Enhancing Senior Independence through Vehicle Safety and Technology | Living to 100 Club Podcast

Welcome to the Living to 100 Club Podcast. Here's our host, Dr. Joseph Casciani. Well, hello to everyone joining us today. You're listening to the Living to 100 Club Podcast, and I'm your host, Joe Casciani. I'm passionate about helping people embrace the principles of psychologically healthy aging, staying positive, finding purpose, and making the most of all the years we're given, no matter what challenges come along. Each episode, we bring you conversations that educate and inspire, guiding you to age with resilience, optimism, and a positive mindset. Thank you for being a part of our journey with us. Now let's dive into today's conversation. In today's episode, I'm joined by Jennifer Morrison, an expert in vehicle safety at Mazda. We explore the evolving landscape of automotive safety with a focus on how advanced car technologies can help prolong senior independence. We'll discuss critical safety features, the importance of behavioral safety, and recommend recommendations for selecting the safest vehicles for older adults. We'll also touch on car safety ratings, electronic systems, and the potential future of driverless vehicles. Jennifer shares insights on the latest crash avoidance and crashworthiness features and the importance of future autonomous vehicle technology and driverless taxi programs. First, a little background. Jennifer Morrison oversees vehicle safety strategy and communications for Mazda North American operations. She's responsible for compliance with federal safety regulations, crash testing, and consumer rating programs, and the thoughtful deployment of advanced driver assistance technologies for all U.S. vehicles. Jennifer started her career in transportation safety in the Office of Defect Investigations at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. She then spent 15 years as a vehicle factors investigator and investigator in charge at the National Transportation Safety Board, where she investigated over 70 major crashes involving trucks, buses, cars, and trains. The experience turned you into a dedicated safety advocate focusing on collision avoidance, vehicle crashworthiness, and data improvements to transportation safety. We're fortunate to have someone with the credentials and advocacy and focus like yourself on our program. Jennifer, welcome.

Yeah, thanks for having me. I can't wait to talk about how we can all live to 100.

Yeah. Oh, good. Yeah. Well, we're looking forward to that, and I'm looking forward to our conversation. You have a lot to share. So I always like to open by asking our guests to share maybe the, the main points that brought you to where you are today. What were the pivotal points or the, um, the pivots that brought you to this position?

Yeah, it's really a great question. It really comes from even where I grew up and where I'm from. So I'm from a small town in Iowa. I grew up in an area that you needed to have a car to get around. And so for me, cars were freedom. I wanted to be able to move about independently, like as a young person. And I imagine as I get older, I'm going to feel the exact same way. I wanted to have that independence. To get to school, to get to my very first job at a restaurant, to see my friends, and you had to have a car. So those wheels, those were freedom to me, and I turned it into a career. I loved engineering transportation systems. My father and my grandfather before him worked in the railroad system for Union Pacific and Burlington Northern. So just trains, transportation, cars, they're all in my DNA. And I wanted to, at first I thought I was going to go work for one of the big three, automakers right out of college and work on like airbags and interior design. And that's not what happened. I have a little bit of a deviation. I attended school in Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia. I want to be a— I grew up in the Midwest, so I wanted to go be a city kid. So I spent some time in Philadelphia. And then once I got to the city, I wanted to stay. So I took my first job down in Washington, D.C. for the government and all those government careers that you mentioned. I ended up spending about 16 years in regulations and vehicle safety and crash investigation. And then, and then I ended up working for a car company, of course, landed here at Mazda. I've been here for the last 6 years doing some of that things that I envisioned myself doing all along, improving safety inside vehicles, airbags, restraint systems, things like that. And I've really had quite a good time, but it was, it was not a direct path. It was a little bit of a roundabout way of getting here, but I've had a bit of fun along the way.

It usually is not a direct path, right? Yeah.

Right.

So based on your experience, Mazda is really lucky to have you to add your experience, your insights, your recommendations. That's really good. Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Thanks for saying that. I mean, I think it's a unique position having been especially a crash investigator. And that was a brunt of my career, being out on roadsides and seeing what real crashes look like, the actual damage and destruction that comes from vehicles moving at very fast speeds on freeways and even in neighborhoods. And the true human impact of crashes, whether it's injuries or fatalities. These are real people whose lives are changing as a result of these incidents.

