stusi
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posted on May 31, 2002 03:59:42 PM new
Although proposed by many states, I believe that AARP has been successful at blocking such efforts. I can't imagine any possible inconvenience outweighing the increased safety. I was driving westbound in the left of two lanes, slowing to make a left across the road into a shopping center. I looked to the right(west) across the grassy divider to see if there was any oncoming traffic. There was none so I started to turn across the two eastbound lanes into the center. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a car coming at me from the east(!) going the wrong way and turning into the shopping center. I jammed on the brakes just in time. I was stunned. I followed the driver into the center and when I pulled aside him I noticed he was very elderly. I hollered to him but he just kept on driving as though nothing happened. To this day I have no idea where he came from. Here in South Florida we are routinely cut off and otherwise endangered by senior drivers on a daily basis. I absolutely think these drivers should be regularly tested for their vision and reflexes.
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Linda_K
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posted on May 31, 2002 04:09:32 PM new
I think that is a great idea, Stusi. I believe rather than singling out the elderly though, that maybe we could make retesting mandatory every...say 10 years?
edited to spell name correctly.....sorry.
[ edited by Linda_K on May 31, 2002 04:10 PM ]
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saabsister
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posted on May 31, 2002 04:21:50 PM new
I'm inclined to agree with Linda_k. The elderly aren't the only problems on the road. My father drove until he was eighty with no diminishment in his driving abilities and my mother, at 78, is still an excellent driver. My younger sister is another story.
My husband's elderly great uncle was caught when he had to retake the driver's test in California. When the test administrator asked him why he was doing 15 in a 25 mph zone, he said he wanted to be prepared for anything that jumped in front of him. Flunkaroo!
Once I was behind a long string of cars doing about 10mph in a 25mph zone. When I got to the light to make a left turn, I looked at the driver who had been holding everyone up. He was an ancient guy who looked about ready to pass out at the wheel. I pulled into the police station that was two blocks away and gave the cops his tag number and they posted an alert on the parkway. I normally wouldn't have bothered to rat out a fellow citizen , but this guy had no business behind the wheel of a car.
[ edited by saabsister on May 31, 2002 04:24 PM ]
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KatyD
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posted on May 31, 2002 04:29:36 PM new
I think when you get to a certain age, that testing should be at the LEAST every two years. Say 80 or 85 years old. My husband's grandmother had her drivers license automatically renewed by mail when she was 94! No way should she have been driving She had problems with her eyesight and had become "forgetful". Mom & Dad tried to get her doctor involved, but he said there wasn't anything he could really do about it. It all resolved itself a year ago when she called Dad to tell him her car was stolen from the grocery store parking lot. A police report was filed, the insurance company notified, and 3 days later Dad was driving around looking for it and found it parked in front of the shoe repair right where she had parked it. Nana forgot that she dropped off shoes to be repaired and then WALKED three blocks to the grocery store. She is 96 now, and her driver's license is still valid, although she is now in full blown "forgetfullness" and living in assisted living. And she doesn't have a car anymore thank heavens. 
KatyD
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stusi
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posted on May 31, 2002 04:33:51 PM new
Linda_K: do you really think testing seniors every 10 years is appropriate? The elderly have the slowest reflexes and the worst vision- they must be singled out!
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Linda_K
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posted on May 31, 2002 04:45:05 PM new
Stusi - I put a ??? with the number I suggested/offered. At the time I posted I was just thinking.....16...26...36...46...56....66...76...and so on. It's not written in cement...was just offering as a suggestion.
I'd agree with Katyd that maybe we could have different driving tests times set up more frequently as one ages. I was just trying to say that not *all* seniors are *necessarly* any worse than some of the younger ones. AND the closer I get to the seniors....I feel a certain need to defend them......LOL.
My aunt and uncle are 85 and 87 and still driving. Don't know how they'd fare if tested....but they're still mentally and physically able to do so.
The DMV (maybe????) could receive notices from doctors when family members have suggested they don't feel comfortable with them driving...kind of like when one suffers *one* seizure...the doctor notifies the DMV and the patient is not allowed to drive [for a certain period of time] and until being re-tested.
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dman3
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posted on May 31, 2002 04:52:16 PM new
there is an unwriten rule in all the lands that many have heard of and some may not have.
NO law will or shall be past in the back yard of any law maker that will one day come back and bite or effect the law makers them selves !!!!
Forcing annual Driving tests on the ederly will effect everyone in the end and the rule is this law usually wont stand a chance.
Tax incresses that effect the Higher income will usually fail in a country where the law makers are allowed to pass there own pay raises and there yearly income puts them in this bracket quickly
That is why we mainly only see thewse minor rinky dink laws that take away rights of the little guy even if the laws such as seat belt laws make sense in many way it effect few of the law makers them selves who use government transportation with paid drivers law makers usually in the back seats where no belts or restrants are required for people over a certin age or size THe law its self effects law makers the least of the general population.
same with the death penalty many states have its been passed because the chances are slim the law will ever be used against them, the law is writen in such away that someone is more then likely to face death because of an incident revolving around them who make and inforce the law not be used against them.
that is a good reasn why war and force is used by this and many other countries to resolve problems there is little chance you will find any of the people who declair law these days actually fighting the battle it only effects the general population and there families most.
