Earn $40 participating in study on older drivers

Want to earn $40 for about five hours of your time and perhaps improve your driving skills?

The Area Agency on Aging of Pasco-Pinellas Inc. is looking for residents to take part in a study that will help the agency learn something about the needs of older drivers and help you learn something about yourself.

You qualify if you are 65 years old or older, have a valid Florida driver's license and have a memory or medical disorder.

The study is divided into two sessions. The first session, which takes about two hours, involves in-office evaluations. The second, during three hours on a second day, involves tasks of attention and memory, road sign recognition and completion of an on-road driving task.

This driving examination cannot have any impact on the status of your license. It is a private study, and the results will be kept confidential.

If you are interested in participating, call 570-9696, ext. 261. It sounds like fun. You'll be helping yourselves and others.

Jessie wanted to take part, but she isn't old enough, even in dog years.

We had an interesting note from Bob Cooper last week, which we thought we would share.

"We saw an unusual sight," Bob wrote. "While waiting for the light at Park and Seminole, we noticed the driver of the car to our right had his arm out of the window holding his cigarette, and his right hand was holding his cell phone to his right ear. When the light changed he moved out with the traffic with his left arm still out the window and his right arm holding his cell phone to his ear. Evidently he was guiding his car with his knees."

That's all well and good until you have to use your toes to make a turn.

We've seen people driving the interstates with newspapers (though I'm sure not this one -- our readers are smarter than this) draped over their steering wheels.

We've seen women driving 70 miles an hour applying eye makeup in the rear-view mirror.

And, of course, there is the ubiquitous occurrence of people sliding around all over the road as they try to unwrap a Big Mac or a Whopper or struggle to wipe mustard off their shirt fronts.

Aaarrrghhhh!

Bill Williams of St. Petersburg also had an interesting experience last week.

Bill commutes between St. Petersburg and Sarasota. On June 29, as he was crossing the Sunshine Skyway bridge about 7:30 a.m., police closed the southbound lanes of the bridge. About five minutes later, law enforcement led traffic across, but at the summit, the right lane was blocked for a crew with a lot of camera equipment.

"In two years of traveling the Skyway this is not the first time that I have seen similar situations," Bill said. "I have seen camera crews on the bridge before, but this is the first time that I was present during the bridge closure."

At first we thought the cameras might belong to local television stations doing something for the tall ship extravaganza. But how wrong we were.

Kris Carson, the state roadies' information maven, tells us it was a commercial shoot for Toyota. So we can be looking for the Skyway to star in future television commercials.

And, no, the taxpayer doesn't pay for the police help. Toyota does.

Bill suggests that the motorists who were disadvantaged by the delay get their tolls refunded. We pass along that idea without much hope of any agreement from the roadies.

And now, it's time for the Eyeball Jiggler of the Week, and this time we could call it the EJW from perdition.

It is at the northwest corner of the intersection of 22nd Street S and 22nd Avenue S. If you are traveling straight through, you're fine. If you're making a right turn onto 22nd Avenue headed toward the interstate, this baby's going to bite you, you know where.

Near the curb is a canyon-like dip in the road, and the bottom is lined with chopped up asphalt. If you hit this thing with any speed at all, you could break a tooth.

Be forewarned.

And while we're on 22nd Avenue S, we need to point out to the Powers That Be (PTBs), that two directional signs for the northbound interstate are shrouded by hanging branches. The signs are difficult to see until you're right up on them. And they are the two signs closest to the highway ramp.

Somebody needs to get down there with some sharp pruning shears.

A reminder: On July 1, a new law took effect that requires you to leave an empty lane between your vehicle and any emergency vehicle stopped on or beside the road with its lights flashing. That means a police officer who has stopped a speeder or any emergency vehicle at an accident. If the lights are flashing, move over a lane.

You are also required to slow to 20 miles an hour below the posted limit if the posted speed is 25 or higher. If the posted speed is below 25, or if there is no spare lane to use, you must slow to no more than 5 miles an hour unless otherwise directed by a law enforcement officer.

And since we see nearly every day that some of you need to be reminded, you still must yield to any police or emergency vehicle moving along a street or highway. That means pulling over and stopping.

Just remember, some day it could be you, or a member of your family, whose life is at stake.

And now, Dr. Delay's Terrible Traffic Tidbit of the Week:

Seven percent of adults report being a driver involved in a traffic accident within the past year, according to a national survey conducted in April. If the person is under 35, the numbers double to 14 percent.

Well, there's one good reason to grow older.

-- Dr. Delay can be reached by e-mail at docdelay@sptimes.com, by fax at (727) 893-8675 or by snail mail at 490 First Ave. S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.

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