Yeah. So we know that car dealers, manufacturers, foreign and domestic, are really focusing a lot on safety technologies and a lot of the systems that are now in place. Can you, can you share what are the— I mean, as we look at the population of older adults and safety and technologies that are most useful, most applicable to this population. What are some of the crash avoidance and crashworthiness features that seniors should be aware of and maybe look for if they're looking for a new car?

Right. Yeah. Well, maybe we'll dissect that into two parts because the crashworthiness and crash avoidance are very, very different. Let's talk about crash avoidance first, because that's really the first thing you want to do is avoid getting in a crash in the first place. So newer vehicles, and I do, I imagine that a lot of older drivers, maybe they've had their vehicle for some time, they've had it for 5, 10, 15, 20 years. They're very accustomed to their vehicle. And that can be a benefit. Of course, knowing your vehicle, being able to control your vehicle, there are some pros there. But what you lose in an older vehicle is that you're not going to get some of these newer crash avoidance features. So since about 2018 or so, that's when we've really started seeing the adoption of automatic emergency braking become very prevalent in the market. It is now almost at 100%, and that's due to a voluntary commitment between automakers and the government and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which I think we're going to talk about quite a bit on this podcast. So pin that acronym in your heads, that Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, IIHS. We'll talk about that quite a bit. But those organizations got together and agreed back in like 2015, really started in 2016, that we would deploy automatic emergency braking. It's a pretty simple technology. It uses cameras and radars to detect what's in front of you and automatically apply the brakes if it senses that there's a collision that's imminent. That tech kind of technology is really between like that time of the voluntary commitment and today, It's gone from 0 to 100%, almost 100% equipment in all new vehicles. That is something we really, you know, everyone should have the benefit of not getting in those crashes. I myself have experienced it where I've been driving along and maybe a little bit of daydreaming or something catches my eye off to the side and I take my eyes off the road momentarily and someone stops right in front of me.

Sure.

And I don't want to hit that person. Maybe it wouldn't be an injury or fatal type of collision at lower speeds, but you don't know what that could lead to. Like if you're you're stuck on the side of the road and you've been involved in an incident, now you're pulling over to the side of a freeway. That creates its own risk. It's better to avoid those crashes altogether. And I've experienced it. Like, I've gotten the alert, I've gotten the beep beep beep and the automatic brake, and I have been very, very grateful for those moments when that has happened to me. Yeah.

Can I just ask quickly?

Yep.

The crash avoidance for braking applies universally, or at least all the new cars. Going forward, does it also work going backwards on all new cars as well, or is that the exception?

It's not part of the voluntary commitment. That voluntary commitment was just the forward ones. The rear ones, the rear automatic braking. Yes, those are out in the field. A lot of new vehicles have them. It's typically an option, not standard equipment.

Okay.

But you can find them and they are becoming more, more prevalent as well. Really, those are aimed to help with rear cross-traffic when you're backing in like a parking garage. Or even in an open parking lot, or if there's any pedestrians walking behind you as you're backing up.

Yeah, great. Okay, didn't mean to interrupt, but—

No, it's a very good question. The rear is important too.

Backing out of the driveway, it's good to know it's there in the car. Yeah. Right. Yeah.

Yeah.

So other features besides the braking?

Yeah, so along the same lines of crash avoidance, another really important one is that— so we've talked about forward and backward, right? Then the side to side. So the feature that I love and I know I can't drive without if I get into a rental car that doesn't have it is blind spot monitoring or blind spot warning. It's simply those little lights in your mirrors, and that's aided by side radars that are in the sides of your vehicles. And also there's cameras that can be involved there and just a little light and sometimes an audible tone or a haptic tone. A lot of these things can be customized in the settings menu of the vehicle. To give you an alert that there's someone in your blind spot. And yes, of course, it's still important to check, to look and check, to use your mirrors. But it's an additional tool that you can have, especially with the auditory, haptic, and visual alerts that let you know that there's somebody in your side. And that's at times even— another technology on top of that is the Lane Keeping Assistance. It uses the camera that's in the front of the vehicle to monitor the lane lines. And if you deviate that lane line, without using your turn signal, it can give you an audible, a visual, and even a steering tug to get back into the center of the lane. So these are on new models now. The blind spot monitoring, the lane keeping, even some of the rear AEB stuff that we— automatic emergency braking we talked about. None of that is required. Now, for Mazda, we were very proud to say that all of those systems, we see them as proven safety systems. So we offer them as standard equipment on all Mazda vehicles. Not just the AEB, the front AEB, but also the blind spot monitoring, the lane keeping, lane departure warning systems. And then for the rear, the backup we were talking about, that rear cross, at least the alert, the braking is an option, is usually optional.

