NORTHFIELD — Registry of Motor Vehicles Community Outreach Coordinator Michele Ellicks visited the Northfield Senior Center last week to share steps that senior citizens can take to reduce their chances of being involved in a vehicle crash, given that unreported or undiagnosed medical issues, age-related physical and cognitive decline, and side effects of certain medications can have an impact on driver safety.
Citing an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study conducted between 1997 and 2018, Ellicks said that while drivers between the ages of 55 and 74 are statistically shown to crash significantly less than any other age range, later in life, some of the physical and cognitive affects of aging begin to catch up to senior drivers.
“They dug into that data, and they determined there were three particular factors that really helped reduce the crash rate for older drivers. Those factors are health and well-being … older adults are taking better care of their health than they have in the past,” Ellicks said to the roughly 25 people who attended her “Shifting Gears” safe driving workshop on Thursday. “The second factor is in car technology. The technology in your vehicle has really made a big difference in decreasing the number of injuries and collisions. … What’s important is that you, the driver, knows how to use it right.”
Reaction times, Ellicks explained, can increase from less than 1 second for a person in their mid-20s, to close to 4 seconds for someone in their mid-60s. She explained that vision decline follows a similar trajectory, noting that after the age of 25, the amount of light people need to see clearly typically doubles every 13 years. Peripheral vision also usually narrows as people age.
The danger in impaired reaction time and vision, she added, commonly presents itself with left-hand turns, in which drivers often mistime the turn and collide with oncoming traffic.
“Those four functional impairments — vision, reaction time, cognition and hearing — if they have diminished and we don’t do anything about it, we will definitely be involved in a crash,” Ellicks said. “Our bodies are changing, but with these functional impairments, there are things that we can do to stave off the effects. First and foremost, it’s important to work with your health care provider — go to your eye doctor on a regular basis, even if you’re noticing just a slight change in your vision. Be proactive. Talk to the doctor, because chances are, they have a remedy for what is happening now.”
To combat the safety risks associated with older motorists’ ability to operate safely amid cognitive decline, Ellicks suggested that seniors keep their head on a swivel while driving, constantly scanning their surroundings for potential road hazards and verbally acknowledging when they see something that might be a threat. She also suggested that older drivers regularly make circles with their feet to keep their ankles “nimble” for driving.
Ellicks explained that in the event of a crash, drivers can be held liable if they did not report medical conditions that could affect their driving abilities to the RMV on their license renewal forms.
The same, she said, rings true of medications. Ellicks reminded the seniors that they are the “captains” of their “own ships” health-wise and urged them to talk to their health care providers if they notice side effects to their medications that could affect their driving ability.
“If this health care provider prescribes a medication to you, follow the directions, follow their prescription recommendations, but pay attention. Within the first 48 hours of taking that medication, maybe two to three days, if there are any side effects, that’s when they will be presented,” Ellicks said. “Operating under the influence includes prescription meds, and that means that this driver is taking a substance, even if it’s prescribed by their health care provider.”
Walking away from the seminar, attendees said they were fascinated by the tips presented and hoped to adopt them into their own driving routines, such as physical exercises to ensure proper driving mobility and constantly scanning their surroundings on the road.
Debbie Ryder, 70, of Northfield, said she and her husband moved to Massachusetts from a rural town in northern New Hampshire. As she adapts to new roads, she said she will use Ellicks’ advice and scan her periphery frequently, especially when making left-hand turns.
“There are so many new obstacles in this area. When I go into Greenfield or Northampton, we’re not used to streetlights. We lived in a rural area, so there’s a lot of new maneuvers,” Ryder said. “All of the exercises she mentioned, turning left, looking right, left, right, left many times, it’s certainly important to remember. … My husband used to teach driver safety, so I have been to many of his classes, but some of the New Hampshire laws may be different from Massachusetts.”
Wendy Potyrala, 63, of Montague, said that she, too, appreciated the safe driving advice — particularly the importance of remaining active and staying alert.
“I’m a pretty cautious driver,” she said, “but just knowing the extra pointers, like making sure you don’t just look left and right, but looking left and right again, which I try to do … it makes a big difference.”