Body of texts

The final body of texts consisted of 24 information brochures. The included information brochures varied with regard to their format and length. Of the 24 texts included, nine texts were categorized as a booklet, four as a pamphlet, two as a leaflet, four as an information sheet, three as a worksheet, and two as a self-assessment sheet. Booklets consisted of multiple sheets, had page numbers, and were stapled in the middle. Their number of pages ranged between 8 and 28 pages, with an average length of 19 pages. Except one, all booklets included images. Five booklets were letter size; four were of half letter size. Pamphlets and leaflets consisted out of a single sheet of paper, printed on both sides and folded several times. Pamphlets had a least eight panels; the two leaflets had less. Pamphlets and leaflets came in an upright up-long format. One leaflet was of smaller size and foldable into pocket size. Information sheets, worksheets and self-assessment sheets consisted of single paper, letter-sized sheets. They were categorized with regard to their main purpose; the four information sheets provided mainly printed text, the three worksheets were to be filled out, with two of them already termed as ‘worksheet’ in their title, and the two self-assessment sheets provided a ‘tool’ to self-evaluate one’s driving. The information brochures included were produced by an Automobile Association (Alberta Motor Association, AMA ; American Automobile Association, AAA; British Columbia Automobile Association, BCAA; Canadian Automobile Association, CAA), by an Association of Health Care Professionals (American Association of Occupational Therapists, AOTA; Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists, CAOT), by a

provincial ministry of transportation (Ministry of Transportation Ontario, MTO), by governmental insurance companies (Saskatchewan Government Insurance, SGI; Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec, SAAQ), a senior organization (American

Association of Retired Person, AARP; Canada's Association for the Fifty-Plus, CARP) and a private insurance (The Hartford). One text was a joint project of an automobile, senior, and health care professionals association. Out of the analyzed brochures, 22 texts primarily targeted aging drivers, while two texts targeted primarily significant others of aging drivers, such as family members, partners, and friends. However, the later two texts implicitly addressed significant others as future aging drivers as well, and some of the texts for aging drivers included text sequences that addressed their significant others. A detailed overview of the 24 information brochures is provided in Appendix D.

Many texts included images, such as those illustrated in Figure 3. These images, which encompassed photos, or cartoon-like, humorous or sketchy drawings, shared many similarities. For instance, one text’s title page, reproduced in Figure 3, displays five images on its title page, which are typical of the types of images frequently found in the overall body of texts:

More specifically, images in the information brochures often encompassed one or more of:

1. an image of a medical scene, object or symbol, such as a medical exam, pill containers, or a stethoscope (in Figure 3 an older women getting an eye exam); 2. an image of a driving scene, often a potentially dangerous one, such as a cluttered

traffic scene, a busy intersection, or a night scene (in Figure 3 an older women stopping her car at a crosswalk for a younger women crossing and pushing a toddler in a stroller, dangerously close to the vehicle grill)

3. an image of individuals positioned close toeach other, implying a caring and loving relationship, such as images of couples and families, standing close to each other, resting the arm on another individual’s shoulder, or one individual looking at another (in Figure 3 an older couple standing close to each other);

4. an image showing or signifying an active and healthy lifestyle, such as an aging individual riding a bike, engaging in exercising, gardening, or holding an apple (in Figure 3 an older man energetically walking, carrying a bag of groceries with healthy food lurking out);

5. an image emphasizing an individual as a driver, such as a person holding a key, behind the wheel, or standing in front of car, or an image taken from the inside of a car to the outside, positioning the reader within the car and as the driver (in Figure 3: a steering wheel from the reader’s perspective);

6. an image showing or signifying transportation other than driving, such as a shuttle-bus, a bus pass, metro ticket, gifts (in Figure 3 an older man walking, assumedly buying groceries without using a car); and sometimes,

7. an educational or symbolic image, such as a ‘driving safety cycle’, a vehicle with all suggested safety features, a pencil next to a space for notes, or a traffic stop sign or green traffic light (not represented in Figure 3).

In addition, almost all texts provided ‘resources’ at the end, such as contact addresses, telephone numbers, or websites where ‘more information’ could be found. In this text sequence, organizations frequently referred to each other. For instance, a brochure by an association of health care professionals referred to an automobile association and

governmental agencies for more information, while in turn, a brochure by an automobile association referred to the association of health care professionals.

Intertextuality between the analyzed texts was strong and ‘intertextual chains’ (Fairclough, 1995; J. E. Richardson, 2007) could be identified. That is, some texts integrated or adapted pieces from other texts, often as a one-to-one quotation, though without referencing the other text or marking the quotation as such. Moreover, while a genealogy of the texts was not the focus of this study, which seeks to offer a ‘snapshot’ of how the aging driver is constructed at a particular point in time, many texts or smaller text parts (such as specific ‘warning signs’ for unsafe driving) could be traced back to two key texts. These key texts were identified as the “The Older and Wiser Driver” (n. D.) and the “Drivers 55 Plus: Check Your Own Performance” (1994) booklet, both published by the American Automobile Association’s Foundation for Traffic Safety. Some texts drew upon these texts directly, others indirectly (i.e., drawing upon a text, that itself drew upon the original). For instance, the “Older and Wiser Driver” booklet by the Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI, 2008) acknowledges the booklet as “a

collaborative effort” (D, p.x1) and thanks the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and the Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) for permission to adapt their publications. These

publications, with an identical title (“The Older and Wiser Driver”), were reworked and adapted in producing the SGI’s booklet. For instance, the newer SGI’s “Older and Wiser Driver” (2008) altered the introduction of the original texts by adding a new text

sequence about driving as a privilege and not a right, referred to drivers in the province of Saskatchewan, lowered age markers for the onset of age-related changes affecting driving ability from 55 to 50, and pointed to ‘public safety’ much more strongly.

Beside acknowledgements, in which the editorial, intellectual, or financial contributions of other organizations were mentioned, some texts also included ‘disclaimers’. Typically placed in small print at the bottom of the last page, the following text sequences illustrate two examples of such ‘disclaimers’:

The information in this pamphlet is intended for educational purposes only. It does not and should not replace the advice or treatment from a health care

professional. Never disregard professional health care advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read in this pamphlet” (G, p.5, emphasis added).

This assessment is intended to provide general information only. It is not intended to provide legal or professional advice or to be relied on in a dispute, claim, action, demand or proceeding. BCAA Traffic Safety Foundation, Vancouver Foundation, Victoria Foundation and the Government of British Columbia do not accept liability for any damage or injury resulting from the assessment procedure or information in this publication” (O, p.2, emphasis added).

While disclaimers, as the above, commonly set the boundaries of rights, responsibilities, and liabilities that might come out of the information provided, they are, from the discursive perspective taken in this study, an interesting finding. As I will illustrate later (see Chapter 5, Findings 1), the analyzed texts clearly claim to provide high-quality, authorative knowledge and called upon aging drivers in imperative ways to act upon this knowledge and to engage in very specific actions. Therefore, it seemed – at first glance - odd to me as a reader to find the information, previously claimed as exclusively ‘true’ and authorative, sometimes ‘dis’claimed as ‘general information only’ in the a text’s fine- print. However, shifting the legal responsibility for individual actions following this information fully towards the subject fits the overall individualization of responsibility occurring in the texts.