Driver safety course helps people adjust

Thirteen area drivers are now just a little bit safer when they hit the roads.

These drivers participated in a driver safety class sponsored by AARP Monday morning. The motorists, who are all over 50 years of age, learned about new driving laws and reviewed the Driver’s Handbook put out by the Department of Motor Vehicles as well as learning a little about defensive driving through observation.

According to Bill Lundy, the instructor for the course, those over the age of 50 should take the class once every three years. It is offered four times each year in Surry County either at the Jones Family Resource Center where Monday’s class met or at Central United Methodist Church which will host a class in September.

“It’s designed primarily to remind older drivers that their driving abilities are not what they used to be,” he said, referring to reaction time, vision problems and hearing problems. “The laws have changed quite a bit since they started driving. The highways have improved and the speed limits are faster. It’s just a different ball game.”

Participants in the class Monday learned about the cell phone usage laws in North Carolina as well as the seat belt laws, both of which have changed in recent years.

Participants decided to sign up for the class, which costs $12 for AARP members and $14 for non-members, for different reasons. In many states, including Virginia and South Carolina, insurance companies are mandated to offer a discounted rate to drivers who complete the course. In North Carolina, it is optional whether or not a discount is offered.

Grace Adams encourages everyone to take the class, saying that she learned a great deal from it.

“I took it to make me feel better. I think we all need to keep trying to educate ourselves, no matter how old we are,” she said.

Oscar Fain is one of those hoping to see a reduction in his insurance rates.

“I signed up to better my driving ability and maybe get a reduction in my insurance,” he said, noting that he learned about new signs, new laws and different regulations. “More people should take the class for their own good.”

Another of the participants attended the class for a unique reason. She just moved to Surry County from New York and had never driven a car. She relied on public transportation such as subways and buses to get around in New York. Once she moved to Surry County, she had to learn to drive a car to get around. So, she called her insurance company to get a new policy and learned that it would cost $552 each month to cover her because of her age and the fact that she has only been driving for a year.

She has since gotten her insurance down to $192 per month and hopes to see it drop even farther.

“I’m hoping and wishing nothing happens to my driving. That’s why I’m here taking this class,” she said. “We need more public transportation in this town.”

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Allstate study ranks Buffalo as less safe for accidents

Drivers in Buffalo are more likely to experience an accident than in other cities of upstate New York or other parts of the country on average, though not as much so as in New York City or Yonkers, according to a new study by insurer Allstate Corp.

The study found that the average driver in Buffalo will suffer a car collision every 8.5 years, making drivers here 17.5 percent more likely to experience an accident than the national average. Nationwide, the average driver has an accident every 10 years, according to Allstate data.

That ranked Buffalo 126th in driving safety out of the 197 largest U. S. cities served by Allstate. By contrast, Rochester drivers have an accident every 9.4 years, while in Syracuse it’s every 9.8 years. And while Rochester and Syracuse drivers got better, Buffalo drivers got worse, with accidents occurring more often than in 2005.

However, Buffalo is the third-best Northeastern city out of 15 metropolitan areas. Syracuse was first, followed by Buffalo and then Pittsburgh. Hartford, Conn., was last in the Northeast, and ranked 190 nationwide.

“We don’t want drivers in Buffalo to be discouraged by their ranking,” said Allstate spokeswoman Krista Conte. “Instead, we want the report to challenge drivers in Buffalo to make positive changes to their driving habits that will in turn make the city a safer place to live, work and raise families.”

The fifth annual “Allstate America’s Best Drivers Report” ranks the cities based on car collision frequency. The company’s actuaries analyzed company claims data over a two year period from January 2006 to December 2007, to ensure external factors like weather or road construction didn’t affect the results, and then computed a weighted average. The data reflects where drivers live, not where the crashes occurred.

The nation’s “safest” city, based on the data, is Sioux Falls, S. D., where crashes occur every 13.5 years, and drivers are 26.1 percent less likely to be in a crash than the average driver nationally. That was followed by Fort Collins, Colo.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and Knoxville, Tenn.

Drivers in large cities with populations of more than 1 million are more likely to experience collisions. Phoenix was the safest of those, with collisions every 9.2 years, followed by San Diego and New York. By contrast, Philadelphia was the most dangerous big city, with crashes every 6.4 years and drivers 57.1 percent more likely than average to have an accident.

Among the 10 most improved cities — those that most improved the number of years between accidents — five were in Virginia.

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