Older Driver Safety Awareness Week
OT's role in driver safety
Older Driver Safety Awareness Week (ODSAW), held during the first week of December each year, promotes awareness of the breadth of resources available for older drivers and their families. Occupational therapy practitioners (OTPs) must focus on the response to aging or medical changes that impact older drivers. During this week, we encourage OTPs’ confident participation in this important discussion. View OT’s Role in Driver Safety & Community Mobility
Promote ODSAW
Looking for ways to spread the word about older driver safety? Access our social media toolkit with ready-to-share social posts & graphics. Don’t forget to use the hashtag #ODSAW24 and tag us in your posts!
Driving and community mobility resources
Each day is a new opportunity to educate, empower, and guide older drivers and their families to plan for their safe transportation and to embrace the value of the occupation of driving and community mobility as essential to staying engaged in the community. Below are select driving and community mobility resources.
When occupational therapy practitioners (OTPs) look beyond the front door and consider the instrumental activity of daily living (IADL) of driving, an understandable hesitancy is, "what can I say to my clients to ease their concerns?" When your older clients face their fears and ask about driving, we need to be able to respond proactively by offering resources and options.
Partner & stakeholder resources
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA): Older Driver Safety
- Clearinghouse for Older Road User Safety: RoadSafeSeniors.org
- AARP: Driver Safety
- AAA: Senior Driver Safety & Mobility
- American Geriatrics Society (AGS): The Clinician's Guide to Assessing and Counseling Older Drivers
- The Association for Driver Rehabilitation Specialists: Driver Rehabilitation Education
- National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association: auto mobility resources
- More resources