New law incentivize senior citizens driving safety course [Video]

A new law passed in Minnesota seeks to incentivize older drivers to take driving safety courses and gives them a 10 percent auto insurance discount.

Nationally traffic fatalities in drivers 65 and older went up by 14 percent in 2021 and continue to be on the rise. In fact, about one out of every four traffic fatalities in Minnesota is a person 65 or older. Intersections can cause an elderly driver trouble, especially when gauging the speed of traffic on the lanes they will cross.

Traffic Safety and Advocacy Director Lisa Kons says the new law cuts the length of the course in half from eight hours to just four hours in an attempt to bring up engagement from seniors.

“Minnesota’s growing population of 55 plus went from one million to 1.7 million in the last few years,” says Kons. “Class participation has declined over that same period and so it came to light that eight hours is a really …