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There Are Plenty of Good Reasons for Driver Improvement Courses for the Elderly |
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Written by Jerry Malcolm
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The National Safety Council and many of other federal and state agencies have plenty of statistics to show that driving on the roads and highways of our country is a dangerous proposition. When you think about it, we pay a lot of people to try to do all they can to make driving safer out there. And from working to cut down on drinking and driving to laws being passed to limiting distractions for drivers such as cell phones, it is fair to say that the government is doing all they can to cut down on how many accident injuries and fatalities happen each year. Nonetheless, the statistics still continue to climb showing the need for driver improvement courses and good training for anyone who is going to drive in this country. That concept is even more important when it comes to senior citizens who are going out on the road.
It might seem that senior citizens should not have to continue to take driver improvement courses since in most cases, they have been driving for decades. However, in a way, that experience is a good reason to insist that the senior citizen in your life get a fresh take on defensive driving form a driver improvement course. It is easy to forget some of the rules of defensive driving when you have been driving for a long time. If you have not had an accident or even a "close call" for a while, you can forget that driving a car in traffic is still a hazardous undertaking. Seniors can get too self confident and lazy too if they have not had any serious traffic problems in a long time. A driver improvement course can reinforce the need for constant awareness of defensive driving concepts, which can go a long way toward keeping senior citizens safe on the road.
But a second reason to consider a driver improvement course for the senior citizen in your life is that senior citizens begin to lose some of what it takes to be a good driver. This is no indictment on the elderly. But the quick reflexes for a fast response to a road emergency or the sharp eyesight needed to spot a road hazard in time to respond are often things that deteriorate with age. To deny that older drivers are not as physically or mentally equipped as younger drivers to deal with the challenges of driving would be denying the obvious. Better to acknowledge when the senior citizen you know is beginning to lose some of the abilities that it takes to be a good driver. By getting that senior customized driver improvement courses, he or she may be able to continue to drive with a greater emphasis on defensive driving and staying out of hazardous situations.
Seniors are often the first ones to acknowledge that these limitations are quite real for them. That is why more and more, driver improvement classes are becoming popular offering in retirement apartment complexes and senior citizen villages. When seniors see that these classes can equip them to be able to continue to drive with some limitations, that means continued freedoms that they treasure so much.
There are plenty of resources to find a good driver improvement course for seniors or to arrange to have a defensive driving class held at a senior center or retirement home. The AARP is the perfect place to start looking for a local driver improvement course to fit the. Triple A and even your automobile insurance agent could be able to guide your search for the right driver education course of study. Along with making a senior citizen a better and safer driver, completion of a defensive driving class could get a ticket dismissed or lower insurance rates for the senior citizen in your life. All of these are outstanding reasons to work with the senior citizen you love to get him or her enrolled in a driver improvement class before something serious happens which could take away the ability to drive from that senior.
There may come a time when it is not optional for a senior citizen to get continuing education in driver safety. If he or she has an accident or a doctor's report about the diminished driving ability of the senior due to loss of eyesight, hearing or reflex ability, it might be necessary to get your elderly loved one driver improvement education that is specifically focused on senior citizens so they can learn their limitations in using their vehicle.
Seeking out a driver improvement course that is designed for elderly drivers is a high priority. The way defensive driving is taught to new drivers in their 20s is much different than what needs to be learned by a senior citizen who just needs to know how to drive their car to a limited number of destinations. So when you are looking for a driver improvement program for an elderly loved one, talk to the organization offering the defensive driving course about the curriculum and the focus on senior citizens to make sure your senior will get the most out of the program.
Perhaps the most difficult part about getting your elderly love done into a defensive driving class will be talking them into it. The reputation of driver improvement classes as being boring or geared toward bad drivers may present an obstacle to a proud senior citizen. But it only takes one accident where an older driver realizes that there is a need for ongoing focus on driver improvement and that resistance will go down. Also, these days there are many kinds of driver education courses that are interesting, entertaining and focused on keeping senior citizens engaged in the learning process.
But perhaps the greatest motivation you can use to inspire a senior citizen to take a driver improvement course is that if they learn well how to use defensive driving skills, they will be able to keep their ability to drive a little longer. Seniors dread the loss of freedom that comes when they must stop driving. So by giving them the option of taking a driver improvement course, they may be quite enthusiastic if it means they can drive safely for another year or so.
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