Auto Club Developing Senior Driver Strategy
20 July 1999
Auto Club Developing Senior Driver Strategy
LOS ANGELES--July 19, 1999--The rate of fatal and injury collisions involving drivers over the age of 80 is nearly double every age group except teenagers, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California.With the number of elderly drivers expected to jump dramatically over the next 20 years as the baby boomers age, the Auto Club is developing a Senior Driver strategy to help elderly drivers avoid becoming crash statistics. Focus groups were held recently with senior drivers and their children as a first step toward creation of the strategy.
"Senior drivers in our focus groups said they want larger street signs, warning systems on cars that will tell them when they are too close to something when backing up, better enforcement of speed limits and red lights and more driving information and education," said Arline Dillman, Auto Club traffic safety manager.
The Auto Club is co-sponsoring a forum on "The Older Adult and Transportation: The New Millennium," Thursday, July 22nd at the Edward R. Roybal Institute for Applied Gerontology at California State University, Los Angeles. Dillman will discuss focus group results at 1 p.m. in room C 120 at Salazar Hall, which houses the Roybal Institute.
"Senior drivers strongly value the independence of driving," said Dillman. "And they do tend to limit their driving to safer conditions as they grow older. They may eliminate rush-hour driving, driving at night or taking the freeways. At the same time, many seniors are not aware that their driving abilities have deteriorated, or that certain medications can worsen their driving skills."
Children of senior drivers report that their parents have problems with judging distances, reading maps, and following directions, according to Dillman. They also feel their parents have slower reaction times, drive at slow or inconsistent speeds, have hearing problems and problems with left turns and merging.
"Children of senior drivers are reluctant to discuss driving problems with their parents because it's an emotional issue," said Dillman. "They want someone else, such as an outside agency, to handle the discussion or have the Department of Motor Vehicles evaluate the driving skills of seniors."
In 1995, DMV statistics showed that teenagers aged 16 to 19 had four fatal or injury collisions for every one million miles driven. The statistics were identical for drivers 80 to 84 and higher for drivers over the age of 84. The increased frailty of drivers over 80 is a contributing factor to their deaths in crashes, according to Dillman.
"The Auto Club already has programs serving older motorists, including a Mature Driver class that has been taken by more than 30,000 of our members since it began in 1989," said Dillman. "As the baby boomer generation approaches retirement, the state and the nation will need a strategy to ensure safety for older motorists and those sharing the road with them."
Dillman noted that drivers 65 and older will make up nearly 17% of California drivers in 2025 compared with 10% in 1985.
Thursday's forum is an effort toward developing a comprehensive strategy on the senior driver issue. Participants, in addition to the Auto Club, include the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Roybal Institute, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, and the California Office of Traffic Safety.
The Automobile Club of Southern California, the largest affiliate of the AAA, has been serving members since 1900. Today, the Auto Club's members benefit by the organization's emergency road service, insurance products and services, travel agency, financial products, automotive pricing, buying and financing programs, automotive testing and analysis, trip planning services, highway and transportation safety programs and legislative advocacy. Information about these products and services is available on the Auto Club's Web site at www.aaa-calif.com.