Auto Safety Classes Can Cut Premiums, Offer Tips for Older Drivers

Volunteer instructors needed in most counties

by: Julie Creek | from: AARP Bulletin | October 3, 2011

Les Pence, in his ’65 Chevy Corvair Monza, teaches in the AARP Driver Safety Program.

Les Pence, of Sheridan, teaches in the AARP Driver Safety Program, which offers tips for older drivers. Pence uses them as he drives his 65 Chevy Corvair Monza. — Photo by Zach Dobson

Les Pence is a self-described "car guy," a child of the muscle car era and a lover of all things Corvette-related. But at 77, Pence can foresee a day when age may force him to give up driving.

These days, Pence derives satisfaction in helping older Hoosiers refresh and retool their driving skills — and stay safely on the road as long as possible — as a volunteer instructor in AARP's Driver Safety Program.

See also: Why take a driver safety course?

In the past five years, Pence and his fellow instructors have taught more than 5,000 Indiana drivers techniques to compensate for the hearing and vision changes and slower reflexes that are often a part of aging.

"The class gives people an opportunity to refresh their skills, and that will, most importantly, keep them from possibly having an accident," said Pence, a retired school superintendent from Sheridan.

Tips for crowded roads

Pence said the four-hour class also helps older drivers navigate more confidently on today's faster, more complicated and crowded roadways.

There are about 125 traffic circles in Hamilton County, he said. "Many older drivers have no clue how to deal with roundabouts. Roundabouts weren't around when they started driving. They don't know what lane to get in; they don't know how to get out once they get in."

The class also touches on the sensitive topic of when to stop driving. Giving up driving "is a very difficult decision that many people have to think about," Pence said. When it's that time for him, "it will just tear my heart out."

When retiree David Daley, 69, of Rolling Prairie, took the course two years ago, he especially appreciated the tips he picked up on scanning the roadway —a method of systematically looking ahead to be alert to potential hazards.

"Now I try to watch out for people who drive like I used to," he said with a chuckle. "You learn not to take it for granted that you have the right of way."

The experience led Daley to become a volunteer instructor. It was a logical choice, since he had worked for years as an industrial safety officer.

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