Headline News: Home & Auto

PR Newswire — June 17, 2009
National survey shows seniors open to talking with their adult children about driving safety; new game is perfect conversation starter

BOSTON, June 17 /PRNewswire/ — Liberty Mutual,the eighth largest car and home insurer in the U.S., today launched its online “Driver Seat Game,” a flash-based video game that will allow players of all ages to experience first-hand the physical and cognitive limitations that older drivers may experience while operating a motor vehicle. The goal of the game — found online at www.libertymutual.com/driverseat — is to make players sensitive to the physical obstacles faced by their parents at various stages of aging and inspire conversations between adult children and their senior parents.

The web-based game (http://libertymutual.com/driverseat) is a revolutionary digital approach to tackling the highly sensitive subject of senior driving. A series of mini-games 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. The Driver Seat Game will empower adult children to work with their parents to find a transportation solution that makes sense for their family.

A Conversation Starter

“The Driver Seat Game is a great conversation starter,” said Greg Gordon, senior vice president of Consumer Marketing at Liberty Mutual.
“Most families are simply not addressing the very important issue of senior mobility, perhaps because they feel ill-equipped on how to approach it. The game and our other comprehensive online resources at www.libertymutual.com/seniordriving that address this emotionally charged topic can help overcome that reluctance.”

Indeed, according to a recent national survey of Baby Boomers and senior drivers by Liberty Mutual, the vast majority (75 percent) of adult children say neither they nor anyone to their knowledge has ever spoken to their parents about driving safety issues. An even greater percentage of seniors (88 percent) say no one has had these conversations with them.

Importantly, the survey sheds light on a possible reason why Boomers and their aging parents don’t discuss driving safety. More than half of Boomers (58 percent) think their parents would find a conversation about changing their driving habits “uncomfortable,” and more than one in three (38 percent) believe their parents would “be angered” by such a discussion. Encouragingly, seniors report this isn’t the case. Only one-quarter (24 percent) say they would find the conversation “uncomfortable,” and 9 percent say they would “be angered.” Further, 92 percent of seniors say their adult children “have a right” to raise this issue with them.

“The best way for Baby Boomers — and, indeed, people from all age groups — to understand the problems faced by older drivers is to show them those problems first-hand,” said Dr. Vicki Rosebrook, executive director of the Macklin Intergenerational Institute in Findlay, Ohio.
“While presented in online game fashion, Liberty Mutual’s Driver Seat Game is very close to realistic for the aging population and addresses some very serious issues. Importantly, it sensitizes adult children to the very emotional changing needs of their parents.”

A community-based alternative to driving - ITNAmerica

Liberty Mutual’s Driver Seat Game is launched in an era when more seniors than ever are driving. According to the most recent data available from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there were more than 30 million Americans ages 65 and older on the road in 2007. Of those, 196,000 were injured in car crashes, and drivers from this age group constituted 14 percent of the total traffic fatalities and 14 percent of passenger fatalities that year.

In order to offer seniors a safe, reliable transportation alternative, Liberty Mutual has partnered with ITNAmerica, the first and only national, non-profit transportation network for America’s aging population, to provide these services at nominal costs. ITNAmerica affiliates provide 24/7, personalized rides to seniors who limit or stop driving. This expanding senior transportation solution is now available in nine cities and regions throughout the U.S., including two Greater Hartford affiliates: ITNCentralCT, serving Middletown and neighboring communities, and ITNNorthCentralConnecticut, serving East Windsor and surrounding area.

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. For more information, go to www.libertymutual.com/seniordriving.

“Today’s older Americans are among the most active and community-engaged seniors in our nation’s history, and mobility and independence are essential to preserve those great qualities,” said ITNAmericaFounder and President, Katherine Freund. “The online tools, including the new Driver Seat Game, are welcome resources that seniors and their families need to make responsible driving decisions.”

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 2008 direct written premium. Liberty Mutual Group ranks 86th on the Fortune 500 list of largest U.S. corporations, based on
2008 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 10,000 companies, credit unions, professional associations and alumni groups.

SOURCE Liberty Mutual Group