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Seniors face transportation challenges

By Tom Flanigan

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wfsu/local-wfsu-976151.mp3

Tallahassee, FL – Florida's overall population isn't growing as fast as it did a few years ago. But the number of older Floridians keeps going up. Tom Flanigan reports that fact is changing the way the state thinks about transportation.

Every seven seconds, another American hits the age of sixty-five. Dr. Susan Nayfield with the University of Florida's Institute on Aging says there's a good chance that American lives in Florida.

"At 18.1 percent, Florida has the largest proportion of persons aged 60 years or older in the nation and this age group represents the fastest-growing segment of the population in the country."

And those older Floridians aren't content to just sit on the porch. Most of them continue to drive into their seventies, eighties and beyond. That may conjure up visions of geriatric motorists poking along on high-speed expressways or crashing into things when they confuse the brake and gas pedals. But Florida Highway Patrol Captain Mark Welch says that's a stereotype that isn't necessarily supported by the facts.

"Statistically, the younger drivers are worse drivers. In fact, we did a couple of things with Ford with some local high schools and one of the talking points there was the teens in the gym, they drove three times - approximately - worse than their grandparents did."

Not to say that there aren't problems associated with senior motorists. During an elder transportation summit in Tallahassee, there was discussion of dimming eyesight, longer reaction times and confusion that can beset some older drivers.

"Any bad driving is a concern, and like was discussed here, there are certain attributes, physical capabilities, that leave as you get older, that need to be addressed and that's one of the growing concerns. I think Florida does a really good job of making certain that all of our motorists are safe."

Florida law requires motorists to take the Mature Driver Vision Test when they reach the age of eighty. Those who pass get a license renewal for six years instead of the standard eight years.

It seems there are other ways State of Florida has been taking driver demographics into account since the 1990s. Gail Holley is with the Mobility for Life Coaltion the Florida Department of Transportation formed last year. Two-dozen partner organizations are helping the department improve safety, access and mobility for the state's seniors. She says accommodations already include such things as highway signage, signals and road markings.

"Most other states have maybe four-inch markings where we have the six, and different things like that. But we've also learned something from it and we wanted to mix more education. So like when we implemented the countdown pedestrian signals, it's a statewide policy we put into effect, but what we also did was come up with a tip' card and tried to do education on how you cross and what does this new pedestrian signal mean? What's the safe way to cross?"

And it's not only streets and highways that are being designed with older drivers in mind. Sheryl Connelly tracks trends for the Ford Motor Company.

"We know about reduced response time, impaired vision, limited range of motion; they're all things that affect the way we interact with our cars and so we've been working on this for years and we have really interesting technology to help us understand these changes."

These technologies include a special suit that gives car designers some of the same physical limitations many older drivers have. Connelly says cars are changing as a result of that research.

"Like for instance we lowered the lip of the vehicle so it's easier to get in and out - a better ingress and egress functionality - we have the increased font size that they just recently launched a couple of days ago. We have a second-row inflatable seat belt, which is really important when we think about who sits in the second-row seat, it's our most vulnerable generations. It's the youngest and the oldest generations."

But not every senior citizen drives. For any number of reasons, many have to rely on other means of getting around. Like most other states, public transit in Florida is available only in the largest cities. Government budget cuts at all levels are hitting those systems hard. So the Department of Transportation's Gail Holley says it's up to other alternatives to meet the need.

"Like each community, they can have, not just relying on public transportation - maybe it's not available - but you can have more volunteer driver programs through churches and anywhere. Just communities coming together and developing more, so we can kind of tailor mobility needs based on individual needs and not based on what the community has available."

It's an issue that the University of Florida's Dr. Susan Nayfield says has a surprising number of moving parts.

"There's an awful lot of interesting information here that is helpful to me as a person dealing with older people to know what the transportation department is doing, what resources are available, what help systems are available to older drivers that could make a difference in their safety and the safety of others."

And, as Florida and the nation ages, it's an issue that promises to become even more important as the years go by.