Old Mobiles

America has never been grayer, or more active. How are car companies designing for our aging population?

- Michael A. Clinton

Imagine the day when your car recognizes early signs of dementia or hypertension. Or when vehicle sensors can detect heart anomalies. It's not such a far-fetched idea, according to John Lenneman, PhD, a scientist who works on an initiative called My Car the Doctor, a joint effort between Toyota's Collaborative Safety Research Center and the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

While these technologies will not create a diagnosis, they can gather data to send to your digital wearables, capturing information through sensors, cameras, and more, as well as monitor driving behavior for abnormalities in pedal use or speed control.

Such innovations are likely to become more common and take on particular significance as the world is aging at dramatic rates. It is projected that one in five Americans will be 65 or older by 2030, and the number of 100-year-olds should grow from 90,000 today to at least 3 million by 2100. The new longevity will affect many aspects of the driving experience.

In the book The Super Age, author Bradley Schurman points out that in 2018, there were more than 45 million licensed drivers age 65 and older in the U.S., a 60 percent increase since 2000. That number will continue to grow, and more people will be driving longer.