Senior Citizens On The Road

The senior citizens of today have simply grown up with their cars.  They came of age in the forties and fifties when the automobile culture really began to prosper.  The automobile characterized their life – where they chose to live, how they chose to vacation, even where they chose to work.

The number of senior drivers is on the rise in the United States. Back in the year 2008, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that there were over thirty two million drivers that were over the age of 65.

The automobile of today defines these seniors’ safety on the road.  Unfortunately, many of our seniors are driving old vehicles, and others still are in vehicles that aren't really adjusted to match their height and driving abilities.

According to NHTSA, the dangers are very real. Back in the year of 2009, one hundred eighty-seven thousand seniors were wounded in traffic crashes. This accounts for eight percent of all the people injured in traffic crashes during that year. These elderly people end up being 16% of traffic fatalities nationwide. Of traffic fatalities with older drivers being involved in 2009, eighty-one percent happened in the daytime, seventy-one percent occurred on weekdays, and sixty-nine percent involved other automobiles.

Thankfully, these numbers can be significantly reduced with just a few safety measures and regular vehicle maintenance to improve visibility. It doesn't have to be hard for a senior driver to retain their independence and improve their safety on the road. Jungerman CARSTAR in St. Peters is proud to offer the following suggestions for keeping the senior citizen in your life safe on the road.

Conduct a Safety Fit Check on the Vehicle:  In many cases, a car might not be a good fit for a senior driver.  For example, the seat might be too low or the pedals could be too far to reach comfortably or mirrors may no longer be in the best position for overall satisfactory vision.  All of these factors could contribute to a possibly devastating accident.  Your Jungerman CARSTAR in St. Peters, Missouri can give you a very good evaluation.  To help, they can even provide pedal extensions, booster seats, mirror extension, magnifiers and running boards.

If you are looking for a new car for a senior to drive, look for senior-specific solutions like higher or extra-wide doorways, modifiable foot pedals, big inside door handles, extra-large buttons with plainly visible labels, support handles to help along entry and exit, large or adjustable-size print for gauges on the dashboard, seat adjustment devices that can move the seat in all directions, especially raising it so the driver’s line of sight is three inches above the adjusted steering wheel or more and dashboard-mounted ignition systems instead of steering column-mounted ignition systems.

Check the Vehicle Visibility: Of course, it is easy to see the importance for a driver to see out of the car. However, it’s also important for them to see the road well and for other cars to see them. Many seniors drive old automobiles, and these kinds of headlamps can easily lose illumination or become hazy over time.  The 3M Lens Renewal Kit, an easy solution for this sort of issue, enables consumers to revive headlights to pristine clarity in less than an hour with nothing more than a household drill. If this doesn't work for you, have it done professionally by Jungerman CARSTAR in St. Peters, MO. Add new headlight bulbs, change the windshield wiper blades and give the interior and exterior glass a thorough cleaning to improve overall visibility.

Evaluate the Driver: It can be hard to talk with seniors about their driving skills, but an assessment can be important. Find qualified evaluations in each and every state with the Association for Driver Rehabilitation Specialists (ADED) and the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc. (AOTA).  The driver ought to expect a complete evaluation with eyesight assessment and muscle strength, flexibility, and range of motion; coordination and reaction time plus judgment and decision-making abilities.

Make a Safe Traffic Plan:  Senior drivers generally are safer on familiar routes that do not require frequent lane changes or have heavy traffic.  Help seniors to schedule trips when traffic is less heavy, and help them to map out routes to frequently visited locations that consist of mostly side streets and less busy intersections.  Also identify key landmarks that help seniors to stay fully oriented on their trip.

Prepare for an Emergency:  In case there is an emergency or accident, give seniors an accident kit with their insurance information, emergency contact list, notepad and disposable camera.  Don't forget that they can call 1-800-CARSTAR twenty-four hours a day for assistance and CARSTAR will manage the towing, rental car and contact the insurance company. Also incorporate the names of their primary doctor to supply any health-related information to Emergency Medical Technicians. For the trunk, pack an emergency kit with a blanket, gloves, hat, water, granola bars, flashlight and extra batteries, extra cell phone battery, flares, compass, scissors, rope, wooden matches in waterproof container and first aid kit.

With just a little preparation and smart maintenance, seniors can be safe on the road well into their golden years. If you have senior parents, family members, friends, or neighbors, take just a few minutes to do a safety check on their car or truck and help them prepare in case a crash does happen.  It can make a critical difference for them on the road.

The Danger Of Your Last Car Accident May Not Be Over

A car accident can be a very stressful experience for any family with small children, but  families often overlook one vitally important element: the possibly impairing damage to a child safety seat and associated injuries to the correlating child. In fact, some twenty-five thousand children are injured in car crashes each and every year, so the problem is clearly one that is significant in our society.

Everyone knows that a child safety seat is an instrument specially designed to protect young people anywhere between infancy and eight year olds. Just as evident yet much more frequently ignored is the fact that a child safety seat just can't do its job right if it is improperly installed or an improper fit for the occupant, or re-used after an accident or significant wear.

The national misuse rate for child safety seats is over eighty percent over all and as much as 95 percent in some areas that are particularly bad. And with child safety seats set up in an estimated one in ten vehicles on the road, the risk of one getting into an accident is of great concern. Child safety seats and booster seats save the lives of America's children every day, but only when they're installed and used properly.

CARSTAR, this country’s biggest group of auto body repair specialists, and their franchise owners like those at Jungerman CARSTAR in St. Peters, MO work with multiple safety organizations to teach moms and dads about proper installation and usage of their child safety seat, and to make sure that they know the importance of replacing after accidents to protect the child.

