‘Lead foot’

COASTING DOWN Lonsdale in a big Lincoln
Continental the other day, I glanced at the instant
fuel economy readout on the instrument panel

and was astounded to see that it read 5.7

km (SO mpg).

This can't be right, I
thought to myself. How
could a big, heavy luxury car
with a 3.8 litre V6 engine get
50 mpg?

Later, when ciimbing
Lonsdale in the other direc-
tion, I noticed that the in-
stant fuel readout dropped
like a rock, registering as
low as 2 mpg.

This certainly didn’t cor-
respond to Transport
Canada’s fuel consumption
ratings. The Continental is
rated at 13.3 litres per 100
kilometres (21 mpg} in city
driving, and 8.5 litres per
100 kilometres (33 mpg) on

1/100

the highway. How could
there be such a difference
between my experience and
Transport Canada’s figures?

Average fuel economy rat-
ings are exactly that:
average. Fuel consumption
at any given moment in any
car can vary widely.

More to the point, average
fuel economy can be
significantly affected by the
way we drive. A lead-footed
driver will get considerably
worse fuel economy for the
same kind of car.

Most cars use ten per cent
less fuel at 90 km/h than at
100 km/h primarily because
the engine is running faster.

AU TOM OT !I

drivers waste fue/

AutoMotion

However, you don’t have to
be going fast to get poor fuel
economy.

Sudden starts and stops
use up considerably more
gasoline than gentle, pro-

gressive stops and_ starts.
Defensive driving techniques
such as anticipating stops
and watching the traffic
ahead of you can significant-
ly improve fuel efficiency,
especially in city traffic.

If you have a manual
transmission, upshifting
sooner will improve fuel ef-
ficiency, and running in
overdrive on the highway
will also use less fuel.

Unnecessary idling can
also waste fuel. One minute
of idling uses up more fuel
than restarting the engine, so
if you’re going to be waiting
for someone, it’s a good idea
to turn off the engine and
restart it later (assuming you
have a reliable battery).

The root cause of people
rushing to and from traffic
lights is often poor planning
and leaving things to the last
minute (I’m sure most of us

ICBC releases major study on

“IT COMES as no surprise
that in western society, the
automobile is king. It pro-
vides mobility, sociality,
economic gain, existential
meaning and social status...
for the elderly, the vehicle is
the enhancer of lifestyle.”’

So says Dr, Peter Rothe,
Manager of research and
evaluation for the Insurance
Corporation of British Col-
umbia, in a new book entitl-
ed The Safety of Elderly
Drivers — Yesterday's
Young in Today's Traffic.

Rothe’s three-year study
of elderly motorists seeks to
explain not only the nature
of their involvement in traf-
fic accidents, but also the
reality of life and driving for
people 55 years and older.
This multi-perspective
research method was used in
the 1987 publications,
Rethinking Young Drivers
and Motorcyclists — Image
and Reality and for Never
Say Always: Perspectives on
Safety Belt Use released in
1988.

Today, 25 per cent of
drivers on the road are 55 or
older, By 2050 that figure
will grow to 39 per cent.
Rothe cautions that the deci-
sions we make today on el-
derly driving issues will be
ours to live with tomorrow.

Accident statistics in B.C.
show that the elderly are less
likely than any other age
group to be involved in a
motor vehicle accident.
However, their rate of acci-
dents per kilometre driven is
higher than average and they
are more likely to be respon-
sible for the accident.

In gathering research data,
Rothe analyzed past
research, conducted a ques-
tionnaire survey of 904
motorists age 55 and over
and held focus group inter-
views with another 162 el-
derly motorists. He also
studied 1986 B.C. accident
data and interviewed a fur-
ther 130 elderly motorists
involved in injury-producing
accidents that year.

Combined, this data pro-
vided an interesting look at
the changing lifestyle of the
elderly, the role of the
automobile jn that lifestyle,
the nature of and reasons for
the driving that is done, and
the circumstances surroun-
ding their accidents.

More importantly, Rothe
believes that the information
collected provides important
direction to improve traffic

safety for the elderly and to
handle the delicate and often
traumatic issue of licence
renewals, driving and medi-
cal tests, and cessation of
driving.

CAR IS LIFELINE

Most elderly motorists
learned to drive before or
during the 1920s, by
themselves or with friends in
Model Ts on dirt roads.
Now, they’re driving high-
tech vehicles on congested
multi-lane highways coping
with different laws and dif-
ferent driver attitudes.

