[Car driving, cognitive aging and Alzheimer disease]

Older drivers are more numerous on the roads. They are expert drivers, but with increasing age certain physiological changes can interfere with driving, which is a complex activity of daily living. Older drivers are involved in fewer accidents than younger drivers, but they have a higher accident rate per kilometer driven. The elderly are heavily represented in the balance sheet of road deaths, being motorists or pedestrians. This high mortality is largely explained by their physical frailty. In the presence of deficits, self-regulation of driving habits, changes/reductions or stopping in driving activity occur in the elderly. But cognitive deficits are associated with an increased risk of accidents. Among drivers with Alzheimer's disease, there is a heterogeneity of driving ability, making difficult the advisory role of a physician for driving. A protocol for physicians was developed to assess cognitive impairments that may affect driving in an elderly patient. The car plays an important role in the autonomy of the elderly and patient advice on stopping driving should take into account the risk/benefit ratio.