Press Contact: Teri L. Sullivan
WKNO/Channel 10
(901) 729-8735
tlsullivan@wkno.org
April 6, 2011
For Immediate Release
WKNO Airs New Documentary To Help Families
With A Difficult Conversation About Driving
WKNO/Channel 10 will be airing a new half-hour documentary, The Conversation: Seniors and Driving, on Thursday, May 5, at 7:30 p.m. This program examines the issue of older drivers, with thoughts from seniors (including folksinger Pete Seeger), traffic safety officials and eldercare experts about starting a conversation on if and when older drivers should give up the car keys.
There are over 30 million senior drivers on the road in the United States today. Most are safe drivers, but for some, changes in vision, reflexes, and other abilities come so gradually that they don’t perceive them, putting them at risk behind the wheels. Having one’s own car is a powerful symbol of independence and can be hard to give up, even for people who know it is becoming more difficult to drive safely.
For families, concern about driving, and whether it is time for an older driver to hang up their keys for good, can be both a painful and a difficult conversation. This documentary shares personal stories and emphasizes the best ways that families can respectfully discuss the issue, being mindful of an older loved one’s dignity and independence.
Produced and directed by Mark Sadan for the National Road Safety Foundation, Inc., in 2011, The Conversation: Seniors and Driving is intended to be a starting point for family conversations. Additional resources to help guide those conversations are available from the foundation’s website (http://www.nationalroadsafety.org) or by phone at 1-866-723-3728.
In addition to its premiere on Thursday, May 5, at 7:30 p.m., The Conversation: Seniors and Driving also airs Saturday, May 7, at 2:30 p.m. on WKNO / Channel 10. It also airs Saturday, May 7 at 9:30 p.m. on WKNO2, available over the air on Channel 10.2 and on Comcast Digital Cable Channel 910.
About WKNO
WKNO is a non-profit, private foundation serving the Mid-South for more than 50 years. An important community resource, WKNO uses the power of non-commercial public broadcasting to provide the Mid-South with quality educational and cultural programs that inform, entertain, and inspire. For more information: wkno.org.
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