LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – California’s older driver population is approximately 2.9 million today and is expected to increase to 4 million by 2020.

Research groups such as the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety say that older drivers involved in collisions tend to be more vulnerable than younger people, meaning that they suffer more severe injuries.

Strategies to minimize these casualties and assist older drivers drive safe longer have become a priority for the California Highway Patrol.

The Clear Lake Area CHP is offering a free “Age Well, Drive Smart” course aimed at providing older drivers with KEYS to driving safer and driving longer.

The Clear Lake Area CHP is offering two Age Well, Drive Smart courses.

The first will be at the Middletown Senior Center on Tuesday, May 29, at 1 p.m.

Another course will be at the Lakeport Senior Center on Monday, June 4, at 1 p.m.

The course is approximately two hours long.

Age Well, Drive Smart is intended for drivers 55 and older. Discussion topics in the Age Well, Drive Smart program will include:

• How to tune up their driving skills.
• Refreshing their knowledge of the rules of the road.
• Learning about normal, age-related physical changes and how to adjust to them.
• When it may be time to limit or stop driving.
• Understand the alternatives to driving.

  For more information on the course or to register please call Officer Kory Reynolds at 707-279-0103.