No Magoos in This Bunch: Older Drivers Keep Sharp

In the 1960s, we rocked to Jan & Dean’s tune about the lead-footed granny from Pasadena:

Well, she’s gonna get a ticket now sooner or later / ‘Cause she can’t keep her foot off the accelerator.

Since the late 1940s, we have laughed at the myopic Mr. Magoo, the lovable old codger who narrowly misses killing himself or others, often behind the wheel of a car.

At 78 years of age, Jim Moore tries to be the antithesis of the stereotypical older driver.

Moore, a former long-haul trucker, won’t eat or drink while he is behind the wheel. He rarely listens to his car radio. And much to his wife’s chagrin, he won’t talk much either.

Moore focuses all of his attention on the road ahead. He can’t remember the last time he got into an accident or received a traffic ticket.

“I recognize my ability is not what it was 10 years ago,” said Moore, a police volunteer in La Verne. “But I pay absolute attention to the road now because I know that.”

He is not unusual. Older drivers are not the roadway menace many motorists fear, according to a study released in September by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Older drivers kill fewer motorists and pedestrians than any other age group and have the lowest crash rates per licensed driver, the study found. One explanation is that older folks drive less.

But, like Moore, more seniors also are taking proactive steps to ensure that their driving skills remain sharp. More than 586,000 older drivers nationwide enrolled in driver safety classes offered last year by AARP, formerly known as the American Assn. of Retired Persons. That is a 60% increase over 1990.

About 5,000 seniors a month take similar courses offered by the Automobile Club of Southern California.

The courses can have life-or-death consequences. Even though they are involved in fewer crashes, seniors have a higher death rate per mile traveled than any other group, except teenagers. That is because elderly drivers are more susceptible to injuries in crashes.

Besides basic safety, there is a financial benefit to attending such classes: Insurance companies give a discount to drivers over 55 who complete the eight-hour course.

Moore was among 19 senior citizens who attended a recent AARP driving class--called 55 Alive--at La Verne Community Center.

The instructor, Barton Bartel, a retired Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy, reminded his gray-haired students that they no longer are spry young bucks. He told them their reaction times are slower, their vision isn’t as sharp and their movements are a bit more limited.

Even a simple turn of the head for a lane change can challenge some older drivers, so Bartel demonstrated some neck stretches to improve flexibility.

“Look--look out of your mirrors, even if that arthritis is bothering you,” he said in a booming voice, loud enough to be heard by those students with hearing aids.

Bartel recommends that older drivers who are unsure of their abilities stay off the road at rush hour and at night. When elderly motorists have an appointment in an unfamiliar location during rush hour, he suggests they make an off-peak-hour “test run.”

Such advance preparation is particularly important for elderly drivers, who as a group are most often cited for failing to yield, making improper turns, and running red lights and stop signs, the insurance institute study found.

One of Bartel’s students, Frances Nelson, 79, of San Dimas conceded that her reaction time and driving skills are not what they used to be. For that reason, she said, she doesn’t drive on freeways during rush hour.

“I used to be really good at parking,” the bespectacled woman said during a break in the lesson. “Now, I don’t quite line up to the curb as well.”

But don’t try to tell Nelson or Moore that it’s time for older drivers to give up their licenses. For most senior motorists, a driver’s license means independence. It means not having to impose on a relative or friend for a ride to the market.

In fact, Nelson took the course recently to prepare for a trip to the Department of Motor Vehicles to renew her license.

“It is absolutely important that I have a driver’s license,” Moore said. “That is all we have left.”

And hell hath no fury like a senior whose license is threatened. Consider former state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica), who proposed a law in 1999 that would have required the DMV to road test motorists 75 and older.

The AARP and its 34 million members nationwide put so much pressure on Hayden that he cut out any references to age, instead focusing on all drivers deemed as high-risk.

Hayden introduced the legislation after two highly publicized traffic deaths involving senior citizens. The bill was named for one of the victims, Brandi Mitock, 15, of Santa Monica, who was struck and killed by a 96-year-old driver.

Similar deaths nationwide have prompted more than 16 states to consider restrictions on older drivers over the last two years.

But the AARP and other senior citizen groups that oppose age-based restrictions have kept the most restrictive bills off the books.

Only Illinois and New Hampshire require road tests for those 75 or older.

In California, drivers 70 or older must renew their license in person at a DMV office. A behind-the-wheel examination may be required if DMV officials think it is necessary. If the drivers pass, they can renew by mail five years later, meaning they might not have to visit a DMV office until turning 80.

But the high fatality rate among seniors promises only to grow larger, as baby boomers begin hitting retirement age. The number of people over 65 is projected to double to 70 million by 2030.

Many motorists say more restrictive measures are needed to ensure that older drivers are not a threat to themselves or others.

A frustrated Los Angeles woman whose 80-year-old mother recently passed a written license renewal test said she is petrified every time her mother gets behind the wheel.

“You should see her drive,” said the woman, who asked to be identified only as Ann, for fear of drawing her mother’s wrath.

Ann said her mother rolls down the street at a snail’s pace, without turning her head to look for oncoming traffic or motorists trying to pass. The octogenarian doesn’t even notice when she rolls through stop signs and traffic signals.

Ann said she has tried to suggest that her mother stop driving--to no avail.

So far, Ann’s mother has not been involved in a serious accident.

“I don’t how much is luck,” Ann said, “and how much is her driving very slow.”

If you have questions, comments or story ideas regarding driving or traffic in Southern California, send an e-mail to behindthewheel@latimes.com.