Edmunds.com -- It's called the "silver tsunami": a huge wave of aging baby boomers that will build to its peak as that demographic enters its geriatric years. The 70-plus crowd is projected to increase from 30.1 million in 2013 to 53.7 million by 2030, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), citing U.S. Census Bureau data.

This means there will be more aging drivers on U.S. roads in the coming years, continuing a trend that's been building for more than a decade. The IIHS estimated that the number of licensed drivers 70 years old and older jumped 30 percent between 1997 and 2012. Older drivers have also been traveling more miles. From 1996-2008, average yearly mileage for drivers 70 and older rose by 42 percent.

The IIHS notes that fewer people in their 70s are licensed to drive than are drivers between ages 20 and 69. And motorists in their 70s also log fewer miles than younger ones. But boomers are nevertheless keeping their licenses longer than previous generations and make up a bigger proportion of the driving population than in past years.

Help for Boomers Behind the Wheel
From music to medical care, baby boomers have exerted enormous influence on society and they will likely rewrite the rules of what it means to age and drive, too. But boomer drivers can't escape the toll that aging can take. AAA points out that nearly 90 percent of motorists age 65 and older suffer from health issues that may affect driver safety.

At the same time, however, mobility is important to mental health. For many aging people, driving is synonymous with independence.

"Helping seniors remain mobile with new technologies and a good car fit is important for quality of life," says AAA spokesman Michael Green. "Older Americans who have stopped driving are almost two times more likely to suffer from depression and nearly five times as likely to enter a long-term care facility compared to those who remain behind the wheel."

Fortunately, the technology that makes cars safer for everyone is arriving just in time to be particularly useful for aging motorists. Groups such as AAA and AARP offer resources that can help older drivers understand new technology and pick a vehicle that's best suited to their age and abilities.

"Older drivers should consider choosing vehicles that best meet their needs in order to improve safety and comfort behind the wheel," adds Green. 

Read the rest of the story here: http://www.edmunds.com/car-technology/car-technology-that-helps-older-drivers.html

Forbes -- Automakers are introducing new, high-tech features considerably faster than many drivers can learn how to use them or even fully understand what they do, according to a couple of recent studies.

But even older consumers see the value in some of the newer features, especially blind-spot warning systems and back-up cameras, according to research from The Hartford insurance company and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Age Lab.

Nearly all of the respondents in a Hartford/MIT study of drivers ages 50 to 69 said they would be willing to buy a car with at least one of the seven auto technologies in the study: back-up cameras, blind-spot warning systems, collision avoidance systems, lane departure warning systems, smart headlights, parking assistance and adaptive cruise control.

That list is in order of preference, in terms of being linked to safety. Back-up cameras, blind-spot warning systems and collision avoidance were the highest rated.

Collision avoidance systems can bring a car to a complete halt if sensors detect the distance to the car ahead is shrinking too fast, and if the driver either ignores a warning alarm or doesn’t brake hard enough. “Smart” headlights turn the beams in tandem with the steering wheel.

Parking assistance, used in parallel parking only, measures the size of a parking place and moves the steering wheel to direct the car into a space. The driver has to apply the brake and shift when needed.

Read the rest of the story here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jimhenry/2015/11/28/older-drivers-are-ok-with-tech-features-if-they-improve-safety/?mc_cid=78f79c9d41&mc_eid=4c2ab888bb