Television comedians have a field day with jokes about elderly drivers, and with its concentration of retirees, Florida is often the butt of the joke. I have a Florida friend who calls white-haired drivers “no-see-ums.” Not because, like the biting midges, they are so tiny we can’t see ‘em, but because he’s sure they can’t see over the steering wheel.

Statistics show that older drivers are more likely than younger drivers to be involved in fatal accidents. Surely, as the number of drivers over 65 in the United States doubles in the next two decades, there are some ways to keep our parents and grandparents from becoming accident statistics. And maybe, at the same time, we can stop making fun of them – because this is really no laughing matter.

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If you are a parent or a grandparent, the initial frustration of locking a small child into the web of buckles and straps of a car seat is followed by a sigh of relief: now she will be safe. And that same peace of mind takes over when you remind a fidgety older child to buckle up: now he will be safe too.

Not so, says Public Citizen (www.citizen.org) president and former National Highway Traffic Safety Administration chair Joan Claybrook, who testified recently before Congress on behalf of the proposed Cameron Gulbransen Kids and Cars Safety Act of 2007.

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A recent Maryland truck accident dramatically highlights not only the deadly consequences of poor enforcement of Federal truck safety standards, but trucking companies’ ho-hum attitudes toward compliance with these standards.

It seems that an accident in Prince Georges County, Maryland that killed one man and injured two others was caused by a tractor-trailer driver with a mind-boggling list of traffic citations: he had racked up tickets in seven states for speeding, careless driving, driving with defective brakes, and – here’s the real outrage – had his license suspended in two states.

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Warnings are everywhere about the dangers of drinking and driving, a major cause of catastrophic motor vehicle accidents that kill and maim thousands of Floridians. But far less is said about the lethal combination of alcohol and water . . . bodies of water, that is, as Floridians get their boats out of dry dock for summer sailing.

When you picture a typical boating adventure, what do you see? Fun-loving partygoers whose attention to the beer cooler is greater than attention to safety rules and access to life vests. What could be better than warm sun and a cold drink. What, me worry?

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The recent National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) mandate for what is called “electronic stability control” in all vehicles sounds like great news. The Transportation Department says it could save between 5,000 and 10,000 lives and prevent nearly a quarter of a million injuries a year.

In plain language, electronic stability control (ESC) is a technology that can sense when a driver is about to lose control, and automatically applies the brakes to help stabilize the car and prevent a rollover.

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