I see.

But at least you get that alert for when you're backing up and there's somebody crossing behind your vehicle. So they're not standard on all cars. You need to keep an eye out for these things. Like if you're getting a new car or even a used car, there's quite a bit of technology out there today where you can have these systems that can greatly aid you in avoiding those crashes altogether.

Yeah. Yeah. You read about some of those unavoidable accidents where the person steps on the accelerator instead of the brake and kind of goes into the front of the storefront and meant to stop in the parking space. So that's a car that doesn't have that crash avoidance feature. That may be an older car, because that normally would not happen if the front braking was engaged. Is that right?

There are some— yeah, the pedal misapplication cases are really, really tough. There's not a lot you can do in that case, because no matter what, the system still will do what you ask it to do, right? A car, if you want to accelerate as much as you want to, you can override these systems.

Oh, interesting.

But there are some throttle protection technologies now that if you press on both the throttle and the brake at the same time, it will go neutral. Like it won't, it won't drive you forward if there's that kind of pedal misapplication. But yes, there, there have been plenty of stories where there's a pedal misapplication and you're actually pressing the gas instead of the brake. Automatic emergency braking is not really intended to prevent that type of crash. It's more intended to prevent the normal everyday driving in traffic where you take your eyes off momentarily. So to prevent those rear-end type of crashes with other vehicles ahead of you.

Hmm. Okay. Okay. And other features that we can look for or ask for?

Yeah, I think let's switch over to the crashworthiness piece because that's a really critical one, especially for older drivers. The older you are, the more fragile your body becomes and the more likely you are to get injured in car crashes if you are in one. So thinking about the types of restraint systems in that vehicle and the that vehicle's capability to protect you is very critical as you get into your older years. So a lot of vehicles, you're not required. So the federal regulations actually don't specify that you have to have any airbags or any number of airbags in your car. They're the way it's set up. And I actually watched a crash test yesterday. So this is all fresh in my mind. We put, we put instrumented very high technology instrumented crash test dummies in cars, and then we run them through very specific tests. And those dummies have— are just loaded with sensors. So that's the goal, is to do whatever we can do to prevent those sensors from having very high injury numbers. So just like they're a human surrogate, right? That's how we test cars. We don't have to do that with any special number of airbags or restraint systems. We could fill the car with foam or water. It's not specified that way. But what most, of course, cars these days come with is a variety of airbags. The more, sometimes the better. And but they're not all equal. They're not all the same. And to really be able to see which cars are performing the best in these types of crashes is to look at the rating systems and the number of airbags they come with.

Yeah. Yeah. So you get the metrics, you get the feedback when you do the crash tests and you conceive positioning and type and all of that. So that's a continuous process, continuous learning process, right, to continue with these crash dummies. Yeah.

Right. And make the crash dummies better, more receptive to exactly how a human would react. What we've done in a lot of our vehicles is we've placed standard knee bolster airbags in both the driver and passenger areas. And those are going to help protect lower extremities. That's especially for older— adults, if you get an injury in the lower extremity, it is very hard to recover from that depending on the severity of that injury. So knee bolster airbags, side impacts. We, we all kind of know the side impact curtain. I think a lot of people have, when they hear side impact and they think the curtain airbag, it's the one that comes down out of the top and over the windows to help prevent ejection or contact between your head and the window or the side of the vehicle. Those are great. But even more advanced now is we have seat-mounted airbags as well that come and help. Kind of refer to those sometimes as thorax, like for rib cage airbags. And those are on the outboard sides and they help also cushion and protect against side impact. So those are all standard in our newer Mazda vehicles too. We have upwards of 10 airbags in a new vehicle today. Not just the 2 in the front that maybe some people think that are in cars. There are upwards of 10 airbags in modern vehicles today.

