Advocare has been supporting the rights of older people for more than 25 years. We are excited to be partnering with the Road Safety Commission WA on a project called the ‘Wiser Driver Road Safety’ program (Wiser Driver). Catch up on the project’s progress.
Wiser Driver has now completed the first 2 stages of a 3-stage process. It has been an encouraging journey to date and satisfying to witness the level of participation from older road users.
Extensive consultation with drivers identified supports and services that will enable them to remain on the road longer while improving safety, confidence, and awareness. Discussions took place throughout the Perth metropolitan area along with visits to 12 places in various WA regions. Surveys, interviews, focus groups and presentations resulted in our engagement with more than 1,600 people and the facilitation of more than 80 individual interviews over engagements.
Emerging themes of the study
There is a strong desire for older people to remain independent within their community. For older drivers, further education in relation to refresher driver courses, information on road rules and tuition on vehicle technology. The next step will be to apply these insights to directly develop a pilot project to address these needs.
Drivers we spoke to shared some very useful observations and suggestions. One driver from Bibra Lake suggested that ‘road rule updates could be sent out with driver’s licence and vehicle registrations renewals.’ Amongst many drivers requesting refresher courses, a driver from Albany outlined that, ‘they need to be cost effective and the results should not impede our current licence.’
The objective of this project is to empower older adults to maintain their independence and make informed decisions about their mobility. These outcomes have established a strong foundation, with the project now ready to progress to a co-design phase. This next stage will collaboratively address identify issues, challenges, service barriers and unmet needs, enabling older adults to continue driving longer with greater confidence, safety and skill.
If you would like to find out more, contact project lead, Leanne on 0427 379 166.
