Fewer senior drivers ready to hand over their car keys
By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Staff Writer
At 78, Philip Ritch gets around just fine.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser
He walks, takes the bus, rides a bicycle and drives his 1998 Buick Park Avenue here and there. But Ritch knows the day is coming when he'll have to park the car and give up one of the most precious parts of his life, his mobility.
Philip Ritch and Virginia Druz of Kailua are senior drivers who aren't yet prepared to give up their mobility.
"I've told my kids that if they can see differences in my driving after I hit 80 they can take the keys," he said.
Ritch is among thousands of aging Hawai'i residents struggling with one of the last great decisions in their lives: Knowing when they are no longer safe to be on the road.
"Giving up your mobility is one of the hardest things you'll ever face," said Marilyn Seely, head of the state Office on Aging. "It's such a signal that the end is nearing."
New research, however, shows that the many elderly drivers don't have to get out from behind the wheel. One new study shows, contrary to popular opinion, that drivers 65 and older are among the safest on the road. Elsewhere, scientists and others are developing educational and technological tools to keep aging drivers behind the wheel for a few extra years.
"Stereotypes are often wrong," said Greg Marchildon, state director of the American Association of Retired People in Hawai'i. "There's no magic age when driving becomes impossible. The real issue people should be identifying bad drivers and getting them off the road — be they 18, 36, 52 or 73."
The new study by the nationwide Insurance Institute of Highway Safety backs him up: Drivers older than 65 have relatively low crash rates, kill fewer motorists and pedestrians than any other age group, have the lowest rates of alcohol impairment and the highest rates of seat-belt use among adults. If they pose any extra danger, it's only to themselves, the study concluded.
"The main reason older drivers are dying is their physical fragility, not overinvolvement in crashes," the study said.
Drivers 55 and older make up nearly a quarter (183,312) of licensed drivers in Hawai'i, and those older than 75 (34,370) have more than doubled in the past 11 years. Meanwhile, bus ridership by senior citizens in the same period has remained relatively level, an indication that fewer senior citizens are willing to give up the freedom of a car.
Nationwide, it's the same story. The number of people 65 and older is expected to double to 70 million by the year 2030, and the number of miles driven is up in the same age group.
"With 76 million baby boomers getting to that age, it's an issue that's going to be around for a long time," said Alan Parker, head of the Hawai'i County Office of Aging. "If it's got a few people worried now, think what it's going to be like in another 10 or 15 years."
That's why Hawai'i planners are paying increasing attention to the demands raised by senior citizens.
"My own father tells me, 'You try sitting home for a weekend without a car and see how much you like it,' " Parker said.
The problems are particularly acute on the Big Island, where distances between towns are longer and there is only a fledgling mass transit system. "In all our surveys better transportation is the No. 1 thing people ask for," Parker said.
Ruth Saito, 73, of Kalihi Valley, tried riding the bus a few years back but quickly decided that she needed to keep driving.
"It's like a necessity," said Saito, who heads a participant advisory board at the Lanakila Senior Center in Honolulu and frequently gives rides to others wanting to attend events at the center, church or elsewhere. "For going to the market and church, I couldn't depend on the bus," she said.
Hawai'i, like 17 other states, puts extra driving restrictions on its seniors. Drivers older than 72 are required to take a visual and written test to renew their licenses every two years; for most people, a license is good for six years.
"We don't have a problem with that," Marchildon said. "Just because you're 72 doesn't mean you're a bad driver, but it's reasonable to have the skills tested. After all, eyesight starts going downhill after your 32nd birthday."
Many credit the AARP driver education classes with helping more senior drivers stay safe on the road.
The eight-hour course, taught over two days, helps aging drivers stay safe. Among the topics covered are vision and hearing changes, effects of medication, reaction time, right-of-way situations and new laws. People who complete the course may be eligible for an auto insurance discount.
Ritch said the course, which he has taken several times, has helped him stay focused while driving. "People riding with me know I don't fool around. No cell phones, no smoking, seat belts on at all times. If they're driving with me they know we are going from point A to B and nothing else."
Others are working to keep elderly drivers safe in other ways.
Joseph Coughlin, who heads the institute's AgeLab, is using advanced technological devices to help drivers older than 50 drive a vehicle safety. New technology being developed at the lab includes dashboard devices to monitor a driver's heart rate, blood pressure and stress levels; computer screens that can receive and relay visual warnings of traffic and other problems on the horizon, and a windshield-mounted screen that can provide a larger-than-life picture of the road ahead.
Still, most senior citizens know the day will eventually come when they have to give up their cars, Seely said.
"It's very, very difficult," she said. "It's the kind of thing that can traumatize a whole family."
Reach Mike Leidemann at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.