The automobile is a
tremendously important
lifeline that connects them to
such pleasurable pursuits as
shopping, visiting family and
friends, vacationing and
travel, social and cultural
events or entertainment. It
also is an important link to
necessary health and social
services.

From his studies, Rothe
concludes that the elderly
recognize some of the physi-
cal problems that come with
aging. To compensate for
lessening abilities and to
reduce the risk of accidents,
they tend to avoid morning
and afternoon rush hour
traffic.

They also often choose
not to drive at night to avoid
lower visibility and headlight
glare and in bad weather
that results in visibility prob-
lems and slippery roads.

While those surveyed ad-
mitted that they could be
susceptible to poorer
eyesight and reflexes, most
thought themselves to be
“good to excellent’’ drivers.
The eiderly believe that ex-
perience, wisdom, extra pa-
tience and caution can com-
pensate for these deficien-
cies.

Elderly motorists feel their
age makes them targets for
younger, impatient
motorists. They also feel
that an elderly driver is more
likely to be blamed for an
accident.

In fact, the accident data
clearly show that they are
more often judged responsi-
ble in crashes than middle-
aged drivcrs.

Their pet peeve: are pro-
ple who are rude or who cut
in and out of traffic without
signalling, and pedestrians
who disobey traffic rules.
They also dislike road
signage placed too close to

points where driving deci-
sions must be made, the
poor visibility of street signs
and the lack of left turn
lanes.

Elderly motorists occa-
sionally have to be on the
road at times they would
otherwise avoid. In many
cases, a trip to a medical fa-
cility, an urgent favor for a
friend or a family responsi-
bility are cited as reasons.

Along with the problems
of headlight giare, rain, fog
and slippery road _condi-
tions, the study also in-
dicates that intersections are
troublesome spots for elderly
drivers, especially left turns.

Poorer vision and depth

perception result in a failure
to judge gaps in oncoming
traffic. Failure to yield is a
common charge against
motorists over 55 in acci-
dents.

Whenever they are involv-
ed in accidents they tend to
assign responsibility or cause
to other drivers, the weather
and road conditions and to
road engineers or city plan-
ners.

Rothe’s study notes that
accidents are more likely to
take place on the way home,
when the motorist’s thoughts
may dwell on the anticipa-
tion of getting home and the
recap of the outing which
often concludes the trip.

Y E S

are guilty of that). Simply
adding five minutes to a
commuting time is often
enough to achieve better fuel
economy and reduce wear
and tear on the car, not to
mention the driver.

There are other things you
can do to improve fuel
economy. Underinflated
tires worsen fuel economy
because their rolling
resistance is greater requiring
more engine power to propel
the car. Use a good quality
air pressure gauge to check
the inflation pressure of
your tires when they are cold
and inflate them to the
pressure recommended by
the vehicle manufacturer.

Don’t carry around extra
weight in the trunk because
the more weight the engine
has to pull, the more fuel it
uses.

Remove roof racks and

elderly

From their comments to
researchers, three major
fears haunt elderly drivers:
the loss of personal at-
tributes — such as failing vi-
sion or the onset of arthritis,
the loss of driving privileges,
and involvement in an acci-
dent.

Health is both a reason
for and a reason for not
driving. That is, vehicles
provide access to the health
care system, but failing
health can result in the loss
of driving privileges. Most
doctors believe that poor
social health leads to physi-
cal health problems.

Thus the loss of driving
privileges could create men-

37 - Friday, April 27, 1990 - North Shore News

close the windows when
travelling on the highway.
Both increase the car’s air
resistance, and worsen fuel
economy.

Most cars today have
flow-through ventilation
systems which take the place
of open windows.

Air conditioning systems
increase fuel comsumption
by as much as 20 per cent in
city traffic.

Lastly, keep your engine
well-tuned. It can reduce
fuel consumption by up to
ten per cent.

Today’s lightweight,
fuel-efficient cars have
numerous devices to improve
fuel economy, such as elec-
tronic fuel injection systems
and overdrive transmissions.
But the driver still plays an
important part in getting the
most out of any fuel-effi-
cient car.

drivers

tal/social difficulties that
could result in greater physi-
cal health problems.

When asked, most elderly
motorists believed that there
should be some kind of re-
testing (especially an eye test
and a road test) as a prere-
quisite to licence renewal.
However, many said they
would feel nervous or
threatened at being re-tested.

Half of this group thought
those 65 or 70 and older
should be re-tested. The
other half said all motorists,
regardless of age, should

re-qualify themselves to
drive, as anything else would
See Driver

Page 38

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