A group of mature Yorkton drivers got a refresher course on the safe operation of a motor vehicle last week.
The 55 Alive - Mature Driver Safety Course, sponsored by SGI, The Saskatchewan Safety Council and Canada Safety Council, focusses on self-evaluation of driving abilities, how the aging process affects driving, how to compensate for advancing age and adapting to road and weather conditions.
Vi Stefanuk, secretary of the New Horizons Senior Center where the free seminar was held, said it was very valuable to her as an older driver.
"It's a very very good reminder for everybody and about things we hadn't even realized were happening to us, so we'll be more alert," she said.
She said she personally learned some things, particularly about right of way regulations, she had forgotten over the years.
Lee Carlson, who conducted the seminar, said it is fairly typical for drivers who have had their licence for many years to need an update of their knowledge.
"Quite often we take for granted that maybe we still know the information we have and we haven't taken the time to update," he said. "This gives them the opportunity to just refresh their skills, gives them a chance to identify what they're doing right, but maybe also some of the things they're not doing right, that they need to correct."
Knowledge is only part of it though. Carlson explained much of the challenge for older drivers is physiological.
"As we're getting older, our vision does change, our hearing capabilities, our perception can actually slow down, our ability to understand what's happening around us and our physical mobility, difficulty making shoulder checks and things like that," he said. "And quite often, because we're progressing in life, we don't think about these things."
The course outlines strategies for compensating for those changes, but also advocates activities to maintain alertness and mobility. In a video shown during the seminar one woman quotes the old axiom: "If you don't use it, you lose it." Testimonials from older drivers in the film illustrate how physical and mental exercise have given them more confidence, improved their awareness and enhanced their mobility.
Of course, all of this is in the name of safety, both for the mature driver and others on the road. Saskatchewan has not done any statistical analysis, but Carlson says there is good evidence from the United States that the program works.
"They've done some tracking in the States and they have shown that many people who have gone through the course, because they have more information, more knowledge, it has been able to reduce violations," he said. "Of course, violations cause collisions and collisions can hurt people. So, we don't track statistics up here, but we are an aging population, so it's definitely applicable."
Although the program gives older drivers tools to maintain the independence driving affords for as long as possible, there does come a time when every driver must make the difficult decision that it is time to hang up his keys for good. The course also deals with how to do that.
