When Is It Time To Talk With Your Parents About Turning Over To You The Car Keys?

When Is It Time To Talk With Your Parents

About Turning Over To You The Car Keys?
by Martin Diano—Publisher

A national survey shows seniors open to talking with their adult children about driving safety. The big question is: How do you start the conversation?

Baby Boomers today face many challenges and choices, particularly when it comes to issues dealing with their parents.

Topping the list is an issue that has drawn considerable national attention lately for Boomers: What to do when Mom and Dad's driving skills have diminished to the point when operating an automobile is no longer viable. How and when is that determined? How do you address the emotionally charged issue with your parents about turning over to you the car keys?

Last week, I attended a news conference in Hartford CT held by Liberty Mutual, where it unveiled a new comprehensive program that provides resources to deal with the issue of aging and its effects on driving. Called the Driver Seat Game, it is a 'flash-based" video game that allows players of all ages to experience first-hand the physical and cognitive limitations that older drivers may experience while operating a motor vehicle.

To create the experience of limited physical and cognitive limitations, I was fitted with a "senior simulator suit" and special vision-impairing glasses to help simulate the effects of aging on my driving ability. The experience was at once exhilarating and frightening.

Exhilarating because I was able to do things while driving an automobile that I would normally not do, and frightening because had I not been in the safe hands of a professional defensive driving instructor sitting next to me, I am certain I could not have safely maneuvered the car on a busy public roadway. The experience was so compelling and realistic I plan to write more about what happened while in the driver seat in the coming weeks.

For now, though, I want to get the below information out to all of you about the new Liberty Mutual initiative. Beginning soon, BB[KC] will carry a link to the Driver Seat Game from the sidebar, so you can return with family members to play the game.

If your parents are still alive or you know of other family members or friends who may be struggling with this issue, we believe the Liberty Mutual Driver Seat Game will be immensely helpful to begin the conversation.

Here are the details about the Driver Seat Game and tips about how to begin a conversation with your parents:

The Driver Seat Game

The release of the “Driver Seat Game” is the latest development in Liberty Mutual’s comprehensive program to provide families with resources that address the emotionally charged issue of determining when it’s time for elder parents to transition from driver’s seat to passenger seat.

The web-based game is a revolutionary digital approach to tackling the highly sensitive subject of senior driving. A series of mini-games actively portray the challenges many senior drivers face by dramatizing visual decline, reduced mobility and poor reaction time in three impairment stages that act as the game's difficulty settings. Players must navigate different driving scenarios: busy traffic, going to the grocery store, finding parking in crowded lots, and even evading wildlife on winding country roads. Additionally, trivia challenges throughout the game educate the player and reinforce the underlying campaign goals of awareness and empathy in the active game experience. The Driver Seat Game will empower adult children to work with their parents to find a transportation solution that makes sense for their family.

“The best way for Baby Boomers – and, indeed, people from all age groups – to understand the problems faced by older drivers is to show them those problems first-hand,” said Vicki Rosebrook, executive director of the Macklin Intergenerational Institute in Findlay, Ohio.

"While presented in online game fashion, it is very close to realistic for the aging population and addresses some very serious issues. Importantly, it sensitizes adult children to the very emotional changing needs of their parents."

A Conversation Starter
“The Driver Seat Game is a great conversation starter,” said Greg Gordon, senior vice president of Consumer Marketing at Liberty Mutual. “Most families are simply not addressing the very important issue of senior mobility, perhaps because they feel ill-equipped on how to approach it." The game and other comprehensive online resources can be found HERE at the Liberty Mutual senior driving resource center.

Indeed, according to a recent national survey of Baby Boomers and senior drivers by Liberty Mutual, the vast majority (75 percent) of adult children say neither they nor anyone to their knowledge has ever spoken to their parents about driving safety issues. An even greater percentage of seniors (88 percent) say no one has had these conversations with them.

Importantly, the survey sheds light on a possible reason why Boomers and their aging parents don’t discuss driving safety. More than half of Boomers (58 percent) think their parents would find a conversation about changing their driving habits “uncomfortable,” and more than one in three (38 percent) believe their parents would “be angered” by such a discussion.

Encouragingly, seniors report this isn’t the case. Only one-quarter (24 percent) say they would find the conversation “uncomfortable,” and 9 percent say they would “be angered.” Further, 92 percent of seniors say their adult children “have a right” to raise this issue with them.

Liberty Mutual Group
“Helping people live safer, more secure lives” since 1912, Boston-based Liberty Mutual Group is a diversified global insurer and fifth-largest property and casualty insurer in the U.S. based on 2008 direct written premium.

The eighth-largest auto and home insurer in the U.S., Liberty Mutual sells full lines of coverage for automobile, homeowners, valuable possessions, personal liability, and individual life insurance. The company is an industry leader in affinity partnerships, offering car and home insurance to employees and members of more than 10,000 companies, credit unions, professional associations and alumni groups.

Note:
If you would like to share a story about how you handled this issue with your parents, join the dialogue. Comment using the form below or email me at MartinDiano@Gmail.com.


About Martin Diano
Martin is publisher of the Baby Boomer [Knowledge Center]™ and Founder of Boomer Authority™. You can follow him on Twitter @MartinDiano, friend him on Facebook, and connect with him on LinkedIn.