As the students filed into the classroom to find their seats, nervous chatter and florescent lighting fills the room. They stop to say “hello” to their friends and quickly find their seats because it’s time for class to begin. The teachers hand out driver’s safety workbooks and give a brief overview of the next two days’ lessons.
As the workbooks open for the first round of questions, many act like a deer in the headlights; unsure which way to go.
Then come the questions, the first instructs them to match the shape of signs used on the roadway with their intended purpose without the signs’ regular color-coding. It’s a stumper.
As the questions progressed, nervous looks break out and students peer around to see whether their neighbors are understanding things as well as them. Husbands and wives make fun competition of the quizzing.
When the instructors break out in discussion of what was just covered, the students begin to ease.
They knew more than they thought.
“Get ready for an eight hour test of assessment — self-assessment,” said Sherm Wortman, 69, a co-instructor of the AARP Drivers Safety Program offered Wednesday and Thursday at the Bayview Senior Center.
The American Association for Retired Persons Driver Safety Program is the nation’s first and largest classroom refresher course originally designed especially for drivers age 50 and older. In 2002, more than 650,000 people graduated nationally from the program, and August of last year graduates reached the 9 million mark.
But don’t refer to it as 55-Alive, the name the class took on after the federal government mandated it for all drivers over 55 who wanted to receive an insurance break. The course is now open to any licensed driver, and people don’t have to be AARP members. But the instructors say it’s content is still geared to older drivers.
The class consists of two four-hour sessions taught by trained volunteers. Topics include rules of the road, current roadway conditions and tips on how to compensate for normal age-related physical changes that may impact driving ability.
The class also discussed in groups about who they thought were problem drivers on South Whidbey. They brainstormed important safety features for cars. They questioned what Washington state should do to assess older drivers’ capabilities. And they ranted about
the problem traffic areas on Whidbey.
“It was good that the questions were reflective,” said Kathryn Bennett, 58, of Greenbank. “I found it gave you confidence in what you know and didn’t punish you for what you might have forgotten,”
The class is directed to a generation that has gotten much flak after a year of headlines about concerns over elderly drivers’ abilities. The class philosophy supports AARP’s public stance of keeping the roads safe for everyone.
In a press release from the organization, it is stated, “We believe that people should be able to drive for as long as they can safely do so. It is important to recognize that age itself is not an accurate indicator of a person’s driving abilities; however, cognitive or physical impairments are increasingly likely to develop as a person gets older.”
Law enforcement in Island County shares AARP’s concerns. Sgt. Rick Norrie of the Island County Sheriff’s Office, said as life progresses, a driver’s reaction time could slow one-half to three seconds from its normal rate.
In class, students learn that by age 50, half as much light reaches the eye as when a person is 25.
“It’s a logical reason not to drive at night for many seniors,” Wortman said, “They don’t know this because they don’t realize their abilities have changed.”
Current statistics show that drivers over 65 are twice as likely to be killed in an automobile crash than those aged 55 to 64, according to a AAA sponsored study.
Rather than criticize older drivers, however, the class takes students back to school to help understand their changing bodies and changing abilities.
“People who have been driving that long get stuck in old habits,” said Sgt. Norrie, who is the head of the sheriff office’s traffic safety unit. “This class allows them to expand their knowledge and make changes to things that are in their subconscious.”
Norrie is a certified teacher with the National Traffic Safety Institute and has been teaching courses in everything from emergency vehicle management, drug recognition inspection and traffic safety to offenders for over 12 years. He praises the course.
“Any time you’re presenting an education opportunity like this, at least 90 percent of what is learned makes a difference, and that saves taxpayers money and saves lives,” he said.
The rewards of learning, again
Wortman admits he and his co-instructor put humor into the mix to break up the monotony and keep everyone awake. They also note they are not teachers and are not there to answer to everything.
“We had one guy come in here after failing his drivers test and he thought we were a guarantee that he’d be able to pass it next time,” Elliott said. “We’re not that all.”
Tests are not given, and the work book questions used are constructed in a reflective manner, according to co-instructor Harry Elliott, 79.
“We are not here to judge,” Wortman said.
The AARP supports routine in-person renewal and assessment of all drivers and also supports testing of individuals who show evidence of risky driving behaviors or impaired functioning that increases crash risk.
Wortman gave the class the comparison: “Pilots test every three years and flying a plane isn’t much unlike driving.”
He admits to being unsure about at what age drivers’ testing, if any, should begin for seniors
“There’s always going to be resistance any time someone says ‘you must’ do anything,” Wortman said.
In a class of just under two dozen, about 50 percent had taken the class before. Many of the students were in class this week to reap the benefits of lower insurance bills after completing the class.
Damien Greene Insurance Agency in Clinton, a Farmers Insurance carrier, offers a 10-percent discount on average to customers who have completed the course.
Sheila DeLong, a State Farm Representative in Freeland, said her office offers a corporate office-sponsored 5-percent discount. Island Insurance in Freeland gives clients automobile insurance opportunities from four different companies that offer a 5-10 percent discount for taking the AARP course. Porter Whidbey’s two auto insurance carriers, North Pacific and SafeCo both offer 5 percent discounts, according to Freeland agent Cindy Currier.
These discount rates are pretty standard for the state, according, to Darrin Sanger, a spokesman for the Washington Insurance Commission.
“Most companies out there offer somewhere around a 5-10 percent discount,” he said.
And with AARP opening its Defensive Driving course to those younger than 55 insurance companies should follow suit, he said .
“They should step up to the plate and offer discounts to younger people who take the course,” he said.
“If they’d offer me a discount I’d probably do it too,” said Greene, who is 42.
Both instructors hope their students take away more than just a discount on insurance.
“Driving is self-reliance, freedom,” Elliott said. “As you get older you hate to have people do things for you.”
