AARP program targets safer senior drivers

The numbers aren’t good when it comes to senior drivers, and the AARP is doing their best to change that, especially in Roosevelt and Curry County.

Safe Driver classes are usually held near the end of the month on a Tuesday and Wednesday morning, and the next class in Portales will be Aug. 19-20 at the community services center, the senior meal site.

According to the AARP Web site, the driver safety program is the nation’s first and largest refresher course for drivers 50 years and older. The course has been in existence since 1979.

The program claims to have graduated more than  9 million seniors since its inception.

“It’s devoted towards having people aware of the knowledge that their faculties are diminishing,” said program coordinator George Lees.

Lees has been helping Clovis and Portales senior drivers for several years and said that as people age, all of the critical senses for driving (vision, hearing, reaction time) fade.

“In recognition of that, we’ve set forth in the program ways to compensate for that,”  Lees said. “(Like) taking more time, being more realistic about driving and not chit-chatting while you’re driving.

Mike Kelly, the state-wide coordinator of the program, agrees. He says the margin of error for seniors is much smaller than everybody else.
“It’s extremely important in the sense that a lot of times older drivers fall into the same bad habits as younger drivers, but our seniors have reduced reaction time,” he said.

The program is also likely to cut insurance premiums. According to the AARP, a typical savings on car insurance could be $25 or more.

The eight-hour class consists of two four-hour segments, usually Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 8 a.m. to noon with a couple of breaks.

“For those people that can stay awake,” Lees quipped, “There’s no final exam and no testing.”

Lees also explained that upon completion of the class, students earn a certificate that entitles them to a discount on their liability auto insurance for a period of three years.”

One part of the class, Lees said, deals with seniors staying off the road all-together.

“That is the final chapter (of the class),” Lees said. “The assignment at the end of the first day is to turn to page 100 and it asks people to think in terms of what can they do about being mobile without driving.  What are the resources available in their community.”

Lees said seniors should think about alternatives to driving themselves, such as family or friends, or public transportation.

For information on the program, contact Lees at 742-2271.

By the Numbers

Senior driving by the numbers

10 — percent of all drivers in the United States today are 70-years or older, a rise of nearly 36 percent over the last decade

15 —  percent of all traffic fatalities in 2005 were seniors (65-years-old and older)

19 — states require senior drivers to renew their license in person, to renew them more often or to pass road and vision tests.

25.1 — per every 100,000 drivers is the fatality rate for motorists 70-years and older.

65 — year-old seniors and older comprise 13 percent of the total population in the U.S., but account for 18 percent of all traffic fatalities.

79 — percent of fatal accidents involving seniors occurred during the day.

6,512 — seniors were killed in traffic accidents in 2005. Experts predict that number to swell to 23,000 annually by 2030.

40 million — seniors are predicted to be driving in the year 2020.

Source: Automobile Club, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Insurance Information Institute.