Village of Winifred resident, Chuck Wildzunas, and about a dozen trained volunteers, held yet another CarFit program on Wednesday, in the north parking lot of The Villages’Â Eisenhower Regional Recreation Center.
This important program evaluates participants’ cars to help them enhance their safety and comfort while driving. The CarFit organization is endorsed by the Florida Department of Transportation, our local tri-county law enforcement agencies, The Villages District Government (VCCDDs), the Villages Homeowners’ Association (VHA), the American Automobile Association (AAA) and the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP).
“At first, people might wonder why we are doing this,” Wildzunas said. “But when we realize that as we age, our eyesight and hearing may change — our stature may become shorter, and our bodies may be less flexible and more fragile — then we understand why we say our ‘fit with our car’ may change also.”
“We don’t do anything to peoples’ cars,” volunteer Bill Cole from the Village of Bonnybrook said. “We check things out and give the drivers ideas and suggestions to consider. Many choose to make adjustments to their vehicles’ mirrors, seat belts, steering wheels or seats, to improve their visibility and comfort.”
The volunteers run through a checklist with each driver, making sure both the accelerator and brake pedals can be reached with ease. They check to be sure the driver has adequate road visibility over the dashboard and steering wheel and that their car’s tire tread, turn signals and horn are all in good working order.
Some drivers complain their seatbelts are uncomfortable, and some even put padding on them,” volunteer Carol Pirone-Udell said. “We show them how the belts in most cars can be adjusted upward or downward. That minor change sometimes makes a big difference.”
The CarFit people suggest each driver sits at least ten inches from their front air bag. “A lot of people are injured when their air bags open, and sitting at the right distance is important,” volunteer Randall Edgar from Caroline Village said. “They used to tell us to keep our hands on the steering wheel at the 10 and 2 positions, but they’ve changed that in favor of 9 and 3, or even 8 and 4,” Pirone-Udell added. “Some older persons’ wrists are very fragile and have been broken by the force of an air bag.”
Participant Gail Braman, a Villa Berea (Polo Ridge) resident, was very happy she came through the program. “They brought up a lot of things I never would have thought of,” Braman said. “They showed us how to reduce our blind spots by adjusting our mirrors, which can prevent accidents. They should make this program mandatory in Florida, because it is prevention-oriented.”
“We had a very well attended CarFit Program at Freedom Pointe last year,” Wildzunas recalled, “but that was a closed event — for Freedom Pointe residents only. Our previous program here at Eisenhower set a CarFit attendance record for Central Florida. Some new people heard about today’s event in our online newspaper and decided to come out. We’ve checked about twenty cars so far.”
CarFit participants received a goodie bag containing useful CarFit information booklets for seniors ‘at the wheel;’ a small first aid kit, absorbent coasters for their car’s cup holders and a flashlight keychain.
Several of Thursday’s volunteers keep very active on their district government boards, in Community Watch, on the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), at the American Legion and other helping organizations. “We’ve never been so busy since we retired so we wouldn’t have anything to do,” Wildzunas quipped. “Our lives in The Villages are so good that if it got any better, we’d have to hire other people to help us enjoy it. In autumn up north, we watched the foliage color change — here we can watch the license plate colors change with the arrival of the snowbirds.”
