SUNY Downstate CarFit Event to Help Seniors Enhance Driving Safety, April 22
Mar 15, 2012
Older drivers will have an opportunity to learn how to be safer in their automobiles when SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University holds a CarFit Event Sunday, April 22, 2012. CarFit is an educational program that helps older drivers to check how well their vehicles “fit” them. It also links older drivers with information on local community resources that may help them stay healthy and continue to drive for as long as safely possible. According to CarFit, helping “fit” an individual to his or her car “greatly increases not only the driver’s safety but also the safety of others.”
Older drivers are often the safest drivers in that they are more likely to wear their seatbelts, and less likely to speed. However, older drivers are more likely to be injured when a crash does occur due to the greater fragility of their aging bodies. Driver safety programs improve adult driver safety by addressing cognitive abilities and skills, but older drivers can also improve their safety by ensuring their cars are properly adjusted for them. A proper fit in one's car can greatly increase not only the driver's safety but also the safety of others.
Adjusting cars for seniors includes making sure they have a clear line of sight over the steering wheel and are sitting at a safe distance from the airbag, positioning mirrors to help eliminate blind spots, adjusting seatbelts for increased safety, and teaching seniors how to properly place their foot on the gas and brake pedals.
The CarFit Event will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the SUNY Downstate Parking Lot located at 324 Winthrop Street in Brooklyn between Nostrand and New York Avenues. Using a 12-point checklist, trained professionals, faculty, and student volunteers from the Occupational Therapy Program at SUNY Downstate’s School of Health Professions will work with each participant to ensure they fit their vehicle properly for maximum comfort and safety. The entire process will last approximately 20 minutes.
To make an appointment, or for further information, please email DownstateCarFit@gmail.com or call 718-826-5046. Appointments should be made in advance.
CarFit is an educational program created by the American Society on the Aging and developed in collaboration with AAA, AARP, and the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA).
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About SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University
Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn is one of four academic health centers (AMCs) in The State University of New York (SUNY) 64-campus system and the only SUNY AMC in New York City dedicated to health education, research, and patient care for the borough’s 2.7 million residents. Its flagship hospital, University Hospital at Downstate (UHD), is a teaching hospital and benefits from the expertise of Downstate’s exceptional medical school and world-class academic center research facilities. With a staff of over 800 physicians representing 53 specialties and subspecialties, Downstate offers comprehensive healthcare services to the community.
UHD provides high-risk neonatal and infant services, pediatric nephrology, and dialysis for kidney diseases and is the only kidney transplantation program in Brooklyn. Beyond its clinical expertise, Downstate houses a range of esteemed educational institutions, including its College of Medicine, College of Nursing, School of Health Professions, School of Graduate Studies, and School of Public Health. Downstate fosters innovation through its multifaceted biotechnology initiative, the Biotechnology Incubator and BioBAT, which support early-stage and more mature biotech companies.