SENIORS NEED TO ASSESS SKILLS BEFORE CONTINUING TO DRIVE.

Byline: - Carol Bidwell

Just how safe are senior drivers, anyway?

Many, as Endocrine Sciences has found, perform well behind the wheel. But, according to the state Department of Motor Vehicles, seniors overall are becoming responsible for more and more accidents.

One reason for that may be simply because, with baby boomers nationwide turning 50 at the rate of one every nine seconds, there are more older drivers than ever before on the highways, the DMV says.

In 1995, the most recent year for which figures were available, drivers 65 and over numbered more than 2.4 million, or about 12 percent of the state's 20.3 million licensed drivers. Teen-age drivers - who traditionally have had the highest accident rates - totaled less than 1 million, or about 3.9 percent of the state's drivers.

That same year, 7.1 percent of drivers in fatal and injury collisions were age 65 or older; in 1981, only 4.9 percent of drivers involved in serious accidents were 65-plus. During the same period, the number of drivers age 16 to 19 involved in fatal or injury crashes declined from 14.6 percent to 10.1 percent of total drivers.

Generally speaking, accident rates are high for teens, then start dipping as drivers mature until about age 70, when drivers are more likely to cause or be involved in an accident, according to the DMV.

``By age 85, men have, on average, a rate of fault in fatal collisions 149 percent higher than all drivers; the rate for women in this age group averages 87 percent higher than all drivers,'' said a DMV report on younger and older drivers.

Is there an age when we should simply hang up our car keys and send our cars to that great used car lot in the sky?

Not for all of us, said William Madison III, DMV spokesman. Some drivers remain alert, their reflexes and eyesight sharp, all their lives, he said. Others, due to illness, prescription medication or loss of mental or visual acuity, become a hazard on the road.

The law recognizes that drivers' ability can diminish with age.

When Californians reach age 70, they're no longer eligible to have their driver's licenses renewed by mail; they must go to a DMV office and take a written test and an eye test. If DMV examiners notice shaking hands, a lack of alertness or anything else that makes them suspect a loss of driving ability, they can also require a person to complete a driving test.

``But we don't discriminate just because of a person's age,'' Madison said. ``If you come in and are lucid and alert and have a good driving record, you're treated just like everybody else.''

It's not unusual for a family member, a friend, a police officer or a doctor to write the DMV and recommend that an older person's driving privilege be revoked because the writer feels the older driver poses a danger behind the wheel, Madison said. But no record is kept of how many such requests are made annually, or how many are granted or rejected.

Seniors who want to improve their driving can call the American Association of Retired Persons Los Angeles office for information on local 55 Alive/Mature Driving Program classes held in communities throughout Southern California. Cost of the class is $8.