WASHINGTON -- Families worried about an older member still driving can look to a large Canadian study that suggests doctors may have greater influence on a person's decision to give up the keys.
The study found that when doctors warn patients, and tell driving authorities that the older folks may be medically unfit to drive, there's a drop in serious crash injuries among those drivers.
Unlike in most of the U.S., doctors in much of Canada are supposed to report patients with certain health conditions to licensing authorities.
In the U.S., families are on their own with a difficult and sometimes scary prospect.
By one U.S. estimate, about 600,000 older drivers a year quit because of health conditions. But given the lack of transportation options in much of the country, quitting too soon can be detrimental.
The study is in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.
The Associated Press