Aarp Defensive Driving Course Answers
AARP's Driver Safety Program offered to veteran's for free - find safe driving programs for seniors in your area. Safety Serve:: Defensive Driving Course. National Safety Council Defensive Driving Course Overview. Learning to drive defensively just got easier and more economical. Insurers offer discounts up to 10 percent for older drivers who take a defensive driving course. For defensive driving courses anyway.
Just went to register for the online driving safety course which I thoiught something AARP was doing for its mambership. Should have known that they were trying to get more money from me. They wanted to charge me 19.95 for an online course which is set up in a browser for you to take so no person is lecturing to you. To top it off they also received a large grant from Toyota. I have been a member since I was around 50 and I am 70 now, I find this class offering's charge of 19.95 to be an insult to its membership and a reflection of the greed of this organization. Please join with me and complain. Only reason I am considering this course is for a possible discount from my iinsuranc company.
Here is what they said in the email sent to me: Dear James, It's been about 3 years since you took the. We've made a lot of changes since then! Completing our newly improved course is a great way to refresh your driving skills and could even make you eligible for a discount on your auto insurance.
It's a simple way to stay safe and save money. By retaking the course, you'll learn??' S latest traffic laws along with:. Important facts about the effects of medication on driving. Proper use of seatbelts, air bags, and antilock brakes. How to reduce driver distractions This program is supported by a generous grant from Toyota to AARP Foundation.Upon completion you may be eligible to receive an auto insurance discount. Other restrictions may apply.
Consult your agent for details. I made one modification above, replacing my state initials with??No mention of a charge here nor in the mail sent to mail sent to my address.
Quite honestly I am furious with AARP. My wife and I live in Western Montana, and I wanted to save on my car insurance too. When I saw how much they wanted for each of us for the online option, I decided to call my local Senior Citizen Center who offers the same class for $10 per person.
My wife and I made it a 'date', and the face-to-face class was superior to anything online. Questions and answers and clarifications were a feast of information. I learned so many 'new' things, it was well worth the time and lunch money to attend. Also, the class instructor was able to talk faster, assure all of us faster, and we got out early! However, the big disappointment was how much I saved on my car insurance. I had heard rumors (Get $50 to $100 or more per year OFF your car insurance). Well, that may be so for the more expensive insurance companies, but all I got was $8 off a year!
The upside is that my car insurance company is not only one of the best in the nation, but also very, very inexpensive. I am insured with USAA.
My wife and I will go to the face-to-face class again in a couple of years. It was fun, and the lunch we had that afternoon was a real date. PS: I became a Lifetime Member of AARP in the 1990's for $50. The lifetime has gone up since then, but it is well worth the upgrade - provided we have some years ahead to enjoy it. Hi: Thank you for the great feedback on the AARP Smart Driver course.
We’re happy to know you and your wife made it a fun outing and enjoyed it, while also learning new, valuable information. The curriculum was developed following a two-year research study and has shown to help drivers stay current with driving laws and new vehicles technology, and learn defensive driving skills and proven safety strategies. We’re sorry you were disappointed in your insurance discount.
Unfortunately that is not determined by AARP. The rules for insurance discounts vary by state and by insurance carrier. Therefore, we always encourage our members to consult with their insurance agent for more details, as it is on a case-by-case basis. It's great to hear you’ll be taking the course again in a couple of years. We look forward to having you and your wife join us again, and hope your experience is just as enjoyable and educational. Thank you again for the feedback, and thank you for being a member! Hi: AARP Driver Safety is the nation’s first and largest older driver initiative and is AARP’s leading authority on best practices for healthy and safe drivers age 50 and over.
For more than 35 years, we’ve delivered on our mission to promote independence and enhance the quality of life of older drivers through our award-winning, research-based educational programs. Journal of orthodontics rapidshare. Your community is just one of the communities nationwide our program is having a positive impact by making drivers, passengers, pedestrians, and roads safer. Provding a valuable, educational offering nationwide comes at a small cost, which is reflected in our course pricing. Our nominal course fees are necessary to cover the printing of our comprehensive participant guidebook, course administration costs including completion certificates, and the maintenance and updating of our online course website to ensure it is always running smoothly for the tens of thousands of people who take it monthly. Furthermore, fees for our classroom and online courses are either in line or lower than the driving courses offered by other companies or organizations.