Just like with any other part of the car, child safety seats can be be critically impaired by an accident, but replacement need isn’t always as clear as one might like. Insurance company and vehicle repair criteria commonly stipulate which components and systems have to be replaced under what conditions, and at what cost. That simply isn't the truth for child safety seats. In the vast majority of cases, the child seat needs to be replaced after an accident for the safety of the child, even though damage may not be directly visible, in accordance with NHTSA guidelines.  But standards for replacement and the compensation fluctuate extensively – from not being included to only a stipend that covers an entry level child safety seat.

When the unfortunate accident does occur, the physics of that crash put strain of an incredible magnitude on the frame, harness and structure of the child safety seat.  This can bring the child safety seat to not perform to top standard in future crashes and greatly reduce the actual quantity of protection provided to the child.  But determining the impact on the child safety seat is difficult with such a wide range of makers and models in that market.

That’s why Jungerman CARSTAR in St. Peters, Missouri is becoming involved to ensure that every parent considers the child safety seat when they have their vehicle repaired.  It is positively crucial to review the child safety seat for damaged parts, frame, structure, or hinges or any inflated airbags.  These are all good signs that the child seat has to be replaced for the sake of the child.

NHTSA recommends that the performance of the child safety seat be rigorously examined after any crash whatsoever and oftentimes replaced in an accident that deploys the air bags, compresses the front bumper, rear bumper or side panels or causes injuries to the passengers.

Installation, Proper Fitting is Key

Among the most critical factors in child safety seat performance are the installation of the seat and proper fit.  Most parents will readily explain to you that installation of one of these seats can be challenging and that keeping up with a growing youngster is difficult.  Actually, eighty percent of child safety seats are installed improperly.

It is important that you have your child safety seat inspected for proper installation at a child safety seat inspection station or event. The real key with these events is making sure that the seat is installed properly so it will adequately function in the event of a crash. Absolutely always pay close attention to the inspector during the entire installation process. More then that, be an active participant in the installation. Don’t just let the technician do all the work.  It’s very important for you, the owner of the vehicle, to know exactly how to install the seat adequately.

In past times, local law enforcement and fire departments have performed child safety seat checks, but municipal budget reductions throughout the nation have removed most of these.  To fill this gap, this CARSTAR location is stepping up and stepping in by certifying our store's team members on child safety seat installation and hosting clinics at their local store.

At Jungerman CARSTAR in St. Peters, Missouri, they're carrying out regular child safety seat installation examinations at their location, drawing hundreds of parents just like you to the store for this free service.

Seeing Safety A Mile Away

There's a safety issue on America’s streets that seldom comes to light:  dim headlight bulbs and bleary headlight lenses, which could trigger reduced visibility. With Daylight Savings Time and wintery, snow-white weather, the significance of clear night-time visibility increases.

Eventually, dim and hazy headlight lenses trigger decreased visibility. Headlights lose their efficiency because of dust, scratching, dirt and various other contaminates.

A chief reason for darkish car headlights is the headlight lens. An incredible number of cars on the highway at present have plastic lenses. Regrettably, these types of lenses usually do not withstand weather and time; they can become hazed and yellowed, decreasing the light output from the headlamp. The problem certainly doesn't improve with the age of the lens, and with the average age of cars on the road at about ten years old, the problem is most definitely growing. Furthermore, the more sun or salt a car or truck is confronted with, the more likely that its plastic headlight lenses may be or become hazy.  This can be a widespread problem on lots of domestic and foreign motor vehicles, and is not restricted to less-expensive automobiles. It’s quite normal for luxury cars to have bleary headlight lenses, too.

Although swapping out headlamps and windshield wiper blades have generally been affordable repairs, the remedy for hazed headlights lenses hasn’t been quite so simple.  Swapping out the lenses can cost as much as one thousand five hundred dollars.

Jungerman CARSTAR in St. Peters can help motorists restore headlights to like-new condition, capitalizing on night vision and improving lucidity when driving. This CARSTAR location offers a low-cost and fast service that restores the lens surface to significantly enhance their light output and visibility on the highway, and of course the style of their automobile.

We would like to encourage all vehicle owners to run a vehicle visibility safety check before hitting the highways in all of this darkness and winter weather.

Vehicle Visibility Safety Checklist

Check your windshield wipers -- Change them one or more times a year if they're streaking

Check your headlight brightness -- Headlight bulbs dim with time. Park on a level surface facing 5 feet from a wall and check out the light display.  The circles of light need be bright or soft white, not a yellow or dim color, and the circles should be even and aligned straight forward on the wall.

Change the bulbs -- A top-notch bulb will burn brighter and last longer.  Always be sure to replace both of the bulbs concurrently, even if it does not seem they both need it.

Check your headlight lens - If you see a cloudy, milky surface and cannot see the bulb through the plastic, you've got damage to your vehicle that can limit your visibility on the highway.

Restore your headlights – Jungerman CARSTAR in St. Peters, MO offers a service to eliminate the hazy layer of damage and polish your lenses to a condition that's like new.

Inspect your mirrors -- Ensure they're in good working condition without any fractures.  Damaged mirrors can be cost-effectively exchanged by going to a nearby salvage yard.

Examine your tail lights, brake lights, backup lights and tag illumination lights – Back your car or truck up against the wall again and trigger your rear lights while viewing in your rearview mirror. You can replace these easily – and possibly save yourself from getting a traffic ticket.