A Carfit event is coming to the Marian Sutherland Kirby Library to offer area senior drivers a free opportunity to check how their cars “fit” them.
CarFit was created in 2006 in collaboration with AAA, AARP and the American Occupational Therapy Association.
The event will be held in the upper parking lot of the library located at 35 Kirby Ave., Mountaintop, on Saturday, June 3, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.. Appointments are approximately 15 minutes and are required. Appointments may be made by calling 570-474-9313 or by visiting the library. The rain date is June 10.
The program is designed to help older drivers find out how well they currently fit their personal vehicle, to highlight actions they can take to improve their fit and to promote conversations about driver safety and community mobility. A proper fit in one’s personal vehicle can greatly increase not only the driver’s safety but also the safety of others.
CarFit trained professionals from Geisinger Wyoming Valley will take older drivers through a 12-point checklist with their vehicle, recommending minor adjustments that help make their cars “fit” better for comfort and safety.
Examples of how Carfit can benefit an older driver are: knowing how to properly adjust one’s mirrors to greatly minimize blind spots, being aware of good foot positioning on the gas and brake pedal, and having a distance of at least 10 inches from the steering wheel to prevent serious injury.
CarFit was pilot tested in 10 cities in the spring of 2005 with more than 300 older driver participants. Based on findings from the CarFit checklists completed at the events and follow-up surveys of participants, the program appears to be highly effective on multiple fronts. Some of the results show over one-third had at least one critical safety issue needing to be addressed, one in ten were seated too close to the steering wheel and approximately 20% did not have a line of sight at least 3 inches over the steering wheel.
In addition, the vast majority of those responding to the survey indicated that as a result of having gone through the CarFit event, they made a change to improve the fit of their vehicle, their use of safety features in their vehicle, and/or their willingness to discuss their driving with family and/or health care providers.
