While the accident rate for drivers ages 16 to 64 increased slightly from 2000-2006, drivers ages 65 to 74 and over have been involved in fewer car crashes.

According to 2006 crash statistics on the Governor’s Office for Highway Safety, the crash rate for seniors ages 65 to 74 decreased 14 percent during those six years while the crash rate for drivers over the age of 74 decreased 13 percent. In that same period, the crash rate for drivers 64 and under increased, ages 16 to 24 rose 1 percent and ages 25-64 rose 2 percent.

One reason for the decrease in car crashes among seniors may be the availability of drivers’ safety courses aimed at people over 55.

AARP has been offering a driver’s safety course for 25 years, according to its Web site. The organization sponsors a class in Carrollton every three months.

Elizabeth McCollum, who has been teaching the class for three years, attended a class after retiring from her job teaching in the local school system and looked into volunteering when the teacher announced a need for more volunteers to teach.

“It’s sponsored by AARP nationwide and it’s so well respected that most of the standard car insurance companies, if you’ve taken the course they’ll give you 10 percent off on your car insurance premiums,” McCollum said. “The purpose of it is as people get older to help them as long as possible to continue to be safe drivers.”

Older drivers face challenges as their reflexes slow and they face physical limitations such as difficulty turning their heads to check the road behind them before they switch lanes, she said.

Because she is older herself, McCollum understands what other seniors face, and she knows what she’s talking about.

In addition to the physical limitations, seniors are driving dramatically different cars than the ones they learned to drive, and that may mean their driving habits aren’t as safe as they once were. For instance, the introduction of anti-locking braking systems has changed the way people should brake on slippery roads.

“If you slam on the brakes and you’ve got this ABS system and you feel something kind of pulsing under your foot, that’s what it’s supposed to feel like,” McCollum said. “A lot of older people buy a new car and this little ABS light comes on and they don’t even know what it is.”

She teaches them to keep the pressure steady on the brake pedal rather than “pumping the brakes” as they would have learned on the old types of brakes. The class teaches them to drive with the technology that people take for granted today, but may be unfamiliar to an older driver.

The class also brings the seniors up to date on laws that may have passed or changed. One class member told McCollum that she hadn’t realized that the law now requires a driver to move to the left hand lane if there is a car parked on the shoulder of the road, she said.

“Every time I teach it there are people that say, ‘I’ve learned so much. I’m so glad that I came and took this class,’” McCollum said.

The class is geared toward older people and includes ways for them to test their reflexes to see if they have slowed. It also devotes a chapter to whether it is time to limit or stop driving. State law governs at what age and under what circumstances people can start driving, but there is no age limit. The class teaches the drivers how to self-check their driving ability.

“We would like to be able to continue driving as long as we’re alive,” McCollum said. “But the truth is a lot of people are not really capable of driving safely.”

Evelyn Barron, 69, took the class to save money on her insurance, but found she learned a lot from McCollum.

“When I took my driving course years ago we didn’t have blinkers -- I mean signals on the car,” Barron said.

She learned to change the position of her hands on the steering wheel because of air bags and to dim her car lights because the new lights on cars can blind oncoming drivers. She also makes a point to put on her seat belt every time she drives because McCollum stressed the importance of wearing seat belts in the car.

“She did a real good job,” Barron said of McCollum.