AARP Launches Driver Safety Online Course in Spanish

USA - English

• Latin America - español

WASHINGTON, June 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The dashboards of today's new cars look like jet cockpits. Traffic rules, driving conditions, and American roads have changed just as dramatically since most Americans last thought about refreshing their driving skills. Now, to help America's Spanish-speaking drivers adapt to the driving challenges of 21st century, AARP is launching the AARP Driver Safety Online Course in Spanish.

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The AARP Driver Safety Program is designed to help educate participants about how best to reduce traffic violations, crashes and chances for injury; update knowledge about relevant laws; and provide safe driving strategies to compensate for age-related changes that can affect one's driving ability. As a convenience to Spanish speakers, the AARP Driver Safety Online Course in Spanish is accessible for Spanish-speakers from the convenience of their home, whenever they are ready to learn how to help keep them and their families safe on the roads.

Participants in the new Spanish version of the AARP Driver Safety Online Course will learn current rules of the road, defensive driving techniques, and how to operate their vehicles more safely in today's increasingly challenging driving environment. They will also learn adjustments they can make to accommodate common age-related changes in vision, hearing, and reaction time. Also covered in the course are:

• How to minimize the effects of dangerous blind spots
• How to maintain the proper following distance behind another car
• The safest ways to change lanes and make turns at busy intersections
• Proper use of safety belts, air bags, anti-lock brakes, and new vehicular technologies
• Ways to evaluate their own and others' driving skills and capabilities
• The effects of medications on driving
• The importance of eliminating distractions, such as eating, smoking, and cell-phone use

The AARP Driver Safety Online Course is approximately 8 hours long and can be taken at the participant's own pace, and within the convenience of their daily routines. The cost of the program is $15.95 for AARP members and $19.95 for non-members. Though geared toward drivers age 50 and older, the course is open to people of any age.

Over the past 30 years the AARP Driver Safety Program has helped over 13 million English-speaking drivers stay safer on the road through both the online and classroom course*. Allowing participants to hone their driving skills and save money through available insurance discounts.**

To register for the AARP Driver Safety Online Course in Spanish, visit http://www.aarp.org/conductor14. For more general information on the AARP Driver Safety Program and volunteer opportunities, visit www.aarp.org/conductor5.

*The AARP Driver Safety Online Course in Spanish is not currently available in the states of New York, New Jersey or Delaware.

**The insurance premium discount is not available in all states for the online or classroom versions of the course. Requirements vary from state to state. In some states, separate rules apply to online driver improvement courses. Please consult your insurance agent for further details.

AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with a membership that helps people 50+ have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole. AARP does not endorse candidates for public office or make contributions to either political campaigns or candidates. We produce AARP The Magazine, the definitive voice for 50+ Americans and the world's largest-circulation magazine with over 35.1 million readers; AARP Bulletin, the go-to news source for AARP's millions of members and Americans 50+; AARP VIVA, the only bilingual U.S. publication dedicated exclusively to the 50+ Hispanic community; and our website, AARP.org. AARP Foundation is an affiliated charity that provides security, protection, and empowerment to older persons in need with support from thousands of volunteers, donors, and sponsors. We have staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

SOURCE AARP