Liberty Mutual Insurance Brings 'National Conversation Drive' to New York City to Help Educate Families About Senior Driving Safety

NEW YORK, Nov. 4, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Liberty Mutual Insurance, the eighth largest auto and home insurer in the U.S., today brought The National Conversation Drive to Grand Central Terminal in New York City, part of the company's effort to get Americans to talk with elderly family members about driving safety.  At the day-long event, members of the public, train commuters and even tourists were invited to attempt activities while wearing movement-restricting "senior simulator" suits and visually-impairing eyewear, giving them first-hand experience of the physical and cognitive limitations that older drivers may experience while operating a motor vehicle.

Those in attendance were also offered the chance to pledge a conversation with their elderly relatives concerning driving safety by visiting www.libertymutual.com/seniordriving.

"Talking to your elderly parents about driving safety can be very difficult.  But in fact, most seniors expect their adult children to have these conversations with them," said Dave Melton of Liberty Mutual.  "The National Conversation Drive encourages families to have those discussions about safe senior driving – or to at least pledge to have those talks – and we also give them the resources they need to make such conversations easier ones to have.  Ultimately, this initiative is about helping to preserve seniors' mobility, whether by modifying driving habits, or by finding alternative, cost-effective means of transportation."

For each conversation pledged online at www.libertymutual.com/seniordriving, Liberty Mutual will donate the cost of a free ride, (up to 10,000 rides) for seniors through ITNAmerica, the first and only national, non-profit transportation network for America's aging population.  ITN, which provides personalized rides at a nominal cost 24/7/365 to seniors who limit or stop driving, has affiliates in 16 communities countrywide: in the New York City metropolitan area there are ITN affiliates in Connecticut, including ITNCoastalCT, based in Westport.   ITN volunteers from the local community and a small paid staff use their own or donated cars to bring member-riders to and from various errands, including medical appointments and grocery shopping; to work and to the gym; and even a host of social and personal local destinations.

Persons wishing to make a pledge as part of the National Conversation Drive can go online at www.libertymutual.com/seniordriving, where they will find other resources, including tips for talking to your loved ones about driving safety and alternative transportation solutions for seniors such as those provided by ITNAmerica.

The National Conversation Drive is part of Liberty Mutual's ongoing safe senior driving initiative, which began last year with the launch of the popular online Driver Seat game (www.libertymutual.com/driverseat).  The goal of the National Conversation Drive is to foster communication among family members about driving safety – and also to help provide resources to facilitate those important discussions.  

In addition to providing online resources at www.libertymutual.com/seniordriving, Liberty Mutual will also promote the National Conversation Drive online via a major social media campaign with Gather.com, a user-generated news and blog site that will feature articles dealing with senior driving safety; "expert chat" sessions with Liberty Mutual staff and partners; daily safe driving tips, and direct links to Liberty Mutual's Facebook Fan page.

"The National Conversation Drive gives adult children and people of all ages the proper resources with which to talk to their elderly parents about driving safety and alternatives to mobility," said Dr. Vicki Rosebrook, executive director of the Macklin Intergenerational Institute, which specializes in fostering awareness and acceptance among the generations.  "When it comes to having these critically important talks, there is nothing like having context – and there is no better context than to experience first-hand the challenges faced by our aging population on the road."

The Driver Seat Game

Launched last year, the "Driver Seat Game" (www.libertymutual.com/driverseat) is a series of online mini-games that actively portray the challenges many senior drivers face by dramatizing visual decline, reduced mobility and poor reaction time in three impairment stages that act as the game's difficulty settings.  Players must navigate different driving scenarios: busy traffic, going to the grocery store, finding parking in crowded lots, and even evading wildlife on winding country roads.  Additionally, trivia challenges throughout the game educate the player and reinforce the underlying campaign goals of awareness and empathy in the active game experience.

Liberty Mutual's Recent "Boomer Survey"

A survey conducted last year by Liberty Mutual showed that Baby Boomers had a difficult time talking to their elderly parents about driving safety – despite that same survey also showing that seniors are actually open to such conversations.  75 percent of Boomers questioned had never started a conversation with their aging parents about driving, fearing that raising the issue would make their parents uncomfortable (58 percent), angry (38 percent), embarrassed (30 percent), or disrespected (12 percent).

But the same survey showed that an overwhelming majority of the seniors surveyed made it clear that they are much more open to having a conversation about driving safety than their children think. 94 percent of seniors told researchers that they would not be embarrassed discussing the topic, while 92 percent said their children "have a right" to raise issues of driving safety with them.

About Liberty Mutual Group

"Helping people live safer, more secure lives" since 1912, Boston-based Liberty Mutual Group (www.libertymutualgroup.com) is a diversified global insurer and fifth-largest property and casualty insurer in the U.S. based on 2009 direct written premium.  Liberty Mutual Group ranks 71st on the Fortune 500 list of largest U.S. corporations, based on 2009 revenue.  The company has over 45,000 employees located in more than 900 offices throughout the world.

The eighth-largest auto and home insurer in the U.S., Liberty Mutual (www.libertymutual.com) sells full lines of coverage for automobile, homeowners, valuable possessions, personal liability, and individual life insurance.  The company is an industry leader in affinity partnerships, offering car and home insurance to employees and members of more than 13,000 companies, credit unions, professional associations and alumni groups.

SOURCE Liberty Mutual