NEW YORK: Rockland Seminar Targets Older Drivers

[Murray Charters <mcharters@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Rockland Seminar Targets Older Drivers
By NANCY CUTLER
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: November 5, 2003)

FYI: If you go...

Seminar: "Being A Safe Older Driver"

When, where: 1:30 to 3 p.m. tomorrow at Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern

and from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 13 at Dominican College's Hennessy Center in 
Sparkill.

Cost: Free

Information: 845-364-2110

Older drivers can get help evaluating their driving abilities and tips on how 
to sharpen their skills, as well as learn
about alternate transportation if they decide it's time to quit driving.

The Rockland County Office for the Aging, along with more than a dozen local 
organizations, is sponsoring a seminar,
"Being A Safe Older Driver" from 1:30 to 3 p.m. tomorrow at Good Samaritan 
Hospital in Suffern. The seminar will be
repeated from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 13 at Dominican College's Hennessy 
Center in Sparkill. More seminars will be
held in the spring at Helen Hayes Hospital in West Haverstraw.

"The goal is to ensure people are safe to drive, and if they aren't, give them 
alternatives that are available to them
in the community," said Terry Berg, assistant director of occupational therapy 
at Helen Hayes Hospital, a state-run
rehabilitation hospital.

This is the first lecture offered by the Safe Older Driver Consortium recently 
formed by the Rockland Office for the
Aging, in partnership with 15 other local organizations.

Older driver safety is a pressing issue in Rockland, said Mary K. Eggers, 
assistant director of the the Rockland Office
for the Aging. The county has the most rapidly increasing number of older 
drivers in the state. And although older
drivers do not have the most accidents, their accidents are more often fatal.

"When I realized the demographic changes that we're facing ? we have the 
highest rate of increase in the age 65-74
population in state ? those are the people on the road," Eggers said.

Because people age differently, there aren't any specific guidelines for 
driving, Eggers said.

"Arthritis is a cumulative thing," she said. It can limit mobility, which can 
hinder drivers from checking over their
shoulders.

"We have to be aware that we don't put an age on it," Eggers said. "But 
peripheral and night vision starts to decrease
for some in their 50s."

A study released in March by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in 
Arlington, Va., showed that elderly drivers
were more likely to be in fatal crashes, but primarily because they themselves 
were killed in the accidents.

The study showed that drivers 75 and older were about 10 percent more likely 
than 30- to 59-year-olds to hurt occupants
of another car in a collision. Injuries to the driver were 80 percent more 
likely by age 85 than for the 30-to-59
group.

Teen drivers, the study showed, account for almost 40 deaths of others per 
100,000 drivers; 85-year-olds are
responsible for about 13 deaths in the same category.

Officials from New York's Department of Motor Vehicles have said all drivers 
were treated the same when it came to
renewing licenses. If a family member, police officer or doctor requests that 
any driver be retested, the department
will do so. Other reasons the department would retest someone include if the 
driver had three accidents in six months
or if someone makes a specific complaint in writing against a driver.

The DMV last year retested about 1,000 of the state's 11 million licensed 
drivers, the DMV reported.

The aging process creates changes in the body that affect the ability to drive, 
experts say. Diseases like Parkinson's
and Alzheimer's impair judgment. The elderly are also more likely to suffer 
from hearing loss. And many medications
used to treat such common conditions as high blood pressure, depression and 
heart disease can lead to sleepiness at the
wheel.

Reaction time slows, and it gets harder to pay attention to the road.

A panel of experts, including police officers, therapists and representatives 
of various county agencies will discuss
safe driving and transportation options at tomorrow's seminar. Older drivers 
will be instructed in evaluating their
skills, sharpening and improving skills and preparing for road emergencies. 
Transportation of Rockland and TRIPS
representatives also will be there to discuss public transportation.

"This is a problem in Rockland because if you don't drive, how do you get 
there?" Eggers said. "With limited transport
options, we have to figure out how to get people to ride the buses, and we have 
to get the buses to go where we need to
go."

Panel members also will discuss possible vehicle modifications and refresher 
courses for older drivers.

The consortium started about a year ago. A state Office for the Aging member 
who had consulted with the Department of
Motor Vehicles talked about the issues facing older drivers.

The seminar's goal is help people make themselves safe drivers, or make the 
decision to stop driving, Eggers said. "How
do we decide ourselves or get family members to help us decide if we should be 
driving?"

Send e-mail to Nancy Cutler

SOURCE: White Plains Journal News, NY


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