Ask professional driving instructor Daniel Lilleness what the difference is between teaching 15-year-olds and teaching senior citizens, and he will declare, "The young ones you can't get their foot on the brake and the old ones you can't get their foot off the brake. It's that easy."

That blunt, public response earned him some belly laughs from his audience of over 60 senior citizens at a recent all-day class held at the Mt. Olive Lutheran Church basement in Ballard. The American Automobile Association contracts his business, American Driving Services, for the improvement course which keeps insurance rates down for seniors while they brush up on their driving skills.

The stern but equally gentle former Marine also got a few smiles when he announced wryly, "I'm now turning down the lights which doesn't mean naptime," as he prepared an instructional video.

Also presenting were American Cancer Society volunteer Sharon May who was seeking volunteers to drive patients to and from the hospital and retired railroad conductor Wayne Langbehn with Operation Lifesaver who spoke on driving safely through railroad crossings and other danger spots.

"Kids don't see the disconnect between the technology of cell phones and text messaging while driving and the activity of driving," said Lilleness. "They don't see its deleterious effect. I believe legislation will step in to make the now secondary offense primary to say no more cell phones while driving. I have not seen any cessation of their use since the July 1 law went into effect."

While Lilleness instructs his students to spot ever-increasing distractions around them like bicycles, he has tried, often in vain, to get his older drivers to change that popular bad habit of "two-foot driving;" placing the left foot on the brake pedal and the right foot on the gas pedal.

"You ask them directly to stop and they'll often deny it or argue that their reaction time is less if they use their right foot on both pedals," he said. "But when push comes to shove and you have to take evasive action, the urge for these drivers is to push both pedals at the same time with the left and right foot, and the accelerator will always overpower the brake. That's just what happened when that 86 year-old driver accelerated into a crowd in Santa Monica five years ago and killed nine pedestrians."

"This course is a good refresher," said Frank Peters of Ballard, attending the class with his wife Mary. "There are certain routines you get into and forget about what you've learned. When I'm walking my dog I notice people don't see me at a crosswalk when they are on their cell phones, and Ballard traffic is getting heavier, especially on 15th Avenue."

"Since I moved here in 1950, 15th Avenue is now more like Aurora Avenue was," said Pauline Sigurdson. "Aurora Avenue is now like I-5 was, and I-5 is like a Los Angeles freeway." She said she picked up a few tips in the class to pass on to her grandson. "They put in 22 cameras to photograph you going through lights and are upping that number."

"We have road rage, and those cameras," said Suzie, a former Ballard resident. "It's a new world. This class covers how critical pedestrian awareness is. People are so self-involved talking on cell phones, listening to the radio. I notice that drivers are just glazed over when they come up to an intersection. I use a cane when I walk, and have had so many close calls."

"It's hard for older people to break their driving habits," said Lilleness' former colleague, Rick Bartlett, who instructs mostly15 year-old drivers at Evergreen State Driving School in Federal Way and Renton, a business Lilleness once owned. "Many switched from driving an old stick shift car to an automatic and stayed with their 'two-foot' method.

"Not to make a blanket statement, but while older drivers are more experienced than teen drivers, some might be less cognizant, lack motor skills, and get more confused in a situation like driving onto an off-ramp," said Bartlett. "I had a student in her 80's who couldn't turn her neck around enough and had trouble parallel parking."

Of course Bartlett can also point to patterns of shortcomings in young teen drivers.

"About 10 percent of my new drivers accelerate like an airplane taking off and don't know how to level off. We're not (supposed to be) in a rush to go from point A to point B.

"Once they leave our school they confront a lot of peer pressure. For these kids driving is a newfound freedom. They love to listen to music and talk on their cell phones. It's a little party on wheels."

He said most of his young drivers get the message about safety as they collect more hours of driving under their belts. "Our kids start noticing how many bad drivers are out there."

Lilleness summed it up, "I tell high school kids, 'if you get killed driving a car, you're gone. Your family will never forget you but you will not be present to your family or friends. You are not going to have that spouse or kids. And to throw that all away in a fraction of a second in an involuntary response is such a waste. Be aware, aware, aware.'"

For more information on future American Automobile Association-sponsored driving improvement courses, call American Driving Services at 243-3564. To volunteer for the American Cancer Society's Road to Recovery program, phone Amber Cook at (800) 728-5588.

Steve Shay may be reached at steves@robinsonnews.com