep concern with the current legislation that allows for price “negotiations” in Medicare – a thinly veiled signal for America’s plunge into price controls that will have a devastating and adverse impact on biopharmaceutical innovation and our nations’ ability to support healthy aging.