Wood County Safe Communities will provide free one-on-one personalized CarFit checks for mature drivers
monthly at every senior center in Wood County, as well as the Perrysburg AAA office.
Following is the schedule for these events:
Perrysburg Senior Center – first Wednesday of the month from 10 a.m.-noon.
Rossford Senior Center – first Wednesday of the month from 1-3 p.m.
Grand Rapids Senior Center – second Wednesday of the month from 10 a.m.-noon.
Bowling Green Senior Center – second Wednesday of the month from 1-3 p.m.
Pemberville Senior Center – third Wednesday of the month from 10 a.m.-noon.
Wayne Senior Center – third Wednesday of the month from 1-3 p.m.
Walbridge Senior Center – fourth Tuesday of the month from 10 a.m.-noon.
North Baltimore Senior Center – fourth Wednesday of the month from 10 a.m.-noon.
Perrysburg AAA Car Care Center – fourth Thursday of the month from 10 a.m.-noon.
Registration is required. Call 419-372-9353 or email [email protected] to reserve a spot. Space is limited
to five persons.
Seniors represent the fastest-growing segment of drivers, with current projections suggesting that a
quarter of all drivers will be over the age of 65 by 2025.
Although seniors have an overall crash rate comparable to that of 20- and 30-year-old drivers, they are
the most fragile drivers on the road, resulting in a higher death rate per mile driven than any other
group.
Senior driver statistics:
• Seniors aged 65 and over are more than twice as likely as younger drivers to be killed when involved in
a crash.
• Last year of the 786 total drivers involved in fatal crashes in Ohio, nearly 150 drivers aged 66 or
older died in crashes.
• In 2017 more than 8,000 senior drivers (aged 66 or older) were injured in crashes. These crashes also
injured 2,200 senior passengers.
CarFit was developed by the American Society on Aging in collaboration with AAA, AARP and the American
Occupational Therapy Association. It’s a community-based program that provides a quick, yet
comprehensive 12-point check of how well the driver and vehicle work together.
During the CarFit check-up, trained technicians will assess how well the senior driver’s car “fits” them.
Technicians will check the steering wheel tilt/position, distance the driver sits from the steering
wheel, line of sight above the steering wheel, position of driver to gas/brake pedal and help adjust
mirror settings to eliminate blind spots.
CarFit assessments can also identify senior related health problems and offer referrals for assistance.
Recently AAA released the results on a research project about senior drivers, called the LongROAD study.
The study found more than 70 percent of senior drivers had experienced health conditions that impact
muscles and bones such as arthritis, hip/knee replacement and joint pains. Some seniors in the study
reduced their driving due to these conditions.