shAARP Talk: Observations from AARP

By Neil Schuster, president and CEO, American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA)

Over the last 10 years the press has made much ado regarding the question, "How old is too old to drive?" Fortunately, after much debate and discussion, most highway safety advocates and medical professionals agree that age should not be the critical factor in determining someone's physical and cognitive fitness to drive.

I agree. And with so few transportation alternatives available today, our best plan of action should be to implement the types of policies, practices and licensing procedures at the state level that help people continue driving for as long as it is safely possible.
To that end, today, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety (AAAFTS) released some key objectives and policies that could help safely lengthen everyone's time behind the wheel as well as better identify at-risk drivers. And it gives me great pleasure to say, "State motor vehicle agencies (DMVs) are already implementing, or exploring how to implement, many of the AAAFTS recommendations!"

But even though your DMV is already on the case where many of the AAAFTS recommendations are concerned, not all of the objectives can be easily implemented, especially given state budget constraints and competing state and federal priorities.
Here's what I mean.

One of the recommendations suggests that states should require an in-person examination at each renewal cycle. In theory, it is a good safety practice to periodically retest drivers of all ages, but is it necessary at every renewal and how realistic is it in today's budget-strapped environment?

State DMVs lack funding to employee the additional personnel needed to carry out this task. Given limited resources, if state DMVs did attempt retest every licensee at every renewal, you would likely be waiting in line for hours to renew your own license because of the additional volume of people being reexamined.

This isn't a bad idea. But it presents a challenge to the DMV. Again, given limited resources, should DMV focus on retesting every license holder at every renewal, or invest scarce dollars in other programs, whether graduated licenses for teen drivers or, greater education and enforcement of repeat impaired drivers, or other programs that might yield a better safety payoff?

So the question becomes, not "how old is too old," but "where are limited dollars best employed in the battle to improve road safety?"

Founded in 1933, AAMVA is a non-profit voluntary educational association representing the chief motor vehicle administrators and law enforcement officials in the U.S. and Canada. AAMVA promotes uniformity among its members by developing best practices in driver's licensing and ID credentialing, vehicle tilting and registration and law enforcement, among others.

The word today from Lindsay Thomson:

In “Driven to the Brink: How the Gas Price Spike Popped the Housing Bubble and Devalued the Suburbs,” a new report out from CEOs for Cities, author Joe Cortright writes:

“For decades, the growth of suburban housing was predicated on cheap gas. In effect, the low price of gas made sprawl economical. While predatory and sub-prime lending have been blamed for the housing crisis and have certainly contributed to the problem, another economic factor has been almost entirely overlooked in the timing and the geography of the nation’s housing market implosion. The rise in gas prices from less than $1.10 in early 2002 to more than $3 today has dealt a major blow to consumer purchasing power and weighs most heavily on those metropolitan areas and those suburbs where people have to drive the farthest. Indeed, the decline in housing markets is strongly correlated with auto dependence.”

Ahem, make that nearly $4 a gallon. Poh-ta-to, po-tah-to, right? Unfortunately not … AARP has long promoted livable communities – places with a range of transportation options and accessible housing that can enable people of all ages and abilities to live independently and be engaged in community life. Looks like we can add rising gas prices to our list of reasons why livable communities just make sense.

America’s suburbs have become a source of learning for foreigner planners, according to a story earlier in the month from USA Today. There are some good things happening in this country, like mixed use development, those nice town centers and easy access to public transportation spots. Unfortunately, they are not everywhere. In too many American suburbs if you don’t drive, you are stuck at home. If our brethren from the rest of the world want a lesson to take home, it should be that suburbs need more travel choices and services close by - especially with men and women outliving their driving years by six and 10 years respectively. This isn’t just for those who are not able to drive, a little exercise never hurt. And if you throw in the price of gas these days, a walk doesn’t sound like a bad idea for just about anyone.

Ray mentioned it below, but there was a really interesting story in this weekend's Washington Post about people over 65 who have no access to transportation. I don’t expect this is a problem limited to the Washington area. In fact, 20 percent of Americans over 65 are living like this. And I can’t imagine with the demographic shift that this number is going to get any smaller or that most of us are not going to face a parent or loved one in this situation. After all, 70 percent of Americans are living in the suburbs today.

What can be done? A couple of ideas:

- There are a host of interesting non-profit organizations that allow people to bank time while they are able to drive, so they can earn credits toward rides in the future, or even other things. Check ‘em out here .

- Build communities where lots of amenities are close by. Some good examples are Arlington's Ballston neighborhood; Burlington, Vermont and even Traverse City, Michigan.

- Provide people choices when it comes to transportation. Buses and subways can go a long way.

As with most problems, this one will only get bigger and more expensive to solve, so hopefully we will see more innovation and good ideas before it gets out of hand.

Just in time for Caregiver Awareness Month, AARP has released a survey about those who are doing most of the caregiving – boomer women. Turns out these women are talking to their parents about how they want to live as they get older, but not enough are actually doing the planning. Nearly 70 percent of these women also believe their parents can afford their care, but the reality is that a nursing home can cost as much as $75,000 a year and a private home health aid about $19 an hour.

What does all this mean? It means it is not enough to have the conversation, it’s time to get a plan.

It used to be that bells and whistles that made cars safer were only for the high rollers. No more. Today’s NY Times highlights what Detroit and others are offering drivers in new cars to make them safer and easier to drive. Among the toys are: cameras that see behind you and steering that can help prevent or correct a skid. Pretty cool, huh?

What’s key here is that the automotive industry recognizes that the needs of drivers is changing. People want to stay mobile as long as possible and “smarter” cars can help them do just that.