We've come a long way from seat belts, right?

And seat belts aren't just seat belts anymore. You know, it's— they are the most— they are still by far— seat belts are the most important number one safety feature in the vehicle besides the driver, right? The driver is your safety— best safety feature. The next thing is putting that seat belt on. But seat belts now are loaded with technology. They're advanced. They actually can do pre-tensioning. It's going to suck you in and put you right back into your seat where you belong right before a crash and also like limit the amount of load that goes onto someone's chest. Um, they're referred to as pretensioners and load limiters in these advanced seat belts. So we've really come a long way.

Wow. So that's the advancement, that's the technology. It's really improving the, the type of, um, cushioning and, and buffering that the passengers can experience from seat belt tensioners and the airbags and how sophisticated the airbags are becoming even for lower extremities. That's the— gets the continued refinement and sophistication of the technology.

It is. Because of all these things, as you kind of put it all together, both with crash avoidance and with crashworthiness, typically the newer car you can get, the safer it is, with some caveats. Look at those safety ratings too. You know, just because it is a new car doesn't mean it's always going to have blind spot monitoring with it or that it's going to have knee bolster airbags. I absolutely always reference the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. We talked about that a second ago, those IHS safety ratings. There's basically two safety ratings programs in this— in the United States. We have the IIHS ones and then we have NCAP, the New Car Assessment Program that's government-run. So we have one that's run by the insurance industry. Essentially, it's funded through the insurance industry, through a nonprofit. And one that's funded through the government. And the ones that— the government one has not been updated. They're still difficult tests. There's a front test and a side pole test and then a side barrier test for the government one for the 5-star crash ratings. You're going to see those on the window stickers of a new car. You can look them up online if you're buying a used car. Those ones, the tests haven't been updated in a long time and they don't incorporate crash avoidance systems. They're just crashworthiness ratings. Those 5 stars on cars, You hear a 5-star rating, those are just for crashworthiness, and they're important. Um, it's always good to make sure you're looking for a 5-star rating there. The IIHS ones, those are, are changed almost every year to a higher and higher and higher bar. They are very, very difficult tests. They're always evolving, always improving. So the vehicles that are achieving those ratings are your top, top performers. If you're looking at a car that has either a Top Safety Pick or a Top Safety Pick+ in any of the recent years of that program, 2022, 2023, 2024, in those areas, those are the safest-rated vehicles on the market today.

And that's the IIHS. And the first rating system was the NCAP. That's the— NCAP. That's the government one.

Right.

Yeah. And that's not as, um, that's not updated as frequently. So it's okay. It's just not as good as the IIHS rating system.

The IIHS is definitely a higher bar. It's a higher bar. It's updated quite a bit and it includes those crash avoidance technologies in its rating structure. So I would, I would definitely look to those as the, as the cream of the crop, the, the, the most tested and proven systems. It includes like the crashworthiness, the crash avoidance, and actually has a headlight component to it as well, because nighttime driving and the quality of headlights can greatly affect driver safety. So that's all incorporated into that, that those Top Safety and Top Safety Pick+ winners from the Insurance Institute.

Well, that's good to know. Thanks. So those are the standards we can look for then. Let's take a look at just driving behaviors in older adults and what are the recommendations there about how to drive safely and, you know, be mindful of any risks that we might experience in our 70s, 80s, 90s. What do you think?

Yeah, unfortunately, the statistics are that, you know, as typically crashes and injuries do decrease with age, but when it comes to fatal crashes, there is an increase also as you get over 65. So it's something to be aware of and make sure that you're doing a couple of things and just making sure that you're a safe driver. Being aware of any medical issues is a big one. If you have specific medical issues, whether that's eyesight or things that help you stay alert and attentive to driving, you have to be aware of that if you're going to be driving. Sometimes the nighttime aspect, making sure that you're going to be driving during the day if you feel uncomfortable driving at night or you can't see as well. Those are important elements of maintaining the safety of the, of the entire road population, not just you, that those are around you, right, as well.

