Automakers' adaptations for older drivers range from bigger dashboard numbers to wheelchair lifts.
By MARTY CLEAR
Published May 7, 2004
TAMPA - Bruce Moore's Mercury Marquis came with a couple of unusual extras: a wheelchair lift and a check for $1,000.
Moore, an 88-year-old retired Army colonel, is one of hundreds of older local drivers who have taken advantage of the Ford Motor Co.'s Motoring Mobility Program. The program, which has been in place for a decade or so, provides financial assistance for people who need specialized equipment in their vehicles.
"Of course, it didn't begin to cover the entire cost," said Moore, who lives near Lowry Park. "But it was a nice gesture and it was a big help."
Ford's program isn't just for older drivers - anyone who has a special need is eligible. But most of the car buyers who take advantage of the program are older, and Ford Motoring Mobility is probably the most obvious way in which car manufacturers have started to cater to older drivers.
But there are many others. And often, even car dealerships and salespeople aren't aware that the cars they're selling are designed with older drivers at least partly in mind.
"That demographic, say from 50 to 55 and older, has a great deal of disposable income and can afford the kind of amenities that manufacturers offer," said Gregg Laskoski, a spokesman for AAA Auto Club South. "Drivers in that age group have a great interest in technology and ergonomics. There's just an affinity for those kinds of products, OnStar and all sorts of technological advancements, in that demographic."
Many such technological touches appeal to all sorts of car buyers, Laskoski said. But often the older car buyers - who tend to have more money to spend on options - are the ones who have been the primary motivation for manufacturers to start including them in their cars.
And as the population ages, manufacturers have been making many other adjustments in the way cars are designed that have been driven by the need to appeal to older car buyers, Laskoski said.
In recent years, dashboard lights tend to be brighter, and the writing on control gauges and other indicators tends to be larger. Many improvements have been instigated largely because more drivers are concerned about safe driving.
Salespeople may tout a car's rack-and-pinion steering or antilock braking systems. Buyers may not even know what those are, and may not care too much about them even if they do.
"Cars are sold for a lot of reasons," Laskoski said. "The reasons are fascinating sometimes. It can be the map lights, or individual climate control."
People at the dealership level may not even be aware that newer models have been designed largely with older drivers in mind, he said.
The Ford program is probably the most well-known program that caters especially to older drivers and others with special needs. It represents a significant amount of business at places like Northgate Lincoln Mercury, where Moore bought his Marquis, and Bill Currie Ford.
Bill Currie Ford even has a mobility specialist, Mike Constantine, who works specifically with people whose cars need adaptations.
Constantine estimates that Bill Currie Ford sells about 60 to 100 vehicles a year that are part of the Motoring Mobility program.
The way the program typically works, customers choose their vehicles and all their usual options. After the car arrives from the manufacturer, it goes to an authorized company that adapts the vehicle for the driver's specific needs.
It could be something as simple as a wheelchair rack, Constantine said, but often the adaptations are much more complicated. Floors have been lowered, or ceilings raised. Seat platforms have been added that swivel 90 degrees and then lower the driver to the ground. Hand controls and wheelchair lifts that hide under the body of the car are fairly common. There's also something called "zero-effort steering" that makes the steering wheel respond to the slightest touch.
Almost always, the adaptations cost much more than $1,000. Even the relatively simple wheelchair lift on Moore's Mercury costs about $2,500.
Other car manufacturers have similar programs but none are as extensive as Ford's. General Motors has a program called GM Mobility that also offers up to $1,000 in financial assistance. But an official of a local Chevrolet dealership had never heard of it, and a media relations official of GM corporate headquarters didn't know any details about it, and didn't know who in the company would have any information about it.
It's not just auto manufacturers who are taking notice of older drivers. The federal government and many state and local governments are keeping the aging population in mind when they redesign roads and signage.
For advocates of older drivers, those safety concerns are paramount.
"What we would hope," said Audrey Straight, a senior policy adviser for AARP, "is that while the manufacturers are trying to make older people want to drive, they'll also make it safer to drive."
