2021 Volume 41 Pages 334-343
Purpose: This study focuses on older adults who voluntarily surrendered their driver’s license, and clarifies why they surrendered their driver’s license, how their frequency and manner of leaving home changed, how their health condition changed, how they perceived those changes.
Methods: A semi-structured interview was conducted with 13 former drivers living in areas with limited public transportation options and the results were analyzed qualitatively and descriptively.
Results: The subjects surrendered their driver’s license due to the following three reasons: dementia/cognitive decline, physical decline, and accident prevention. While alternative means for grocery shopping and medical appointments were secured by subjects following the surrender, some of them were not able to find alternative transportation for farming, entertainment and friends. Some of them accepted and were satisfied with their life without a car, while others experienced a decline in their physical functions or became housebound because they could no longer go out as they used to before the license surrender.
Conclusion: As a solution, it is necessary to introduce a limited conditional license as a means of transportation for farming. It is also necessary to examine the nature of mobility support services from the perspective of strengthening community resilience.