There are other people on the road.

Yeah, there are other people on the road there. You know, I mean, you certainly don't want to get in anything and then, you know, hurt someone else. But I think it's also really important that older drivers be aware of their vehicle, right? So I come from vehicle engineering in the vehicle space. So if you're driving a vehicle you've been in for a long time, that's great. You know how that vehicle functions, you know its systems. But if you choose to get into one of these newer cars that we're talking about, to get the better safety ratings and all the airbags and technology, spend the time to familiarize yourself with that car. You don't want to be stuck playing with settings menus or not understanding an alert or something that pops up on your display when you're out driving. You want to really focus on the driving task. So I highly encourage people really at any age, if they've purchased a new vehicle, to spend time with their dealer and just in low-speed neighborhood areas, getting used to the overall settings menus, what you can change on your car, making sure that you can customize it to your needs and wants. A lot of these systems are very customizable.

Can you offer any thoughts on— I think that's really important to understand that the technology is like any new system, a new phone or a new tablet. We really have to take time to learn it in a car, especially because there are so many risks involved. Can you share your thoughts about When do we limit our driving based on maybe a decline in our capacity or maybe confusion, not necessarily dementia, but maybe a risk of, you know, seizure disorder or some other mental impairments? Can you share any guidelines here that our listeners can follow?

Yeah, it really is so individual. You have to be able to know what you're comfortable doing and where your limits are. You know, consult with your family, listen to your, your kids, your, your siblings, your relatives, um, it, you know, have them drive with you in the car and see, you know, what their impressions are of your driving abilities. And when you do get to that point in time when you're— if you're uncomfortable, it's probably time to transition to a different transportation plan.

Sure.

And luckily it's 2025 and we've got a lot of cool options these days, right?

It's not great.

You have to drive everywhere. The advent of Uber. I have a 16-year-old who— before he just got his driver's license, which is a whole nother topic we could talk about. But before that, they even had Uber set up for teens where there's an account and we can safely transport our young people to and from places when we can't drive them with accredited drivers that have had additional safety checks and that we can track them the whole way through. So the same thing is true for anyone and older drivers. They can use one of these ridesharing apps, Uber, Lyft, and the like, and feel comfortable and safe doing it. Maybe try it with a friend or family member first if you're uncomfortable doing a rideshare. Get used to it.

Yeah.

Sometimes it's hard to try these new things at first, but once you do, you can get accustomed to it. Simple things like going to a doctor's appointment, or the grocery store. Yeah, you can actually use a rideshare app for that if you are uncomfortable driving.

Yeah, that's, I mean, that's a great option. A decade ago, we didn't have that. I mean, we had taxicabs, of course, and we have some kind of, you know, senior transportation and all that. But the addition of this ridesharing is really a breakthrough.

For, yeah, for all of us. And this, I mean, I think it's, it's been great. You, like I mentioned, young people, older people. We talk, one of the things we talk a lot about, like the big problems in transportation safety. We have 3 big issues that really kill and hurt a lot of people in this country. That's impairment, speeding, and belt use. Those are the big 3. So even in that impairment piece, and this is true for older adults and really for all of us that want to be responsible citizens, if we are imbibing in any type of alcohol. You've enjoyed a nice dinner out with your friends and family. Some people still think that that's acceptable to have several drinks and then get behind the wheel. It really isn't. Like, you don't know if you feel different, you drive different. And that's another great opportunity to use those ridesharing apps or have a friend drive, you know, have a designated driver. You know, friends and family. My 16-year-old that has a driver's license now is a great candidate for being an a designated driver for my husband and I when we want to go out to a nice meal or something. So it's— there's all these great options now that are not just, you know, they can be helpful to all of us at every stage of the game, at every age. So yeah, impairment is one of those big problems. Speeding, knowing the speed limits, maintaining speed limits. We don't typically see that in older drivers being, you know, heavy on the pedal, but still knowing those, those limits and staying within the speed. With every mile per hour of increase that you're going faster in your vehicle, the more injury you could do to yourself and others. So be very conscious of the speed that you're traveling at. And then that third one, of course, is the seatbelt. And that one we've made so much progress on. We've worked for generations and generations to get people to buckle up, but still in the back seat, it is somewhat of a problem. People will maybe get into that rideshare or get into a friend's car and they go, I'm in the back seat, I don't need to wear my seatbelt.

