princess
03-08-2006, 08:13 AM
Elderly Drivers Get a Lift
By Eric Peters
02/02/06
In Exchange for Their Keys
Getting Grandpa to give up his keys might be a lot easier if you offered him a ride in exchange.
That's the idea behind the Independent Transportation Network (ITN), which provides on-call rides to seniors who trade in their cars and give up their keys in return. Maine resident Katherine Freund created the ITN after her 3-year-old son Ryan was run over by an 84-year-old man who kept going after he struck the child. He later said he thought he'd hit a dog.
Such accidents are not unusual; indeed, they are a growing problem.
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), drivers over age 65 are the most accident-prone group next to teenagers. Many of the accidents these older drivers get into can be attributed to declining physical and mental abilities, especially poor eyesight and slowed reaction times, combined with an inability or unwillingness to self-evaluate and acknowledge these declining faculties. Unlike teenage drivers, older drivers are not deliberately reckless; instead of excessive speed or aggressive driving, their accidents result from inattention, distraction and sometimes confusion.
But in a car-dependent culture, losing the ability to drive can mean the loss of one's independence, which many older people are reluctant to give up. Even in areas where public transport is available, the prospect of having to stand in the cold waiting for a bus is not appealing to many older folks.
And so they keep driving, sometimes long after they should have hung up their keys.
ITN presents a third way. It works sort of like a reverse mortgage, but instead of getting a payment each month for living expenses (based on the equity value of one's home), the participating senior gets transportation credits based on the value of the vehicle they've given up. These credits may then be used to summon a car to drive them whenever they need a ride. Volunteers and paid part-time drivers act as personal chauffeurs, and the account balance available to pay for the rides may be added to by giving cash, by donating another car or by family and friends donating their time as volunteer drivers. On average, $7-$8 is deducted from the senior's account balance for each ride.
It's a win-win for everyone. Older folks no longer comfortable behind the wheel don't have to lose their mobility, and the older person's family and friends lose the constant worry about that person getting hurt or hurting someone else. Participants also no longer have to worry about the upkeep and costs associated with owning a car, which for an older person can be significant issues. Money that would otherwise have to be spent on maintenance, insurance and so on can be put to other uses. And there's no more worry about whether the car will start on a cold winter day.
ITN, which was founded about 10 years ago in Portland, Maine, currently provides about 15,000 rides per year to participant seniors. Similar pilot programs are being launched or considered in a number of other cities as well, including Santa Monica, Calif., Orlando, Fla., Charleston, S.C., and Trenton, N.J. Maine Sen. Susan Collins has proposed a five-year, $25 million federal grant program to implement the ITN concept nationwide.
Says ITN's Freund, "What was a personal experience for me was a much larger social problem. This thing has to be fixable. This isn't a disease for which there's no cure. We know what the solution is. We need more transportation for the elderly."
ITN may have come at just the right moment, too. The number of 65-and-over drivers will grow significantly in the coming decades as the 78-million-strong baby boom generation hits retirement age. Also, people in general are living longer and often still driving well into their 80s and 90s.
This is fine, provided they can do so safely. But if they can't, ITN may provide them a way to get where they need to go without anyone getting hurt in the process.
By Eric Peters
02/02/06
In Exchange for Their Keys
Getting Grandpa to give up his keys might be a lot easier if you offered him a ride in exchange.
That's the idea behind the Independent Transportation Network (ITN), which provides on-call rides to seniors who trade in their cars and give up their keys in return. Maine resident Katherine Freund created the ITN after her 3-year-old son Ryan was run over by an 84-year-old man who kept going after he struck the child. He later said he thought he'd hit a dog.
Such accidents are not unusual; indeed, they are a growing problem.
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), drivers over age 65 are the most accident-prone group next to teenagers. Many of the accidents these older drivers get into can be attributed to declining physical and mental abilities, especially poor eyesight and slowed reaction times, combined with an inability or unwillingness to self-evaluate and acknowledge these declining faculties. Unlike teenage drivers, older drivers are not deliberately reckless; instead of excessive speed or aggressive driving, their accidents result from inattention, distraction and sometimes confusion.
But in a car-dependent culture, losing the ability to drive can mean the loss of one's independence, which many older people are reluctant to give up. Even in areas where public transport is available, the prospect of having to stand in the cold waiting for a bus is not appealing to many older folks.
And so they keep driving, sometimes long after they should have hung up their keys.
ITN presents a third way. It works sort of like a reverse mortgage, but instead of getting a payment each month for living expenses (based on the equity value of one's home), the participating senior gets transportation credits based on the value of the vehicle they've given up. These credits may then be used to summon a car to drive them whenever they need a ride. Volunteers and paid part-time drivers act as personal chauffeurs, and the account balance available to pay for the rides may be added to by giving cash, by donating another car or by family and friends donating their time as volunteer drivers. On average, $7-$8 is deducted from the senior's account balance for each ride.
It's a win-win for everyone. Older folks no longer comfortable behind the wheel don't have to lose their mobility, and the older person's family and friends lose the constant worry about that person getting hurt or hurting someone else. Participants also no longer have to worry about the upkeep and costs associated with owning a car, which for an older person can be significant issues. Money that would otherwise have to be spent on maintenance, insurance and so on can be put to other uses. And there's no more worry about whether the car will start on a cold winter day.
ITN, which was founded about 10 years ago in Portland, Maine, currently provides about 15,000 rides per year to participant seniors. Similar pilot programs are being launched or considered in a number of other cities as well, including Santa Monica, Calif., Orlando, Fla., Charleston, S.C., and Trenton, N.J. Maine Sen. Susan Collins has proposed a five-year, $25 million federal grant program to implement the ITN concept nationwide.
Says ITN's Freund, "What was a personal experience for me was a much larger social problem. This thing has to be fixable. This isn't a disease for which there's no cure. We know what the solution is. We need more transportation for the elderly."
ITN may have come at just the right moment, too. The number of 65-and-over drivers will grow significantly in the coming decades as the 78-million-strong baby boom generation hits retirement age. Also, people in general are living longer and often still driving well into their 80s and 90s.
This is fine, provided they can do so safely. But if they can't, ITN may provide them a way to get where they need to go without anyone getting hurt in the process.