Peace is very hard to come by in this world because there is very little profit in real peace.
same goes for research these days there is less money in cures more money in the promises of research on the effort.
Just my opinion but I think the opinion of many others ..
as well when it comes to old people driving people who live in this ageing glass house shouldnt be the first to through the stone.
More then 50% of the population will be concidered edlery in the next 10 to 15 years if most of these older people are hastled about everyday life this coutry will suffer big problem in the economy and production in the near future..
http://www.Dman-N-Company.com
Email [email protected]
[ edited by dman3 on May 31, 2002 04:55 PM ]
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gravid
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posted on May 31, 2002 05:20:35 PM new
I am 54 about to turn 55 but I think they should have testing every 2 years for EVERYONE and it should be much harder to get a license including a physical.
There should be restricted licenses for both new drivers and for old. They would have a different color tag or a card to put in the rear window so new drivers don't drive late at night or with a car full of peers. I would also keep them off the expressways for the first 6 months or so.
There are lots of old people with poor night vision that are OK to drive in the day. But not at night or on x-ways.
All drivers should be able to look and estimate distances and know how far it will take them to stop. I am really tired of people in SUV's and trucks following me at 40 and 50 mph literally 6 to 10 foot behind me. If I have to brake they have NO chance of even getting their foot on the brake.
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auroranorth
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posted on May 31, 2002 05:30:47 PM new
beware of the Blue hairs
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hepburn101
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posted on May 31, 2002 05:36:06 PM new
I think testing should be done every year for elderly and for teens. Say, from 16 to 19, they have to be tested each year to renew their license. Maybe from 16 to 21, even. For the elderly, from 65 to 80?
edited to add that I think its almost impossible to "delegate" who is "old" and who is not according to age. Some people 60 act and function like they are 90 and some 90 year olds act and function like they are 50.
[ edited by hepburn101 on May 31, 2002 05:37 PM ]
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mlecher
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posted on May 31, 2002 05:44:25 PM new
As was being argued in another thread....
Just eliminate speed limits as they are only imposed to raise revenue and harrass drivers and have no relevance to accident rates. The problem with elderly drivers and teen drivers should take care of each other in a short time....We middle-aged would just have to stay off the roads for that time or tool around in armored tanks for a few years.
There are only 10 types of people in the world
Those who understand binary and those who don't
[ edited by mlecher on May 31, 2002 05:46 PM ]
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Borillar
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posted on May 31, 2002 06:48:07 PM new
I agree with Linda_K also. I have long argued that drivers must undergo several hours of classes on vehicular laws and rules of the roadway and certainly make sure that they can drive under all conditions. It would be easy to take a large parking lot and say, produce a large oil slick and then make the drivers go through it around a corner at different speeds - that sort of thing. And most of all, everyone would have to go to the local race track with their vehicle to qualify for driving the speed limit. Those who don't drive fast enough or are so cautious a driver that they become dangerous would get the checkered flag and be denied a license.
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nharmon
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posted on May 31, 2002 07:45:51 PM new
don't you just love when you are going 55mph or 65mph(depending on the speed limit on that highway) and you come up over a hill or around a corner and come upon someone going 30 mph or less hunched over the steering wheel straining to see over the hood of there car and as they look at something to their right the car veers to the right with their glance and I know they don't even realize it till they hit the rumble strips and sometimes not even then. I have seen this many times and once today as a matter of fact. I am all for senior citizens taking annual driving tests.
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wrightsracing
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posted on May 31, 2002 08:17:04 PM new
You can put my vote in the testing every 2 years. Florida has to be the worst for senior drivers. I take care of a woman who is 86 yrs old, I took the keys away from her, and have just sold her car.
She's MAD, But at least she is alive, and so is the other person.
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gravid
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posted on June 1, 2002 05:36:20 AM new
My mother in law has Alzheimer's and still chews my wife out for taking her car away.
If she still had the keys she would go down and drive off without a thought.
This is a woman who can no longer read a clock or a calendar - even a digital clock and can not tell if it is day or night by looking out the window.
She could not read a traffic sign or tell what a traffic light is saying. Even before she had Alzheimer's I would not ride with her because she would stop at EVERY intersection because she just felt it was safer. It is a wonder she did not randomly stop on the freeway to promote safety. She would stop at an intersection where the other street had the stop sign and wait for them to go against her right of way as a "courtesy".
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RetroBargains
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posted on June 4, 2002 12:55:16 AM new
I think it should be annual testing for everyone.. no matter the age and if you have a cell phone use it during the test just like you do when you drive everyday and endanger the lives of everyone else. Or if you drink or put makeup on or read or multitudes of OTHER things that drivers do while driving that seriously impairs their ability to drive safely.
Leave it as is and be a defensive driver... not a rolling hazard.
Greg
Retro Bargains
http://shop.auctionwatch.com/RetroBargains
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mrfoxy76
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posted on June 4, 2002 08:13:39 AM new
YES for dinifite my only one accident was when an ederly man in his 70s was crossing the highway and pulled out right in front of me......he said he was tired of waiting to cross. I almost burst into tears of laughter he should not have been on the road.
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