Incorrect.

It's very important that you wear that in any seating position. And in the back, people don't realize that the momentum, like if you were to get into a frontal crash, your body is going to travel into those front seats and you're going to cause even more injury to people sitting in front of you too. So buckle up every seat, every time. Really having all 3 of those components, those big safety issues in mind as you're out there on the road, regardless of where you sit in your aging process from 16 all the way up to 65.

Yeah, no, great advice. That's great advice. You know, it occurs to me as we talked about ridesharing and all these new alternatives, you know, years ago, generations ago, people didn't want to give up the car keys, right? I mean, independence. And gee, if I can't drive anymore, that means I'm too old. And, you know, what else does that come with? So we can avoid that now. We can give up the car keys a little bit more willingly. We're not quite as independent, but we still have the means to get around. And that's what counts, right? That's what counts. So, I mean, we hear about it all the time. I don't want to stop driving. That means I You know, I'm not my own person anymore. Well, you know, we have to accept some of these limitations and, and, uh, see what's next, adapt and move on. Yeah, right.

Yeah. And there's a lot of— I mean, technology has really started to evolve, you know, in the technologies that we see in the cars that you can purchase today, you know, the ones with all these new advanced features, and the ones that you can ride hail, you know, and get in and have another person drive you. And then we also have these driverless taxis.

Oh yes, I was going to ask about that.

There are, there are some cities now, they're not everywhere yet, but you have places like San Francisco, um, California. We've got Phoenix, Arizona, and places like Austin, Texas, where there are these groups, um, that are putting out driverless taxis. And I think that might be scary for a lot of people, but again, once you try it and get accustomed to it— I've ridden in them myself— it's a little surprising at first, but it has its place and it can be a very popular solution in some cities. Now, usually those places are ones that don't have a lot of weather, not a lot of snow or other issues like that. But that's why they are in some of these warmer states and warmer locations. But it is— it's another option. It's another option where you don't have to rely on another person. So if you're not comfortable with the rideshare and being in the car with another person, you still have that feeling of independence. With jumping into a driverless taxi. And maybe you feel like just extra cool because now you're using some kind of neat new technology that was just thought up in the last couple of decades. So yeah, use the tech. I mean, the technologies can be these really interesting solutions for all of us. Why not give it a shot?

I agree. I agree. And, you know, with the The whole driverless vehicle thing is scary for a lot of people, but in fact, do we know any of the, the safety results yet? The, the ratings— are they as safe as ridesharing with an Uber driver or Lyft driver? I mean, do we know any of that?

So the, the, the driverless taxis have had to be publishing all of their incidents. And an interesting thing happened with the government a few years ago where they asked anyone to— who had these driverless taxis, they actually have to publish the findings are any incidents and they have to put those online. So of course there have been some isolated incidents and those typically do get a lot of media attention. But for the most part, those— a lot of the taxis, the driverless taxis have been racking up the miles incident-free. So the still the crashes that the leading cause of crashes are the ones we talked about and they're human-related, the impairment, the speeding and the belt use. So those still are the big problems in transportation safety. We don't have any significant statistics right now that would say that there's, uh, the rideshare or the, um, the technology behind driverless cars are really adding anything substantial to the, to the ones that we've already talked about.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, obviously there's no impairment risk with the driverless car. Seat belts is going to be a constant no matter what kind of vehicle you're in, right? And, um, speeding probably not a factor for—

they probably actually obey the speed limit, right? And that might make people think, oh, they're moving so slowly. Well, it's because they're actually going the speed limit, right? And a lot of us struggle with that.

