Getting the red light

'Like cutting off an arm or a leg" is how one senior driver felt after losing his driving licence… 

...As with so many things to do with getting older, the answer lies, partially at least, in personal forward planning.

The Confident Driving for Mature Drivers' course offered by Age Concern Canterbury … is an example of a successful strategy to help mature drivers maintain their confidence in driving.

The course is enormously popular, running at least once a week and sometimes two or three times a week, as they try to keep classes to under 20 people. [Yvonne] Palmer presents it with [Al] Stewart, and they give an update of rule changes and many tips for personal awareness and safety, as well as insight and support for those moving towards a car-free existence. The courses are in a friendly, relaxed setting within people's own community - so they're quite social events as well. Feedback is very positive, The key message, Palmer says, is: "Who is responsible for your safety? You!"

[Judith] Davey points out that the Government had such a scheme, called Safe With Age. It was discontinued last year, to the disappointment of Age Concern and other organisations. NZTA cited lack of demand, although Age Concern disputed that. NZTA's press release at the time promised 'a new approach" in 2010- 11…

… Helen Grofski recently did Age Concern Canterbury's mature drivers' course and found it very helpful. She identifies that her reaction times are perhaps 'not as good as they used to be. Should the day come when khe can't drive any more, she thinks she will be philosophical about it. 'It's not the end of the world," she says. "But it would be the end of the world if you have a serious crash."

> DOWNLOAD Fairfax's Your Weekend magazine Sat 24 July 2010 [1.7MB PDF file]