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Federal Grants Announced to Promote Older Driver Safety

Spectrum staff

The National Association of Area Agencies on Aging announced Thursday that it has been chosen to administer federal grants to establish older driver safety programs in communities across the country.

The group said it will receive money from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Safety Administration and will distribute the funds in 10 to 12 grants of $2,000 to $3,000 to local Area Agencies on Aging.

California’s 33 Area Agencies on Aging and those from other states will be asked to submit bids to compete for the driver safety grants, the national group said.

The grants are part of a 15-month campaign in which NAAAA also will compile information on driver safety and publish it in a guidebook and on the Internet.

Sandra Markwood, the association’s chief executive officer, said local agencies are “uniquely positioned to provide older drivers with assistance so that they can drive as long as is safely possible, and when the time comes to stop driving they can direct older adults to other transportation alternatives to maintain their mobility.”