Workshop Proceedings - AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety

Transportation Research Board Committee (TRB) on Transportation Safety
Management. The plan includes 22 key areas that affected highway safety. In the same
year the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG), convened a
statewide, interdisciplinary Elderly Mobility & Safety Task Force. This task force created
a “Final Plan of Action, Elderly Mobility and Safety – The Michigan Approach”, also
called the MI Senior Mobility Action Plan (MSMAP). This plan contains essential
guidelines for state agencies to promote older adult mobility and safety issues (MDOT,
2006). The objectives of MSMAP are: reduce number and crash severity for older
drivers and pedestrians; improve the effectiveness of alternative transportation; help
older adults maintain safe mobility as long as possible; help older adults plan in
advance for driving retirement (MI Department of Transportation, 2006b). Each of these
objectives translate into specific goals in six areas, including: (1) planning/
administration, by identifying a task force that can help older adults plan for driving
retirement; (2) research, by having reliable older driver mobility data; (3) education and
awareness, by improving safer older adult driving and understanding better the
relationship between mobility and health; (4) engineering countermeasures, by
enhancing roadways and the driving environment; (5) alternative transportation, by
improving older adults’ awareness, use, and availability of alternative transportation;
and (6) licensing goals, by supporting the development of effective screening tools,
providing information to the legal community, linking organization and resources, and
distributing educational material on older adult mobility options.
In 2002 the Michigan safety effort was reorganized, with the creation of the Governor’s
Traffic Safety Advisory Commission (GTSAC). Although the membership stayed the
same of the task force, their name was changed to “Senior Mobility Workgroup”
reflecting the advisory role to the GTSAC. Table 5.e presents information on this group,
its organization and function, as well as membership and resources. Main activities
organized by the task force included the 2004 National Conference on Elderly Mobility.
At this conference best practices were identified and shared. Forthcoming from this
conference and as part of the MDOT’s State Long Range Transportation Plan,
specifically the 2005 Highway Safety Program, highways were enhanced according to
the FHWA guidelines. This included design, construction, and placement of signs,
pavement markings, guard rails, traffic signals, and other safety improvements on the
state trunk line system (MDOT, 2007, p.1).
Summary: Why MI is considered a model state
MI has an accelerated driver license program in which licenses are renewed, for all age
groups, every four years; and an in-person renewal for those drivers who are
experiencing changes in medical or vision conditions since the previous renewal.
Additionally, an incentive system is in place (automobile insurers offering discounts) to
insured drivers 50 and older who participated in a traffic crash prevention course. The
MI Senior Mobility Action Plan has specific tasks to help prevent crash-related injuries
and deaths, to help older adults to maintain safe mobility for as long as possible, to
provide alternative transportation options and driving retirement strategies.
License Policies Workshop Proceedings-- 153