For 25 years, West Seattle native Daniel Lilleness navigated thousands of 16-year-olds through his commercial driving school in Federal Way. Then, in 2001, he took a fulfilling fork in the road that led him to help the 55-and-over crowd brush up on their defensive driving.

Lilleness is a private contractor with the American Automobile Association, whose clients include large corporations, utility companies and schools like Seattle University, where he gives behind-the-wheel evaluations to aging Jesuit priests.

Insurance companies and employers offer financial incentives to those attending his driving courses and classes. Some seniors are nudged by their insurance companies to mitigate a moving violation by attending Lilleness' class.

He recently gave an all-day class called "Managing Visibility, Time, and Space" to a packed activity room at Merrill Gardens on 35th Avenue Southwest.

"Our young people see driving as a birthright and parents buy into it," says Lilleness. "When I grew up my mother would boot me out the door and say 'Come back by dinner.'"

He'd hang out in his Admiral neighborhood all day, on foot.

"But today most parents are greatly relieved to have their 16-year-old kid help drive their younger kids around town," he said.

Lilleness believes our culture is more comfortable putting youngsters behind the wheel than seniors, even though statistics show teens are more accident-prone.

"I have become an apologist for older drivers because they get a bum rap," Lilleness said. "Their driving skills just don't go flying out the window because of gradual aging and health problems. It changes your life immediately when suddenly you are told you can't drive anymore."

Lilleness, who served in the Navy in Vietnam from 1967 to 1971, seems to keep the audience alert during his all-day class with a sort of Chuck Norris tough-love directness.

"Wherever you drive and however you come back, there's no guarantee you're going to make it," he warns.

"The question in medical and political circles is, 'Can you be too old to drive?'" Lilleness said. "The answer is, you probably can. The good news is the aging process affects every one of us differently. Washington state has nearly 100 drivers who are at least 100 years old with valid driver's licenses. If the spirit's willing, the flesh can tag along."

"As you age, there are certain strategies to add to your driving repertoire," Lilleness said. "You've got to be on your mark at the very moment you climb into your car, and backing out of your own driveway. We live in areas where the driveways slope, bend, slant, and twist. We don't live in Kansas."

There are more distractions for motorists now than when most of today's seniors learned to drive.

"Our modern culture provides us with all sorts of gadgets today," he says, naming some. "Cellular phones, CDs, tinted windows, high-intensity discharge headlights. Anybody got a DVD player in their car to watch movies?"

One guy in the back row raises his hand as the audience laughs.

"That technology is here to stay," Lilleness said. "It's not going away. We may not like it, but relax, take a deep breath. That's our assignment. Figuring out how to interact with technology. There's a wide range of normal with what goes on out there."

New drivers are generally taught the "following-distance rule," to put two seconds between your car and the car in front of you. However, the American Association of Retired Persons recommends four seconds between cars for its members, Lilleness said.

"None of us are as quick as we were at 25," he said. "If you had a knee replacement, are taking meds, it's still OK to drive, but you're a bit out of kilter, and better off with three or four seconds of space between cars."

"You can't do that!" a lady in the audience quickly blurts out. "I constantly try that on the freeway, and then boom! Someone else gets in it. If I get back too far people cut in front of me and sneak into that space!"

The audience murmurs in agreement.

Lilleness suggests showing "firm intention" by "staging your vehicle" closer than four seconds apart if you must, then dropping back once the culprit gets the message and moves into a different lane.

Jean Droppelman of West Seattle cornered Lilleness during the lunch break about the complicated intersection at nearby 35th Avenue and Fauntleroy Way Southwest.

"Merging from 35th and Fauntleroy onto the (West Seattle) bridge at 8 a.m. or 5 p.m. They just don't stop."

"It's a demanding place," Lilleness responded. "Sometimes you need to turn right on red in order to get onto the bridge. People are on the move. You must wait for anything and everyone coming. It is not mandated to turn right on red. But not turning is going cross-grain to our culture."

Virginia Steinbach of West Seattle shared a tip she learned from his class two years ago.

"Three right turns are better than one left," she recalled. "As I get older, I've learned the value of that."

Steve Shay can be reached at 783-1244 or steves@robinsonnews.com