Introduction
Did you know that glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness in the United States? In its simplest terms, glaucoma is a disease that damages your eye’s optic nerve. Glaucoma is the source of several different vision problems, including (but not limited to) the loss of contrast sensitivity, problems with glare, and blurred vision.
The purpose of this article is to provide a very cursory understanding of how glaucoma can have an adverse effect on one’s safe driving abilities.
What is Glaucoma?
Glaucoma is caused by the build-up of extra fluid pressure in your eyes. This causes damage to the optic nerve that can lead to gradual visual declines, up to a complete loss of sight. Often, your peripheral (or side) vision is affected first. Eventually, your central (or direct) vision will also begin to diminish. It is estimated that over 3 million Americans are living with glaucoma.
Deborah Kogler, president of the nationally recognized Magnifiers & More, explains that “Without treatment, people with glaucoma will slowly lose their peripheral vision. The peripheral vision loss can cause a person to miss objects, cars, and people to the sides and out of the corner of their eyes. The individual may complain feeling as if they are looking through a tunnel.”
How does glaucoma affect safe driving?
According to a 2015 study by the University of Alabama’s Department of Ophthalmology, (Birmingham), drivers over the age of 70 with glaucoma had a 1.65 times higher accident rate than those without glaucoma. That’s pretty significant! Glaucoma can affect your safe driving abilities in many ways, two critical areas are by constricting your peripheral vision and by limiting your ability to quickly adjust to the glare from any number of light sources.
Peripheral (or side) vision is necessary to detect information from the sides that is critical for safe driving. Your peripheral vision is needed to see road signs, hazards, and changes in the flow of traffic.
An impaired ability to recover from glare can result in the driver being blinded by a glare source and consequently missing curves or jogs in the road, striking pedestrians or objects in the roadway, and/or crashing into the back of slow-moving, disabled or stopped vehicles. This glare most often originates from the headlights of oncoming vehicles or even from the sun.
What can I do?
The National Eye Institute reports that there is no cure for glaucoma, and vision lost from the disease cannot be restored. Early detection and immediate treatment can delay progression of the disease. Although nerve damage and visual loss from glaucoma cannot be corrected, the good news is that progression of the disease can oftentimes be controlled.
The loss of vision from glaucoma can prevent a driver from seeing other vehicles or hazards on the road and will limit their ability to drive safely. The good news is that just because you’ve been diagnosed with glaucoma does not mean that you have to retire from driving; your risk for being involved in a future traffic accident depends largely on the extent the disease has affected your vision.
Diagnosis and early detection are the first steps in preserving your vision. The American Academy of Ophthalmology recommends that adults age 65 and older have a complete eye exam (including tests for glaucoma!) at least every twelve months. Doing so will help keep your eyes healthy, will help in the early detection of vision disorders and by association, will help extend your safe driving career.
So please…get your next eye examination scheduled today!
Matt Gurwell is the developer of the nationally-recognized “Beyond Driving with Dignity” program. He currently lectures throughout the United States on topics related to the aging process and its adverse affects on driving skills. As developer of this life-saving program, Matt’s mission is to provide strategies and guidance to seniors that will help them to continue driving safely until the decision is made to retire from their driving career. The “Beyond Driving with Dignity” program also provides an excellent array of services and resources for both families and professionals as they deal with this very sensitive issue. Matt retired from a very distinguished and successful 24-year career as an Assistant District Commander with the Ohio State Highway Patrol. After leaving the Patrol, Matt has participated in a tremendous amount of work in the area of older driver research, best practices, current vehicle safety technologies, and adaptive equipment. Matt's creative, innovative and common sense approach, combined with his uncanny ability to bring calm and resolve to stressful situations without ever jeopardizing the dignity of others, has contributed greatly to the success of the “Beyond Driving with Dignity” program. When asked what the ultimate motivation was for starting the program, Matt explains: "There was never one particular event. It was the result of 20-plus years of holding dying people in my arms at terrible car accidents, and delivering dozens and dozens of death notifications to families. I would much rather work with families to bring a peaceful resolve to this sensitive and uncomfortable issue now, rather than have them deal with it when a State Trooper is knocking on their front door". Matt serves as Senior Care Authority’s Program Director for the “Beyond Driving with Dignity” program. Senior Care Authority (https://www.seniorcareauthority.com) is now the nation’s exclusive provider of the “Beyond Driving with Dignity” program.
Comments for this article are closed.