Survey of older drivers' experiences with Florida's mandatory vision re-screening law for licensure.
OBJECTIVE
To document the license renewal experiences of Florida drivers ages 80 and older who must pass a visual acuity test when renewing their driver's license.


METHODS
Study participants (n = 1,242 drivers) were contacted via telephone and completed a survey regarding their experiences with the license renewal process.


RESULTS
The majority (80.2%) of those eligible for license renewal reportedly attempted to do so and 88.0% succeeded the first time they tried. A large percentage of drivers (88%) who failed the vision test said they sought treatment, and 77.6% of drivers who reattempted renewal reportedly passed the test. About half of drivers who did not seek renewal said they thought they would fail the vision test. The majority of those choosing not to renew their license (99.5%) reported using transportation alternatives.


CONCLUSIONS
This study suggests that the Florida vision screening re-licensure law is not a deterrent to seeking license renewal for the > or = 80-year-old population. Furthermore, only a small percentage of Florida drivers ages > or = 80 years and older reported that they failed the visual acuity screening test and were denied license renewal.
McGwin
Gerald
G
Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294-0009, USA. mcgwin@uab.edu
McCartt
Anne T
AT
Braitman
Keli A
KA
Owsley
Cynthia
C
D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000367:Age Factors; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001333:Automobile Driver Examination / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D005260:Female; D005431:Florida; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015351:Vision Screening / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D015354:Vision, Low / Q000175:diagnosis; D014792:Visual Acuity