Body Watch : Classes for Seniors on the Road
Driving classes customized for senior citizens offer ways to compensate for diminished acuity, slough lousy driving habits and develop safe ones. Graduates receive a Department of Motor Vehicles’ California Mature Driver Improvement Certificate, which may be honored by their auto insurance companies for rate reductions.
All the classes noted below offer the DMV Certificate, assuring students that the curriculum was approved by the DMV. One more thing: Some older motorists may resist the idea, so try giving it as a gift.
* American Assn. of Retired Persons (AARP)
“55 Alive/Mature Driving” for motorists 50 and up. The fee is $8. You do not need to be a member of AARP to take the class; eight-hour sessions are spread over two days. (Note: Volunteer instructors are at least 50 years old.) Call (310) 427-9611 or (916) 446-AARP.
* American Automobile Assn.
“Safe Driving for Mature Operators” runs seven hours (plus lunch) in a one- or two-day period. You do not have to be an AAA member. There is a fee of $21. Classes will be held throughout the summer and the program will expand by autumn. Call local chapters for details.
* California Senior Drivers Assn.
The “Eight Hour Responsible Driver Course” is offered by this nonprofit organization, which has graduated about 8,000 drivers (minus two ladies who were expelled because they would not stop talking in class). You do not need to be a member. Classes usually run one day. The cost is $18. Call (800) 655-1060.
* “Responsible Driver Course Home Study Edition” is one to consider if logistics are a concern. The course is $21. Call (800) 233-0226.
* “Coaching the Mature Driver” is sponsored by the National Safety Council. Fees run from $12 to 20. Call (800) 544-1030 for locations.
Briefly. . . “Planning for Health” is a free booklet full of sound tips, from A to Z, on taking good care of children. Send for a copy (by Sept. 1) to Kaiser Permanente/LAT, P.O. Box 34044, Fullerton, Calif. 92634-9444 . . . UCLA Medical Center’s seminar on breast health awareness is free for women 20 and up, today from 7-8:30 p.m. at the Iris Cantor Center for Breast Imaging (UCLA). Call (800) UCLA-MD-1 to register . . . On Thursday the Maple Counseling Center will hold a workshop on “Moving Through Menopause,” 7-8:30 p.m. It’s $5 for the general public and free to Friends of the Center and Beverly Hills employees. 9107 Wilshire Blvd. (310) 271-9999 . . . The Cancer Detection Center in the Moseley Salvatori Conference Center of the Good Samaritan Hospital, 637 S. Lucas Ave., Los Angeles, offers free seminars on breast self-examination on Thursday and August 17. Call (213) 481-2511 . . . The American Red Cross will put on a free puppet show, July 22 at 2 p.m., about earthquake preparedness for children preschool age through the 4th grade at Bookstar, 21440 Victory Boulevard, Woodland Hills. (818) 702-9515 . . . The Department of Neurology at County-USC Medical Center is seeking people older than 18 who are taking Tegretol or Dilantin to study the drug Neurontin, which controls the symptoms of epilepsy. Call (213) 226-7381 after noon Thursdays or Fridays . . . People over 60 with high blood pressure who are interested in joining a national study of drug therapies for hypertension and high cholesterol should call UCLA at (310) 206-1876.
