Do frail, older drivers recognize their limitations? Do first responders understand that all older drivers aren’t alike? Are family members obligated to take the keys of an unsafe motoring parent?
These and other questions will be discussed 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11, when older driver expert Joan Somes presents “Aging and Driving! A Risky Intersection!” in the community room of Glencoe-Silver Lake High School, 1825 16th St. E., Glencoe. Attendees are asked to enter the school through Door 32. Admission is free and the public is welcome. Light refreshments will be served.
Somes is a nurse specializing in aging drivers. She has worked extensively in Twin Cities hospital emergency rooms and as an EMT. She has assisted law enforcement authorities and health care providers throughout Minnesota to help them better understand ways they can help prevent injuries among older drivers and others on the road.
During her talk, Somes will explain how physical and cognitive changes affect driving ability and safety on the road. The number of Minnesotans age 65 or older is increasing rapidly, as is the number of older drivers who are suffering injuries and dying on the road, especially on rural roads. Per mile traveled, fatal crash rates increase noticeably starting at age 70 to 74 and are highest among drivers 85 or older, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Older drivers are especially prone to fail to yield the right of way to other drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians. This is mainly the result of their having difficulty seeing, hearing, judging distances and speeds of other cars, and a slower ability to respond. Additionally, they are more likely to be taking medications that affect their ability to drive safely. Aging-related medical conditions often cause changes that affect driving.
Somes will explain how to identify physical and cognitive changes in older adults, and how to recognize behaviors indicating that their driving may be affected. She will offer actions that can be taken to increase older driver — and everyone’s — safety on the road.
She will also discuss the legal and ethical aspects of who is responsible for determining whether an older adult should continue to drive, and what can be done to help older motorists be safer drivers. Her talk will illustrate how driving is not an “all or none” matter but is instead a balance of safety versus independence. She will share driver safety tips, resources for older drivers, and explain how various screening tools can help. Somes is a technician with CarFit, an educational program that offers older adults the opportunity to check how well their personal vehicles “fit” them. The McLeod County Toward Zero Deaths Safe Roads Coalition has been training volunteer technicians for its CarFit program and is planning to offer clinics for older drivers starting in 2024.
The talk is sponsored by McLeod County Toward Zero Deaths Safe Roads Coalition and is funded by a grant from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety/Office of Traffic Safety.
For more information, call Kerry Ward at 320-864-3185, or Scott Waibel at 320-484-9326.
