Hawthorne Press Tribune
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 61, No. 31 - August 1, 2019
Inside
This Issue
Calendar of Events.............2
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.......................6
City Council..........................3
Classifieds............................2
Entertainment......................5
Hawthorne Happenings....3
Lawndale..............................4
Legals............................. 4,6,7
Real Estate...........................8
Weekend
Forecast
The Weekly Newspaper of Hawthorne
Dodgers and Lakers Youth Clinic
Above is a group shot from last week’s Hawthorne Recreation and Community Services Department Dodgers RBI and Lakers Youth Fitness Clinic 2019. The program was a great success. Photo: City of Hawthorne
Friday
Sunny
75˚/66˚
Saturday
Partly
Cloudy
76˚/66˚
Sunday
Mostly
Sunny
77˚/66˚
Car Technology Not Looking So
Good for Drivers 55 and Older
By Rob McCarthy
Attention, drivers 55 and older. That video
screen that you’ve come to rely on for directions
in the car can navigate the way to an
old friend’s house or to a new restaurant. The
technology increases comfort and extends
mobility for seniors. However, it can be a
menu for disaster when the driver’s focus is
on the screen and not where it needs to be.
The Automobile Club’s safety division
watched the driving habits of people in
automobiles equipped with navigation and
entertainment systems, which have become
standard equipment on cars, minivans, SUVs
and trucks. Motorists between 55 and 75
took their eyes and attention off the road
longer than young drivers, the observers
noted. When performing simple tasks like
programming the navigation or tuning the
radio using in-vehicle infotainment technology,
seniors looked away eight seconds longer
than 21-to-36-year olds who participated in
the AAA study.
The danger of their findings is clear:
looking away from the road for just two
seconds doubles a driver’s risk of a crash.
Eight seconds is simply too long to be distracted
in a moving vehicle in city traffic.
Fortunately, the AAA Foundation for Traffic
Safety included suggestions for seniors who
purchase a new high-tech vehicle or rent one
which is challenging enough.
Three simple rules for drivers to follow are:
• Practice using the voice command and
touch screen functions in a safe place, like
a parking lot or in the driveway.
• Program the navigation system when the
vehicle isn’t moving.
• Seniors especially should avoid car models
with music and mapping technology that is
operated from the center console. “These
kinds of systems are especially distracting
and potentially dangerous,” caution the AAA’s
traffic-safety engineers.
Dr. David Yang, the executive director of
the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety that
ran the study, said that seniors shouldn’t
avoid or fear car technology. It offers drivers
convenience and peace of mind when
they want to explore new places and stay
active socially.
“Voice-command functions found in new
in-vehicle technology are intended to help
drivers by keeping their eyes and attention
on the road,” Yang said. “Unfortunately the
complexity and poor design of some of these
systems could cause more harm for older
drivers in particular, instead of helping them.”
Seniors are becoming the fastest-growing
demographic in the U.S., so carmakers are
busy designing technology to improve driver
comfort and safety. One in five U.S. drivers
will be 65 or older by the end of next decade,
according to population researchers.
The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety
partnered with University of Utah researchers
to test the visual and cognitive demand
created by the infotainment systems in six
2018 vehicles. Study participants in the older
and younger age groups were required to use
voice commands, touch screens and other
interactive technologies -- including buttons
located on the steering wheel -- to make a
call, send a text message, tune the radio or
program navigation.
The technology created potentially unsafe
distractions for all drivers, thought researchers
called the safety risk “more pronounced” for
older adults, who took longer to complete
tasks, experienced slower response times and
increased visual distractions. The younger
group needed 18 seconds to pick a music
station or cue up a song. That compared to
more than 25 seconds for the seniors in the
study group.
The slower times were seen with voice
texting, making a hands-free phone call
and programming the navigation system
while the car was being driven, researchers
found. The study, which observed the driving
habits of 128 people, discovered that some
participants overestimated their skill level
when balancing driving with using a touch
screen or voice-activated feature of their
vehicle. Many didn’t realize how long they
were distracted.
Carmakers could do a better job of designing
technology for America’s graying population
of motorists, a spokesman for the national
AAA said. Some of the systems in the 2018
cars used in the study had too many menu
options -- even the voice-activated ones --
which “significantly reduced older drivers’
ability to easily complete seemingly simple
tasks,” Jake Nelson, AAA director of traffic
safety advocacy and research, noted.
As mentioned before, drivers 55 and older
can do their part by steering clear of vehicles
with technology that is more of a hassle than
a help. The carmakers can use the results of
See Car Technology, page 5