Seniors willing to discuss end of driving

BOSTON, July 21 (UPI) -- Most baby boomers are reluctant to discuss limiting driving with their parents, but their parents are more open to the discussion, a U.S. survey indicates.

A national survey by Liberty Mutual Insurance indicates 75 percent of baby boomers have never initiated a conversation about driving with their aging parents out of concern for their reaction. Fifty-eight percent of the boomers say they feared raising the issue would make one of their parents uncomfortable, 38 percent feared it would make them angry, 30 percent thought a parent may be embarrassed, or 12 percent feared a parent would feel disrespected.

However, 94 percent of the seniors say they would not be embarrassed discussing the topic and 80 percent say that such a conversation would not make them uncomfortable.

Ninety-two percent of the seniors say their children "have a right" to raise the issue with them.

Greg Gordon, senior vice president of Consumer Marketing at Liberty Mutual, says the insurance company is offering a "Driver Seat Game," a flash-based video game that simulates the physical and cognitive limitations that older drivers may experience while operating a motor vehicle. The game can be played at www.libertymutual.com/driverseat.

No margin of error was provided for the survey.