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.

Brazil Must Fight Antibiotic Resistance

The threat posed by antimicrobial resistance is urgent and spares no country - including Brazil. According to The Lancet, 63 deaths per 100,000 are associated with AMR in Brazil and Paraguay, a rate that exceeds the average for Latin America and the Caribbean. AMR-associated deaths in Brazil are second only to cardiovascular diseases and cancers.

We Missed 100 Million Adult Vaccines – Here’s How We Get Back on Track

Like other pandemics throughout human history, COVID-19 has caused profound changes that are still rippling through our societies, even as people are understandably eager to move on. In fact, these impacts are all the more dangerous when they are largely ignored or effectively invisible. The decline in adult vaccination may be one of the most significant, as a new report finds that ~100 million doses were missed in 2021 and 2022 alone – reversing global progress towards widespread adult immunisation as a new standard of care in a world of more old than young.

New Analysis Shows Lost Ground on Adult Immunisation During the Pandemic with 100 Million Doses Potentially Missed

New data shared today by GSK, in collaboration with the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science and the Global Coalition on Aging (GCOA), estimate approximately 100 million fewer doses of some adult vaccines (excluding Covid-19 vaccines) were administered in 2021 and 2022 than anticipated, based on the global vaccination adoption trends observed from 2013 to 2020, compounding already low adoption rates pre-pandemic.

Going Beyond Applause: The Potential of Caregiving to Unlock Job Opportunities of the Future

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the role of caregivers – staff and family who provide care for older and dependent people to carry out activities such as eating or moving - catapulted to the front of our collective conscience. The daily applause for front-line care workers showed a high level of recognition for their incredible work and provided insight into how our health systems must change as our society ages. We need to continue to recognise caregivers as essential to our ageing society.

High-Level Forum on the Silver Economy 2023

Join us for the High-Level Forum on the Silver Economy 2023. Now in its fourth year, the Silver Economy Forum 2023, December 6 and 7, will explore aging at every stage of life, looking at the growing global Silver Economy through a multigenerational lens. Linking to the goals and aspirations of the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing, SEF 2023 will highlight key themes at the intersection of aging at every age, and the Silver Economy.

Global Coalition on Aging Workshop Calls on G7 Countries to Fund Pull Incentives to Spur Antibiotic Innovation

The Global Coalition on Aging, in partnership with JPMA, today announced the release of its workshop report on the AMR crisis facing G7 countries and the world, “The Value of Pull Incentives in Japan to Encourage Investment in Antibiotic Innovation to Solve the AMR Crisis.” If strong action is not taken to address AMR, we will lose the antibiotics we need to cure infections, which is likely to outpace cancer as a major cause of death, killing an estimated 10 million by 2050.