I, I think that's great. And that, that, I mean, those advantages really add up when you think about it. And there are glitches, of course, and there are these exceptions where there are some accidents that do, you know, get a lot of attention. But, um, I think your point is that we have so many new alternatives now that driving oneself is great, but it's not all there is. We have other ways to get around. Right. Yeah.

And if you are driving yourself, make sure that you're putting yourself in the best position to be protected in the event of a crash or to avoid a crash altogether. Really look at the car that you're currently driving and see, you know, is this the best car for me? I hear a lot of people, maybe grandparents handing down their car to their teens. Don't really advise that either. I know that there's always a cost at hand there. If you can't afford a different car, any car, it might be what you need to take. But if you can make these choices, they're informed risks, right? Typically the newer the car, the safer the car, the higher the rating, the safer the car. If you are in a position to put yourself in the lowest risk vehicle to prevent the injury and prevent the incidents. Do your research on the vehicles that are out there on the market. They are not all equal. And make sure that you and your family are protected the best you can be. Yeah.

Yeah, so that's really the main takeaway here too. If possible, we want to drive a car with the most advanced features. Crash avoidance, crashworthiness. So that's really the main, I think the main message for the audience. Any other takeaways you can think of for people who are tuning in today?

Yeah, I think one of those other main messages is know your car, especially if you end up getting a new one. Spend the time, get to know it. Some of the safety features might be surprising at first. Maybe you don't understand why they're behaving that way. Some people have said to me before, oh, I don't like that Lane Keep Assist system. I leave the lane line and it always yells at me. It makes noise at them. And I'm like, did you turn on your turn signal? Because look, actually it's suppressed if you use your turn signal. Sometimes we refer to that as the turn signal reminder system. So understand what the system is doing. It's just, you know, in that case, it's looking for the lane line. If you go over it without signaling, it'll give you an alert. But if you turn on your turn signal, it'll suppress it. So just understand the systems, get familiar with your vehicle, um, and enjoy that independence as long as you possibly can.

Yeah, yeah, great. That's super information, valuable information for my audience. Thank you so much for sharing this. Is there a website that listeners can go to and maybe learn about some of these features? Does Mazda have some?

Sure, yeah, like, so a couple of ones I mentioned. So of course Mazda, mazdausa.com. All of our vehicles are 2024 4 vehicles that have that, the, the highest Top Safety Pick from IHS. They're all posted on the website. We're very proud of that. We have 8 models that have that Top Safety Pick Plus from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the highest rating they give. So check those out. They also come all standard with that automatic emergency braking, the blind spot monitoring, the rear cross-traffic alerts. These systems are standard on all Mazda vehicles. We're very, very proud to offer those to our customers. And then check out IHS's website. I mean, Mazdas are great cars. I love putting people in Mazdas. I feel that they're one of the safest vehicles on the road. But there are other models out there, and there are used models too, if that's what you need for your family. So look at the website iihs.org. They have all the ratings going back many model years. And then also the NCAP, NHTSA. NCAP, I think it's www.nhtsa.gov.

Ncap.gov.

They have the 5-star ratings on that website.

Okay. What was NHTSA again? N-I-T-S-A?

Yes, sorry. Lots of acronyms. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. So nhtsa.gov.

Great. Okay. Great information. Great. Thank you so much. And, you know, it's just useful. We didn't want to promote Mazda. Vehicles, of course, but hearing that your company is really at the forefront for, you know, creating a lot of these technologies, and I, you know, I appreciate that you can share them with us. I think this is really great information.

Yeah, yeah, we love, we love keeping our customers safe. We do it as much as we can.

Yeah, good. Well, looks like we're out of time for today, Jennifer, but before we wrap up, I just want to remind my listeners to visit my website at livingto100.com. Sign up as a Club Insider. As a Longevity Insider, you'll enjoy many benefits, including a free copy of my 9 Tips to Make Living Longer Enjoyable. If you're affiliated with senior living community, be sure to explore my Better, Longer, and Happier card deck series. You'll find that on my online store, livingto100.solutions, a powerful resource designed to promote positive aging and engagement in senior living communities. Thanks so much for being a guest on our show today again, Jennifer. Really appreciate that. And thanks to all of our listeners for tuning in. Hope to see you next time.

Thank you very much.