Senior Drivers; Used Car Prices; Honda’s History

CIVICS LESSON: The 1974 Civic not only helped Honda break into the US market, but it also established a model that endures today. Honda

By Bill Griffith

December 28, 2014

4 minutes to read

If you’re an older American and still drive, you’ve got plenty of company.

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, which has been studying our driving habits since 1947, is in the process of a five-year study of the driving habits of 3,000 senior drivers.

One of my dad’s admonitions was, “Pay attention. You’ll be old yourself someday—if you’re lucky.’’

That apparently means I’ve been lucky, and I am paying attention to this study.

In a report on “Understanding Older Drivers’’ released early in 2014, the AAA Foundation found:

• 86 percent of Americans over age 65 still drive.

• 84 percent of Americans 65 and older hold a valid driver’s license compared to barely 50 percent in the early 1970s. (Note: we have to assume that means 2 percent of senior drivers are driving without a license).

• 68 percent of drivers age 85 say they drive five or more days per week.

A follow-up report titled “Older American Drivers and Traffic Safety Culture’’ released this month found:

• Nearly 80 percent of drivers over 75 favor medical screenings for drivers 75 and older.

• Nearly 90 percent of drivers 65 and older reported no crashes in the past two years.

• 90 percent of older drivers reported no moving violations.

• 65 percent of drivers 75 and older say they’ve never used a cell phone while driving compared with only 48 percent for the younger “older’’ drivers (65-69).

“Even though public perception tends to unfairly characterize seniors as a menace on the road, these findings indicate that older Americans support policies to keep themselves safer behind the wheel, making them key allies in their mission to keep driving smarter and safer,’’ says Peter Kissinger, president and CEO of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

The American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) promoted Older Driver Safety Awareness Week (Dec. 1-5) to promote understanding of the importance of mobility for older adults to remain active in the community and ensure that transportation won’t be the barrier stranding them at home.’’

“It appears that additional years behind the wheel not only make drivers older, but also wiser,’’ says Jake Nelson, AAA director of traffic safety advocacy. “As adults live longer and spend more time behind the wheel, it’s promising to see a trend towards a more pro-safety culture.’’

Used Car Values

Over the years, one of the cautionary tales in car buying was to avoid a model in its first year, “waiting until the bugs were worked out.’’

However, the folks at the NADA Used Car Guide have determined that runs counter to one of three key factors that may push down the value of some used cars in 2015.

They are: the number of years since the last redesign, amount of competition in the vehicle’s segment, and the quality of the design.

A one-year-old vehicle typically is worth 15 to 20 percent more than a two-year-old model of the same make, but a redesigned one-year-old vehicle can command an additional 15-20 percent premium.

“Let’s say you have a two-year-old car worth $20,000,’’ says Jonathan Banks, executive analyst for the NADA Used Car Guide. “Your neighbor has the same brand of car, but his is only a year old and has an extensive redesign. That neighbor’s car would be worth $27,000—or about 35 percent more than yours.’’

NADA says secondary criteria that influence used-car values include horsepower, torque, and fuel economy. Surprisingly, reliability, warranty, and safety characteristics are pushed behind the power and economy factors.

Down the road a year or so, these factors can be even more significant with manufacturers scheduled to introduce 34 redesigns by year’s end, well over the average of 22 per year since 1989.

It would seem that the savvy shopper who doesn’t need the newest model and design and who plans to hold onto a used car for a number of years could find some relative bargains.

Honda History

The Honda Heritage Center in Marysville, Ohio, opens to the public in January, chronicling the 55-year history of the company’s operations in North America.

“The great variety of products on display—including power sports, power equipment, and automobiles, plus aviation and robotics—illustrate milestones of the Honda brand,’’ says Takuji Yamada, head of Honda’s North American regional operations.

Interestingly, the 160,000-square-foot facility also includes a technical development center. If engineers need inspiration, they only have to walk through a door to see how the past will influence their efforts.

Etc.

Happy New Year to all with some early 2015 dates: New England’s largest indoor automotive swap, the Autoparts Swap ‘n’ Sell, is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 17, from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. at the Eastern States Exposition (the Big E) in West Springfield … The Boston International Auto Show returns to the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center that same weekend, running from Jan. 15-19 and ending on the Martin Luther King Monday holiday.