Still Driven to Drive : Road Skills Go Long Way for Woman, 92

Ruby Sweeney is the envy of Leisure World.

The 92-year-old woman is still driving--more than 80 years after she cranked up her first car, a jet-black Model A Ford.

Sweeney has tracked hundreds of thousands of miles since then and still navigates her mammoth 1980 Chrysler New Yorker to a relative’s house in Corona at least twice a month. Just last year, the Department of Motor Vehicles extended Sweeney’s driver’s license through 1996.

Her road skills have made the silver-haired widow something of a legend in Leisure World, where some residents have been forced to give up their cars because of health problems and advancing age.

“She’s an inspiration to those who know her,” said Leisure World resident George Brown. The Seal Beach councilman and his colleagues presented Sweeney with a proclamation this week to honor what she said is a spotless driving record. “Ruby shows that if you have your mental and physical health, there isn’t a limit on when you must stop driving.”

Sweeney takes a more modest view. “I am a hated person around here,” she said, joking. “One woman asked me: ‘Did you get your driver’s license by giving the girl (at the DMV) a box of candy?’ ”

She has witnessed stunning changes during her decades on the road--from the advent of paved streets to what she sees as the steady decline in the number of safe drivers.

“I get into the right lane and stay there,” Sweeney said. “But what I see in the two other lanes. Whew! I tell you.”

It wasn’t always like that. When Sweeney first got behind the wheel at the age of 12, the usual speed limits were 15 m.p.h. in town and 30 m.p.h. on the highway.

Sweeney credits her love of cars to her father, who taught her to drive so she could help deliver milk from the family dairy farm in Imperial Valley.

“He was a wonderful teacher,” she said. “He always said to watch what you are doing and don’t look at the scenery. Keep your mind on the job. That’s something I always remembered. And people have always appreciated my good driving.”

She has owned about 12 cars, and her favorite is the 13-year-old white Chrysler--with 52,000 miles on it.

She was only afraid once: when she and her husband first moved to Los Angeles after World War I and she was jarred by the number of cars on the roads.

But Sweeney said she soon got over her fear of traffic, and for more than 20 years commuted from her Eagle Rock home to work in downtown Los Angeles.

Besides one small accident in the 1950s, she said, her driving record is perfect, without as much as a traffic citation. Earlier this year, the Safety Center, a statewide, nonprofit organization that promotes safety awareness, awarded her a Lifetime Driver Award.

“By now, it all comes as second nature to me,” she said.

Like many elderly people, Sweeney cherishes the independence that driving affords her.

“When I want to go somewhere, I just get into my car and go,” she said. “I don’t have to rely on public transportation or anyone. . . . I have to do things for myself.”

And as Brown discovered recently when Sweeney was a passenger in his car, she is not shy about dispensing driving tips to others.

“I made a rolling stop (inside the Leisure World complex). There was no traffic coming. But she said: ‘No, no, no.’ ”

Sweeney’s license expires in three years, when she is 95, and “I think that’s when I quit,” she said. “I think a person that age has no business driving.”

Licensed to Drive There are more than 26,000 drivers 80 years and older in Orange County. They make up just over 1% of the county’s 1,783,875 licensed drivers. As of July 2, 1993, by county: Orange Men 80-84: 7,898 85-89: 3,079 90 and older: 799 Total: 11,776 Women 80-84: 9,913 85-89: 3,788 90 and older: 723 Total: 14,424 Los Angeles Men 80-84: 27,245 85-89: 9,575 90 and older: 2,077 Total: 38,897 Women 80-84: 27,150 85-89: 8,837 90 and older: 1,597 Total: 37,584 San Diego Men 80-84: 10,957 85-89: 3,820 90 and older: 812 Total: 15,589 Women 80-84: 10,909 85-89: 3,593 90 and older: 526 Total: 15,028 Riverside Men 80-84: 7,036 85-89: 2,536 90 and older: 567 Total: 10,139 Women 80-84: 7,145 85-89: 2,335 90 and older: 424 Total: 9,904 Special Circumstances Older drivers have to meet the same criteria as others in obtaining and maintaining a driver’s license. But after age 70, they are no longer eligible to renew a license by mail and must pass an eye exam and written test every four years. Some other special circumstances: * A failed eye exam, which requires doctor’s note stating it is OK to drive. * A driver with too many citations or accidents must take a safety course and retake written and road tests. * Depending on their driving record, some may be allowed to drive only during the day, or may be limited to driving on surface streets or within 30 miles of home.

Key Age: 80-84 No. of drivers: 7,898 Source: California Department of Motor Vehicles