Detroit Free Press Matt Helms column: Retired GM engineer helps seniors stay on the road longer

By Matt Helms

Mar. 24, 2008 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) --
John Bieda jokes that the senior driver classes he's taught for five years, teaching older people how to cope with waning skills and age-related difficulties, are a way to keep talking about cars.

It doesn't take long to realize that the retired General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM) engineer, who works as a volunteer instructor for the AARP Driver Safety Program, has a much more serious goal in mind.

The purpose is frank talk about how, as we age, our eyesight diminishes, reaction times slow, it gets harder to look back quickly over our shoulders and, in general, we become less alert. These natural declines make it harder to drive safely. That's a worry for people in places like metro Detroit, where mobility is so equated with the automobile.

"We want to help ourselves," Bieda, 70, told 14 folks gathered recently at the Clinton Township Senior Center. "We want to be independent."

Heart of the matter

Bieda's class gets into nitty-gritty worries and real-life ways drivers can counteract the challenges of aging.

He suggests:

--Limiting nighttime driving.

--Leaving extra driving distance between vehicles.

--Exercising and stretching daily to maintain muscle strength and flexibility.

--Adjusting mirrors to better see blind spots.

--Not making left turns, even if it means going out of the way to get somewhere by making a series of right turns instead.

"This will give us an edge," Bieda said. "We need it."

Elderly mobility is a subject of intense study nationwide because the nation is aging. The U.S. Census Bureau projects the number of Americans 65 and older will nearly double to 72 million by 2030.

Government, academic and industry groups are examining ways to keep seniors on the road as long as safely possible. Nationally, researchers are scrutinizing crash data to determine ways older drivers can compensate for age-related declines in driving skills, how engineers can design roads that seniors can more easily navigate and automobiles that better accommodate their needs.

Programs like the AARP's Driver Safety Program are at the forefront of the senior mobility effort.

The AARP's Michigan office said the number of people taking the courses is growing. More than 3,400 people took part in 2007, up from about 2,600 in 2006. In part that's because some insurers offer discounts for participation; State Farm and AAA Michigan, the state's two largest auto insurers, do not.

Brushing up skills

The $10 courses, generally eight hours of instruction over two days, are important to drivers like Ben Yagley, 84, and his wife Louise, 79, of Clinton Township. They attended the classes to brush up on driving skills and learn ways to counteract deficiencies.

"If there's some little trick to make it better for me, that's what I hope I pick up," said Ben Yagley, a Budd Co. retiree.

Dorothy Hallman, 80, of Clinton Township, a retired bookbinder, said she took the course "to refresh my driving skills and make sure I'm up to par."

Hallman knows she has alternatives. She lives in an apartment complex where bus rides are available for shopping, doctor appointments and the like.

But the trips are limited and, like anybody living in a region with few transit options, Hallman wants to keep driving as long as she feels safe and comfortable.

For more about senior driving classes, go to www.aarp.org/drive or call 888-227-7669. Community senior centers also may have information.

Contact MATT HELMS at driving@freepress.com or 313-222-1450.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0048-23975039