Keeping Us Safe is pleased to announce a new partnership between its organization and the Ohio State Highway Patrol to help prevent older driver fatalities in the greater Miami County, Ohio area.
The Piqua Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol will be sponsoring Keeping Us Safe’s “A Safe Drive Through the Aging Process” presentation on October 17, 2014. The event will be hosted by the Robinson Branch of the Miami County YMCA.
Keeping Us Safe is a national organization that works with older drivers and their families when the issue of age-related diminishing driving skills arises. The one-hour presentation, free to the public, will offer suggestions on how an older driver can extend his or her safe driving career. The program stresses the importance of staying aware of diminishing skills (physical and cognitive) as we age, and making appropriate adjustments in our driving behavior to compensate for a decline in those skills.
Last year in Ohio, 123 individuals age 65 and older were killed in traffic crashes. Keeping Us Safe’s programs are designed to significantly reduce those numbers, both in Ohio and across the country. “Meaningful partnerships between government agencies and the private sector can prove invaluable in solving public safety challenges.” says Matt Gurwell, founder of Keeping Us Safe, “It is an honor to be working with the Ohio State Highway Patrol on this life-saving initiative.”
According to AARP, boomers will be turning 65 at a rate of about 8,000 per day for the next 18 years! Tragically, an average of 15 people ages 65+ die in car accidents every day across the United States. “The issue of older drivers with diminished driving skills can be a very complex, sensitive and emotional family issue” Gurwell explains, “Our programs help older drivers extend their safe driving careers, or when necessary, help them make a smooth transition into a driving retirement, with minimal erosion to their pride, dignity, or independence.”
The presentation is being hosted by the Robinson Branch of the Miami County YMCA, located at 3060 S. CR 25A, Troy, Ohio 45373. The program will begin at 10AM on Friday, October 17, 2014. For more information contact Donn Craig at 937-440-9622. Family members and friends are also invited to attend.
To learn more about Keeping Us Safe’s programs, please visit their website at www.keepingussafe.org. Specific inquiries made be made by email at info@keepingussafe.org or by telephone at 877-907-8841.
Don’t give tragedy the opportunity to strike your family or your community; help is available!
Matt Gurwell is a speaker, author, and expert on the issue of older drivers and drivers with certain disabilities. He is also the founder of Keeping Us Safe, a national organization with a mission to provide assistance to older drivers and their families as they face the challenging issue of diminished driving skills. Visit the Keeping Us Safe website at www.keepingussafe.org for more information on their services.
Matt Gurwell is the developer of the nationally-recognized “Beyond Driving with Dignity” program. He currently lectures throughout the United States on topics related to the aging process and its adverse affects on driving skills. As developer of this life-saving program, Matt’s mission is to provide strategies and guidance to seniors that will help them to continue driving safely until the decision is made to retire from their driving career. The “Beyond Driving with Dignity” program also provides an excellent array of services and resources for both families and professionals as they deal with this very sensitive issue. Matt retired from a very distinguished and successful 24-year career as an Assistant District Commander with the Ohio State Highway Patrol. After leaving the Patrol, Matt has participated in a tremendous amount of work in the area of older driver research, best practices, current vehicle safety technologies, and adaptive equipment. Matt's creative, innovative and common sense approach, combined with his uncanny ability to bring calm and resolve to stressful situations without ever jeopardizing the dignity of others, has contributed greatly to the success of the “Beyond Driving with Dignity” program. When asked what the ultimate motivation was for starting the program, Matt explains: "There was never one particular event. It was the result of 20-plus years of holding dying people in my arms at terrible car accidents, and delivering dozens and dozens of death notifications to families. I would much rather work with families to bring a peaceful resolve to this sensitive and uncomfortable issue now, rather than have them deal with it when a State Trooper is knocking on their front door". Matt serves as Senior Care Authority’s Program Director for the “Beyond Driving with Dignity” program. Senior Care Authority (https://www.seniorcareauthority.com) is now the nation’s exclusive provider of the “Beyond Driving with Dignity” program.
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