In fact, if you apply our promotional discount for the month of February, our online course price for AARP members is the lowest on the market at just $13.97. If you would prefer the classroom course, you can find one near you using our Course Locator.
We strongly believe that the nominal cost of the course is outweighed by the greater knowledge and potential insurance savings that participants gain by completing our course. We encourage all prospective participants to check with their local insurance agent prior to taking our classroom or online course in order to assess if they are eligible for a discount on their auto insurance policy. As for the grant from Toyota, its purpose was to support the AARP Foundation’s initiatives to reduce isolation and promote driver safety among older Americans. The initial three-year grant ended in 2014, but in that time AARP Foundation contracted with AARP Driver Safety to:. Collaborate with the nation’s experts to develop our award-winning AARP Smart Driver course curriculum, which launched in 2014 and incorporates the most innovative approaches and advancements in driver education;.
Build awareness among older drivers and younger caregivers on the importance of keeping one’s driving skills sharp and up-to-date; and. Broaden awareness of the program in multicultural communities and recruit new volunteers. More than 4,000 unpaid volunteers deliver our course to approximately 500,000 participants in local communities like yours across the country each year. Additionally, the course meeting rooms are generously donated by host organizations, such as libraries, hospitals, senior centers, and other community-based organizations. We are so grateful for the generosity, dedication and support of our volunteers and host organizations, as well as additional support from other partners like Toyota. I hope that this information is helpful and addresses your concerns. Thank you for your membership and participation in the Online Community!
In 2013 my wife and I took the AARP driver safety course given at one of our county administration buildings. The course cost $15 a piece which included all books and materials. After completion we were given a certificate of completion which we took to our insurance agent.
We are now each given a $20 deduction (total $40) on our automobile insurance each year. They credit it as a “senior defensive driving course”. For us this course has be a tremendous savings on our insurance premiums each year, plus you do learn a lot about defensive driving technics. Let me treat portions of your reply: 1. For the online course the following have no relevance as there is nothing to do: 'necessary to cover the printing of our comprehensive participant guidebook, course administration costs including completion certificate s.' No printing is required for the comprehensive participant guidebook as we do that ourselves or read material online. We print out our own completion certificates so again no cost to you.
Updating of our online course website If this was the case why are we not already charged for accessing your website online, or is it because we pay for that with our fees. Always running smoothly You have to maintain your servers with IT staff who would also maintain these sites. I had woked in IT for over 30 years and have a very good idea of what it takes to maintain servers 4. Regarding Toyota, your ad does not say what you are saying now, as it states: ' This program is supported by a generous grant from Toyota to AARP Foundation.'
But now you are saying it previously funded. However you do mention ongoing contributions from other organizations which may include Toyota. ' More than 4,000 unpaid volunteers deliver our course to approximately 500,000 participants in local communities like yours across the country each year.' So you also have unpaid staff for delivering courses, yet you still want to charge your own membership. Let's be honest. Isn't this course just another method for AARP to make more money?
'In 2013 my wife and I took the AARP driver safety course.course cost $15 a piece. Took to our insurance agent. We are now each given a $20 deduction.on our automobile insurance each year.
Defensive Driving Answers To Questions
For us this course has be a tremendous savings on our insurance premiums each year.' Tremendous savings? For the first year (12 months) your net savings was $5 (Discount $20 less $15 cost of taking class) For the next 12 months, yes, your net savings would be $20. Altho 20 bucks is 20 bucks, few would describe that as 'tremendous'. As for the 3rd and subsequent years - get ready to open your pocketbook again.
My insurance co. (not USAA) & most others say these sr. Citizen driving classes are good for only 3 years. After that, the discount expires unless you re-take (and re-pay) the class again. Apparently the insurers have reason to think senior citizens are prone to forget whatever they learned in the last 3 years.
Gee, wonder why that is, lol.
