Street-smart seniors

The students in Donald Ward’s driving class are going over how to cope with an aggressive driver. Mr. Ward reminds his class that driving demands full attention and to cut down on distractions.

Even after all these years, that is still good advice. Mr. Ward is 87. He has been driving since the 1930s and teaching his class since 1990. The students have nearly as much experience.

Mr. Ward’s class, which meets at Sibley Hospital in Northwest, is part of the AARP Driver Safety program. The students are all older than 50. Most of them say they are taking the class because they can get a discount on their car insurance by completing it. However, they also say they are learning tips that will keep them safely on the roads into their 70s, 80s and beyond.

“I am probably too confident in my driving,” says Anne Jarman, 72, of the District. She recently took the AARP class for the second time.

Mrs. Jarman says she grew up in Tennessee with no driver’s education and “racing my boyfriend’s car.”

“I still drive at night,” she says. “I probably shouldn’t, but I do. Driving is part of being independent. It would be like a death sentence to have your license taken away.”

As the American population has aged, so has the recognition that driving can become a hazard for some older adults. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates the number of drivers older than 65 will double to 40 million by the year 2020.

In general, though, seniors as a group are safe drivers. Statistics from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety show seniors are less likely to drink and drive than other age groups and kill fewer pedestrians and motorists than any other age group.

However, when seniors do have a crash, their injuries are more likely to be severe, the same report shows. The 75-to-79-year-old age group has a death rate from traffic accidents more than four times as high as that of 30-to-59-year-olds.

The AARP course is one of many resources available to seniors to brush up on safe driving. About 70,000 people nationwide complete the $10 course every year, which saves them about $45 million on car insurance, AARP data shows. Meanwhile, four out of five drivers who complete the two-day, eight-hour course say they have changed their driving as a result.

AAA recently released “Roadwise Review,” a CD-ROM that seniors can use to test their skills on their home computers. “Roadwise Review,” which costs $9.99 for AAA members, tests physical skills such as leg strength (which can affect braking), visual acuity (necessary to recognize road hazards) and memory (much needed for processing information on road signs).

“This is one tool toward keeping your license,” says John Townsend II, manager of government and public relations for AAA Mid-Atlantic. “The irony is, seniors have been driving longer, but have a high accident fatality rate.”

Recognizing risks

Medical conditions that may affect driving sneak up slowly on seniors, says Dr. Germaine Odenheimer, a neurologist and geriatrician in Oklahoma City. Dr. Odenheimer helps the American Medical Association (AMA) train doctors to recognize factors that could impair driving.

Among the most common:

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