New program would offer cheaper transportation
CITYWIDE — The guilty verdict imposed on an 89-year-old Santa Monica resident last week for his role in killing 10 people when he drove his car through a crowded farmers’ market three years ago served as a reminder of the potential dangers that can accompany a senior citizen picking up car keys.
But there are steps family members can take to help prevent tragic incidents similar to what happened when George Russell Weller drove into the open-air Arizona Avenue marketplace on July 16, 2003, when he was 86 years of age. Families who are concerned about an elderly family member’s ability to drive should look for signs on the car like scrapes and bumps, suggests Elinor Ginzler, the director of livable communities at AARP, a nonprofit membership-based organization for people age 50 and older.
“It’s real important to be in the car with the older driver themselves,” Ginzler said. “Look for incidents that were not accidents, but could’ve become one.”
Family members should take heed if the senior citizen is hitting any objects, taking medication that could affect cognition, requiring special seating or getting lost driving to what had been a familiar destination, said Nicole Kaplan,vice president of programs and services at the Center for Healthy Aging.
The Center for Healthy Aging in Santa Monica has recently launched a new program designed to assist seniors in transitioning from driving to alternative means of transportation.
The program assigns volunteers to individual seniors and helps them identify their options. The forms of transportation can vary depending on the resources available to the elders.
With the expenses involved in a car’s upkeep — maintenance, car washes, insurance and gas — alternative transportation will often prove to be less costly as well.
“It (the costs associated with driving) ends up in excess of $200 a month, which somebody can use for transportation, whether it’s a taxi or hiring someone to drive for them,” Kaplan said.
Next month, the center also plans to launch an inexpensive transportation service available to seniors age 65 and older, or people with visual disabilities, regardless of their age.
The Independent Transportation Network (ITN) will provide rides to the center’s service areas of Brentwood, Pacific Palisades and Santa Monica for a nominal fee. ITN will charge a membership fee of $35 for an individual and $50 for a couple.
The program will depend on volunteers and a few part-time drivers. About 20 volunteers have signed up for the program, which will offer services 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
In six months, ITN will add West Los Angeles, Mar Vista, Palms, Culver City and Venice to its service area. Santa Monica will be the first city to replicate the transportation program, which has been successful in Portland, Maine, for 12 years, Kaplan said.
ITN has not set a ride fee, but the program in Portland charges about $1 a mile, Kaplan said.
The program will be funded by membership and ride fees, and donations from businesses and physicians. It is financially independent of the government.
“If we want people to stop driving when it’s no longer safe, not only for themselves but for the public, we have to offer an alternative,” Kaplan said.
DEFINING OLD AGE Driving ability may not necessarily be related to age, Ginzler said, but rather an issue with vision and cognition. The state recently conducted a three-tiered driving assessment pilot program that is based on ability, rather than age.
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the program in California, which was also tested in Maryland, found that poor scores in the first two tiers usually led to low performance on the road test, or the third tier. However the program also found that a driver’s results were not consistent with their crash record in the three years before their license needed to be renewed.
In California, the Department of Motor Vehicles does not impose a maximum age limit at which drivers could lose their licenses.
“DMV has no definition, nor does the state of California, of what a senior citizen is,” said DMV spokesman Steve Haskins.
Once a driver reaches the age of 70, they must renew their license in person and take a vision and written test. The license renewal cycle is five years.
“State of California law actually forbids us from administering a driving test to anybody just because they happen to be a certain age,” Haskins said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 26, 2006. Read the original PDF.