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      WASHINGTON (AP) - Remember "The Little Old Lady from
Pasadena"? Baby boomers who first danced to that 1964 pop hit
about a granny burning up the road in her hot rod will begin
turning 65 in January. Experts say keeping those drivers safe and
mobile is a challenge with profound implications.


      Miles driven by older drivers are going up and fatal crashes
involving seniors coming down, but too often they are forced to
choose between safety and being able to get around, experts told a
National Transportation Safety Board forum on transportation and
aging Tuesday.


      Within 15 years more than one in five licensed drivers will be
65 or older, the safety board said. Their number will nearly
double, from 30 million today to about 57 million in 2030,
according to the Government Accountability Office.


      Smarter cars and better designed roads may help keep them stay
behind the wheel longer.


      But eventually most people will outlive their driving ability -
men by an average of six years and women by an average of 10 years.
And since fewer Americans relocate when they retire, many of them
probably will continue to live in suburban homes.


      The result is a "mobility gap," Joseph Coughlin, head of the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology's AgeLab, which develops
technologies aimed at keeping older people active, said in an
interview.


      "For many, our homes will not be just a place to age, it will
also be house arrest," said Coughlin.


      Older drivers who are healthy aren't necessarily any less safe
than younger drivers. But many older drivers are likely to have
age-related medical conditions that can affect their driving.


      A 40-year-old needs 20 times more light to see at night to see
than a 20-year-old, Coughlin said. Older drivers generally are less
able to judge speed and distances, their reflexes are slower, they
may be more easily confused and they're less flexible, which
affects their ability to turn so that they can look to the side or
behind them.


      Fatal crash rates for older drivers compared with other age
groups begin to increase starting at about age 75, according to the
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Drivers over age 85 have a
worse fatality rate than teenagers and drivers in their early 20s.


      The main reason is that older drivers are more frail and less
likely to survive an accident or recover from injuries, according
to the institute. Older drivers primarily kill themselves in
crashes, with these accounting for 61 percent of deaths in
accidents involving drivers 70 and older. Sixteen percent of the
deaths were their passengers.


      Nevertheless, the fatal crash rate for older drivers has
declined over the past decade, and at a faster rate than for other
drivers. Researcher Anne McCartt of the insurance institute told
the board the reason for the trend isn't clear, but it may be that
older drivers are in better physical condition.


      Many older drivers compensate for the erosion of their driving
abilities by changing their driving habits.


      "I'm never in a rush," said Grace M. Sanders, 87, a retired
secretary in Atlanta. She takes care to map out a route in her mind
before she leaves the house. She avoids driving near construction
sites. If it's raining, she stays home.


      But even though she could take the bus, it's important to
Sanders that she keep her car.


      "I always wanted to be an independent person and I maintained
that independence throughout my life," she said in an interview.


      New technologies, some of them borrowed from the military and
commercial aviation, may help older drivers stay behind the wheel
longer, and more safely. Crash warning systems using sensors
embedded in the car can alert drivers to an impending accident.
They can even override the driver and apply the brake. Similar
technology can parallel park the car. Night vision systems can help
with one of the most frustrating problems for older drivers.


      Not every remedy involves new technology. Sometimes it's just a
matter of making dials larger so they're easier for drivers to
find. A strap can be added to hold onto when getting in and out of
a car. An extended mirror can help drivers avoid turning around as
much.


      "They may extend the driving careers of some seniors, but they
are certainly not a panacea," cautioned Bonnie Dobbs, a
gerontology professor at the University of Alberta. She notes that
many technologies could distract or confuse older drivers, which
could lead to accidents.


      Better designed roads may also help. For example, traffic
"roundabouts" that gently ease drivers into turn circles with no
traffic lights could help reduce left turn-related crashes, which
make up a disproportionate share of the accidents that kill older
drivers.


      What's not being addressed is how to keep older Americans mobile
after they lose their driving skills, said University of Arizona
professor Sandra Rosenbloom, an authority on transportation and
aging.


      "As people get older and lose the ability to drive, they narrow
and narrow their circle of friends and their circle of activities
until it gets to the point where they are housebound and they don't
move at all," Rosenbloom said in an interview.


      Seventy-five percent of older drivers live in suburban or rural
areas where there are few alternatives to driving, she said. Public
transportation isn't a realistic option, Rosenbloom said. For
people who have lost the ability to drive, the physical and mental
conditions that made driving untenable are also likely preclude
hiking to a bus stop, especially if there's no bench. The act of
getting on and off a bus can be prohibitive. Many older people -
especially those over 80 - also worry about losing their balance on
a bus and fear being victimized.


      "You cannot address safety issues independent from how people
live their lives and where they live them," Rosenbloom told the
safety board.


      Marcia Savarese, 73, began driving when she was 16. In 2008, she
suffered a stroke and didn't drive for a year. Instead, she
depended on friends, expensive taxis and delivery services.


      Now, she's back on the road despite a loss of some of her
peripheral vision. To compensate, she said she's trained herself to
turn around to look more than before. She rarely drives at night,
and she stays off the interstate. She does much of her grocery
shopping and other errands early in the morning when parking lots
are nearly empty. Rarely does she drive more than a few miles from
home.


      "I feel it is safer for other people if I stay right in the
local area that I know," Savarese, a widow and retired estate
jewelry dealer in Vienna, Va., said in an interview. She didn't
want to move from her neighborhood, where she has lived for the
past 40 years.


      "I'm more comfortable here," she said. "My friends are here,
my doctors are here, everything is here."
     

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Social Issues

Remember "The Little Old Lady from
Pasadena"? Baby boomers who first danced to that 1964 pop hit
about a granny burning up the road in her hot rod will begin
turning 65 in January. Experts say keeping those drivers safe and
mobile is a challenge with profound implications.

As boomers age, 1 in 5 drivers will be oldsters

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