Older drivers are the safest drivers, hands down. But many have been driving so long they've forgotten some of the rules, or haven't changed their driving habits to account for reflexes dulled by age. Safety experts and state regulators feel so strongly about the benefits of classroom refresher courses - even for those who've never had an accident or racked up a single ticket - that a majority of states require insurance companies to offer discounts.
Even in states where a discount isn't the law, most companies offer a break for defensive driving courses anyway. The, launched in 1979 as '55 Alive,' is the largest and most well-known defensive driving course for those of a certain card-carrying age. Last year, more than 560,000 people took it, either online or in a class held at a senior center, car dealership, library or other community space. Most get in exchange, helpful because car insurance rates start to rise once driver reach 70 or so.
Geico Defensive Driving Course
The class is four to eight hours long, depending on the state, and includes no tests, either on the road or at a desk. What it does include is a good deal of discussion about aging's effect on seeing, hearing and reacting, and tools to compensate.
It reviews road rules most of us haven't visited since high school. And it appears to work. An independent study by the Eastern Virginia Medical School showed course participants made fewer hazardous errors than non-participants and were better able to regulate their driving behavior, scheduling around night-time driving, for example, or altering routes to avoid high-speed traffic or tricky intersections. 'A lot of people do hang up their keys early because they've lost their confidence behind the wheel. Our course allows them to get that confidence back up,' says Julie Lee, vice president and national director of AARP Driver Safety. 'This is about keeping people on the road.
We want people to be mobile as long as possible, and we want them to be safe.' One specific: After learning about the high rate of left-turn injury accidents among older drivers, course participants proceeded with greater caution through left turns. You think you remember, but do you? Most who take the AARP driving course are in their early or mid-70s, although the course is open to drivers of any age. Some attend with their teenage grandchildren, and it's unclear who is dragging whom.
'When we start, I'll ask, 'What's the difference between a yellow line and a white line?' ' says Harold Sterling, an instructor in Illinois. 'And everyone says, 'You can't pass on a yellow line.' ' 'No, think about it,' he tells them. Once, in a neighborhood watch meeting, he saw the local police chief lean over and ask his traffic commander, 'What's the answer?' 'I almost broke out laughing,' Sterling says.
'I say, 'See, everyone thought they knew the right answer, and no one did. It's other things just like that.' ' Sterling formerly served with the Ohio State Highway Patrol. Now 72, he has taught some 120 courses since retirement, all as a volunteer. He tells students they are relearning how to drive safely. 'Quite often, they'll ask me right back: 'How do I know what I've forgotten?'
It's a good question,' he says. 'Then as we go through class, you'll see the light bulb go on.'
The AARP revamped its course this year after consulting with gerontologists, driving experts, even scientists at the MIT Age Lab. Where did older drivers need the most help? Some of the results were surprising: a review of the basics should be included.
A person turning 65 today is one of 10,000 baby boomers to do so. When they were born, the U.S. Interstate system didn't exist. They took driver's ed some 50 years ago.
Drivers have since become more distracted, freeways more crowded. After taking a defensive driver course, 97 percent report to AARP that they changed at least one driving behavior. It's OK to talk about age and driving The challenge is convincing drivers who don't need to shave traffic points to show up.
Older drivers are willing to talk about the challenges of aging, says Sterling. But many fear that their license will be pulled if it's revealed they've forgotten some driving information. The fear, hardly surprising in the age of data mining, is unwarranted.
'Our whole purpose is for people to retain their mobility,' Sterling says. 'You can tell there's a change in attitude from the beginning of class to the end as they become more comfortable discussing their driving experience and the changes on the road today.' Thirty-five states require that auto insurance companies give defensive-driver graduates a discount, which can be as high as 10 percent.
In remaining states, many insurers will still offer a discount. The AARP says its studies reveal an average savings of $60 annually. A discount lasts three years, at which point drivers can repeat the course (cost hovers around $20) to maintain the discount. (Answer to above question: A yellow line divides traffic moving in opposite directions; a white line divides traffic moving in the same direction. Broken lines in both colors indicate it is permissible to pass.).