Safety Tips For Today's Senior Citizens

The senior citizens of this generation have grown with their automobiles.  They grew into adulthood during the nineteen forties and nineteen fifties as the automobile culture really started to explode.  Simply put, the automobile defined their entire life – where they worked, how they vacationed, and even where they lived.  

In the United States today, the number of senior drivers is on the rise. In 2008, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported thirty-two million drivers – or fifteen percent of all drivers – were more then sixty-five years old.

Likewise, the automobile of today defines these senior citizen's safety on the road.  Many seniors are driving vehicles that have been on the road for a while, and others may be in cars that simply aren't adjusted to their height and driving capabilities.

According to the NHTSA, elderly people are in more danger on the road then ever before. Just in 2009, one hundred eighty-seven thousand older people were wounded in traffic crashes, this accounts for eight percent of all of the people hurt in traffic crashes during that year. These elderly individuals made up a total of sixteen percent of all traffic fatalities.  Statistically speaking, most traffic fatalities involving older drivers occur during the day, occurred on weekdays, and involved other vehicles at 81%, 71%, and 69% respectively.

Thankfully, these unfortunate statistics can be lessened. With just a couple of safety measures and consistent vehicle maintenance to boost visibility, senior drivers can retain their independence and improve their safety on the road.  We at Kurt's CARSTAR Collision Center want to help you protect the elderly person in your life by offering these suggestions for keeping them safe while they're on the road.

Many times, a car or truck no longer fits the senior driver.  The seat could be too low or the pedals too far away for the person to reach comfortably or the mirrors may no longer in the right position for optimal vision.  These factors can come together to create a pretty nasty accident.  Your Kurt's CARSTAR Collision Center can give you a good evaluation. To help you, they offer pedal extensions, booster seats, mirror extension, magnifiers and running boards.

If you are trying to find the best new car for a senior, look for options like high or extra-wide doors, adjustable foot pedals, large interior door handles, oversized knobs with clearly visible labels, handles to help with entry and exit of the vehicle, large or adjustable-size print for dashboard gauges, seat adjusters that can move the driver's chair in all directions - particularly raising it up so the driver’s line of sight is no less than three inches above the adjusted steering wheel and dashboard-mounted ignition as opposed to steering column-mounted ignition.

Of course, it's very important for the driver to be able see out of the car. It is also important for them to see the road well and for other cars to see them.   Since we already know that many seniors drive older vehicles, it's easy to see that a lot of these headlamps lose illumination and become hazed as time passes.  A simple solution, the 3M Lens Renewal Kit, allows users to restore headlights to like-new clarity in just an hour with nothing more than a household drill or you can go to Kurt's CARSTAR Collision Center in Maryville, Illinois and have it done professionally.  Other things that you can do to improve overall visibility include adding new headlight bulbs, changing out the wiper blades and giving the interior and exterior glass a good cleaning.

It is difficult to talk to senior citizens about their driving skills or lack thereof, but an assessment can be very important.  Thankfully, you can find qualified driving assessments in every state through the Association for Driver Rehabilitation Specialists (ADED) and the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc. (AOTA).  For these inspections, the driver should expect a comprehensive evaluation to include vision screening and muscle strength, flexibility, and range of motion; coordination as well as reaction time and judgment and decision-making abilities.

Senior drivers usually are much safer on routes that do not necessitate frequent lane changes or travel through heavy traffic.  Help seniors to schedule excursions when traffic is not so heavy, and help map out routes to locations that are visited frequently and that include side streets and less busy intersections.  Also identify key landmarks that help seniors keep oriented on their trip.

However, if an emergency or accident does occur, it will be beneficial to have been prepared. As such, provide seniors with an accident kit including all of their insurance information, emergency contact list, notepad and disposable camera.  Make sure that they know to call 1-800-CARSTAR for 24/7 support so that CARSTAR can coordinate the towing, rental car and contact the insurance agency. Also include the names of any of their primary medical practitioners to ensure that EMTs are provided with any medical information that they deem necessary. For the trunk of the car, have an emergency kit packed with a blanket, gloves, hat, water, granola bars, flashlight and extra batteries, extra cell phone battery, flares, compass, scissors, rope, wooden matches in waterproof container and first aid kit.

With some preparation and practical maintenance, seniors can be more safe then ever on the road well into their golden years. If you've got any senior parents, family members, friends or neighbors, take just a few short minutes to do a safety check on their vehicle and help them prepare for if an accident does happen.  It can make a critical difference for them on the road.