Learn how to drive smart with Officer Mitchell Smith
SUNSHINE CLUB
California Highway Patrol Officer Mitchell Smith will give a presentation to the Sunshine Club titled “Age Well, Drive Smart” on Friday, May 13, in Clubhouse 3, Room 2, at 10 a.m. The club no longer meets via Zoom; people are welcome to the in-person meetings, where masks are encouraged.
Research by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows that senior citizens involved in traffic collisions tend to be more vulnerable than younger people and suffer more severe injuries.
Crash prevention and invehicle occupant protection is an urgent need for seniors. The impact of aging on driving ability varies widely, but senior drivers need to know that gradual effects on vision, flexibility and response times may compromise safety and eventually require them to stop driving.
To educate mature drivers, California Highway Patrol offers the Age Well, Drive Smart program statewide. People who take the program will learn how to tune-up their driving skills and refresh their knowledge of the rules of the road. People will also learn about normal, age-related physical changes and how to adjust to them as well as when it may be time to limit or stop driving and what the alternatives are. This approximately two-hour class is offered free of charge.
Smith was born in Fullerton and graduated from El Dorado High School in 2000. While attending college and prior to beginning his career with the California Highway Patrol, Smith worked as an off-road race car builder and fabricator, which allowed him the opportunity to participate in many professional off-road races such as the Baja 1000 and Vegas to Reno. He attended the California Highway Patrol Academy in 2015 and upon graduation was assigned to the Westminster area, where he has served for the last five years. He has primarily worked as a road patrol officer, patrolling State Route 91, State Route 22, Interstate 5 and Interstate 405 in the north Orange County area.
For more information, call Anna Derby at (562) 301-5339.
