Older Drivers

The image of the elderly driver as a menace on the road ha been exaggerated by the way researchers look at traffic statistics, according to a study released last week by the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.The analysis of traffic accidents shows that although the fatality rate for drivers begins to rise appreciably at age 70, the risk grows at a slower rate than previously thought, the study contends.Furthermore, it suggests that the effects of the aging process on driver safety have been overstated by the way previous traffic studies compared elderly with young and middle-aged people at a given period of time.

Some of the 28 students who filled a classroom at the Florence Bain Senior Center last week were returning to a topic ** they hadn't studied in 50 years: how to drive a car.But accident prevention and a chance to reduce their insurance premiums were motive enough to participate in the two-day class, sponsored by the center and the American Association of Retired Persons.The course, "55 Alive," is so named because research indicates that physical changes and car accidents accelerate after drivers turn 55. The course costs $8."

The eyes of the world may have been on the Summer Olympics in Barcelona yesterday, but the 26 competitors at Gunpowder Falls State Park were thinking snow.They were the finest State Highway Administration snow-removal specialists who assembled to compete for top honors in the 4th annual Snow Roadeo competition.Even the more experienced drivers going through the course, which was laid out with orange traffic cones on a parking lot, admitted it was challenging."The course was tight, tighter than usual," said George Weidner of the Hagerstown shop, an 18-year snow-removal veteran.

Who's the more likely menace -- the 18-year-old riding your bumper on the Beltway or the 85-year-old driver crawling at 40 mph in front of you?Conventional wisdom says it's the kid. After all, teens have more accidents than anyone else.But federal reports say the 85-year-old has the higher risk of crashing when he's on the road, even though the elderly generally drive less and have fewer accidents.The comparison is not just academic. As the Baby Boom generation grays, more and more elderly drivers will be on the road, posing special safety problems that states may have to address.

An article in yesterday's Sun incorrectly stated that drivers over the age of 50 pay a surcharge on insurance rates charged by GEICO General Insurance Co.GEICO adjusts its rates using a range of factors including age and annual driving mileage, although policyholders now face higher rates when they turn 65 and again at 75, typical policyholdrs receive rate reductions when they turn 50.A table accompanying the story was also incorrect. the figures it presented should have been stated in hundreds of dollars rather than in dollars and represented the total cost of a policy and not the amount of a surcharge.

An article in yesterday's sun incorrectly stated that drivers over the age of 50 pay a surcharge on insurance rates charges by GEICO General Insurnace Co.GEICO adjusts its rates using a range of factors including age and annual driving mileage. Although policyholders now face higher rates when they turn 65 and again at 75, typical policyholders receive rate reductions when they turn 50.A table accompanying the story was also incorrect. The figures it presented should have been stated in hundreds of dollars rather than in dollars and represneted the total cost of a policy and not the amount of a surcharge.

Federal and state regulators are struggling to deal with one of the most vexing and fastest-growing roadway safety issues -- identifying the older drivers who pose a hazard while not discriminating against those who don't.The number of motorists over 65 years old has doubled over the past 20 years. And while older people, as a group, have a lower rate of fatal accidents than teen-agers, their fatal-accident rates based on miles driven are among the highest, according to federal data.Scientific research also suggests that reflexes and cognitive skills critical to driving deteriorate markedly after age 75.But groups representing older motorists, as well as many researchers, are fiercely opposed to additional driving tests for the aging.

Last month, an 83-year-old Pikesville man turning left into a shopping center on Liberty Road pulled in front of an approaching school bus, causing it to collide with his right rear fender.The driver of the car, who had been cited for failing to obey a traffic signal several months earlier, was not hurt. Twenty high school students had minor injuries."He saw the bus coming and all that. He said he just thought that he had time to make it across the road," said Baltimore County Police Officer Joseph Gibson, the who investigated the crash.