AARP offers educators, staff discount on driver safety program

By CLAUDETTE OLVIER

claudette@tri-parishtimes.com

Calling all current and retired educators, including band directors, custodians, secretaries, aides, pre-school teachers, college professors, guidance counselors, school nurses, cafeteria workers, and even parents who home-school their children.

Save up to 10 percent on your car insurance with the American Association of Retired Persons special discounted rate for educators taking the organization’s summer drivers safety program.

“We are offering the class during the summer, when teachers are off,” said Denise Bottcher, Louisiana AARP communications director. “This is the first time we are doing the discounted program for teachers. We offered the discounted classes to veterans last November, for Veterans Day, and we had a fantastic turnout.”

Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus founded National Retired Teachers Association, now know as the AARP, in 1947. The retired educator started the organization to help retired educators.

Today, AARP supports its roots by offering the educator discount. Those educators who take the course between July 1 and August will only pay $5, saving up to $9 off non-member price of $14 and $7 off the member price of $12.

“By law, all insurance companies in Louisiana must give discounts to drivers who take this course,” said Mel Niemeyer, state coordinator for driver safety. “There is an insurance discount for drivers over 50 years of age. It will save drivers at least a 10 percent discount on their insurance, and the discount is good for three years.”

Four four-hour refresher courses will be taught in the Tri-parish area at the following locations: Council on Aging, 995 W. Tunnel Blvd. in Houma at 9 a.m. on July 10; Thibodaux Regional Medical Center, at 8 a.m. June 22; and Lafourche Council on Aging in Matthews, 4876 Highway 1 at 9 a.m. June 26. To register for the Thibodaux class, call (985) 493-4765, to register for the Matthews class, call (985) 876-6245 and to register for the Houma classes, call 1 (888) 227-7669.

Class sizes are limited, so registration is required. Those taking advantage of the $5 course will not be asked to provide any form of educator identification, but will have to fill out a coupon that can be download at www.aarp.org/educators. The discount does not apply to the AARP Driver Safety online course.

“We want students to think about how they drive so that they will be able to identify when it is no longer safe for them to drive,” Niemeyer said. “The course helps gear up students to eventually make that decision. There is no law in Louisiana limiting a drivers maximum age, and we actually have two instructors that are 90 and are excellent drivers.”

According to Niemeyer, most drivers that take the course are between the ages of 60 to 85. The course takes students over subjects such as how age effects driving skills, the most common crashes for people over 50 and how to reduce these crashes, updates on changes to roads and vehicles and a review of current traffic laws. Participants are also refreshed on reaction time, scanning, safety belts, airbags, breakdowns, reverse, head on collisions, driving in the rain, how medication can effect riving, and school bus and ambulance safety.

“We also review road signs and how to recognize them by shape and color,” Niemeyer said. “As you get older, the signs may get harder to read, so we refresh students using shapes and color.”

Since 1979, more than 14 millions drivers have taken the course.

“Our goal for the state in 2012 is to get 9,113 students to take the course,” Niemeyer said. “In 2011, we taught 523 classes in the state. Our goal for this year is 550. As of May, we have had 223 classes and 3,660 students so far. We average 15-16 students per class.

“The state has also been in the Top 5 for the last two years for exceeding the goal for class participants in the country.”