MDOT hopes to make roads safer for older drivers

ISHPEMING — Some recent improvements to the roads statewide are helping to keep older drivers safe.

The Michigan Department of Transportation and Western Michigan University collaborated on experimenting with different ways to improve roads and road signs for older drivers.

One thing they’ve done to help those drivers, officials are trying different fonts on signs to make them easier to read while driving. They’ve also added timers to crosswalk crossing signals and directional arrows to each lane so drivers know where each lane will take them.

“These are things we’re doing statewide, but the survey was done in a few downstate cites, Detroit, Kalamazoo and Lansing.” Dan Weingarten iof MDOT’s office of communications, “So the survey wasn’t conducted up here, but these are improvements that we are making to roadways we are making around the Upper Peninsula.”

MDOT Officials say that in addition to what was studied in the survey, they are studying a number of other ways to make sure the roads remain safe for senior drivers here in Michigan.

For more information go to ‘The Safe Drivers Smart Options’ web site provides resources for aging drivers and family members of aging drivers.