Because factors such as individual driving skills, road experience, and self-guided travel background are taken into account, "go-anytime" self-driving trips are never that simple for seniors. However, reporters learned from relevant organizations that in some self-driving clubs, seniors make up half of the total membership. A 73-year-old self-driving enthusiast said: "Even an occasional trip, the full self-driving experience is absolutely beyond your imagination."
Basics
Good driving foundation
Organized support
Su Mingci, who is 73 years old this year, went on his first self-driving trip over twenty years ago—though back then it was riding a bicycle with two kids to Beidaihe, pedaling for two or three days at a time. As for car self-driving trips that began in 2003, Su Mingci admitted that they were more about giving his wife a chance to revisit the places he had traveled to for work before retirement.
Over the past ten years, Su Mingci has driven his little Fit, taking his wife to all provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions across the country, with only Taiwan being visited through a local self-drive upon arrival. "I joined the 'First Mainland-to-Taiwan Self-Driving Tour Group' organized by the Target Action Club, which was quite a meaningful trip."
In the view of Zhu Huashan from Century Auto Travel, Su Mingci, who had driven a tractor even before getting a driver’s license, is among the more experienced drivers in the senior group. He doesn’t need much "special care" during self-driving activities organized by travel agencies. For members with less driving skill, they are either placed at the front of the convoy or arranged in an alternating strong-weak driver pattern "to ensure safety" before departure. Century Auto Travel is a Beijing-based travel agency specializing in self-driving tours and currently has 3,000 stable members like Su Mingci.
Zhu Huashan also revealed that the so-called "less skilled drivers" are relative—nowadays, there are almost no members who learn to drive on the spot in travel agencies. "We also conduct corresponding surveys when accepting members, and those who don’t meet the criteria will not be admitted."
Su Mingci told reporters that senior self-driving enthusiasts like them can realize their travel dreams largely thanks to the continuous efforts of car clubs and self-driving tour agencies. "They have established a brand new set of safety and service standards for senior self-driving."
The Future