[Traffic accidents of senior citizen car drivers]

The number of accidents caused by older car drivers increases annually in Germany. Typical errors of older drivers concern the right of way, changes of direction and conflicts with pedestrians at cross walks. These errors are attributed to deficient information gathering and processing caused by old age and illness. In many cases these deficiencies can be countered by appropriate strategies of compensation. The physician's task is to advise the older patient whose obligation it is to check his own ability to drive. In certain cases the physician's task is also to report to the traffic authorities on the patient's ability to drive a car. The physician is aided in this task by the "Guidelines Concerning Disease and Motorized Traffic" published by the German Transport Ministry.