Comments on: 79 Is Too Old For A Driver’s Test

By: Dodo David

Dodo David — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 22:50:46 +0000

The problem with elderly drivers is compounded by the fact that some elderly drivers don’t have access to public transportation and don’t have anyone to drive them place. So, these elderly drivers continue driving in order to get to where they need to go.

I, for one, hope to enter retirement by age 65 so that I won’t be forced to drive to work.

By: Peggy Coffey

Peggy Coffey — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 21:13:52 +0000

My father was 78 when he drove his Lincoln over a mailbox, through a yard and into a tree. The police took his keys on the way to the hospital and I got them. My brother rescued the Lincoln and took it to his house. When my dad got out of the hospital, he wanted his car. I told him it was totaled, and he didn’t have one any more. He was angry at first, but after we visited the site of the accident and he saw how close he came to landing in someone’s living room, he seemed relieved not to drive anymore.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 21:01:10 +0000

Your solution to the problem sounds logical and effective but will probably never be implemented. Politicians will always make decisions based on what will get them (re)elected and not what is right. We can no longer rely on our elected officials(if we ever could), we have to find our own solutions to our problems.
The only suggestion I can make now is buy a big SUV which will provide you much more protection than a Prius. Consider the extra cost on gas as a cost for a safety feature.

Note:
Sucks Ass is a pretty common phrase, perhaps it’s age or region specific.

“Proportionally many fewer people drink, little own drink and then drive, and so they constitute less of a threat.”

I think the phrase is ‘Let Alone’, not ‘little own’.

Everyone’s a critic

By: dlyn

dlyn — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:52:56 +0000

This is a pet peeve of mine too. My father in law has had uncountable TIAs and one major stroke and my husband, his sibs and my mother-in-law weren’t willing to lay down the law until I pushed them all into it. He was a horrible driver when he [allegedly] had all his marbles, but heaven forbid we should “upset” him now that it takes him 5 minutes to even get in the car, never mind drive it. It is incredible to me that there are no regulations in place to deal with this.

By: RightGirl

RightGirl — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 04:43:42 +0000

Ugh. I feel for Cassy. My good friend’s grandfather used to wreck a brand new car every year or so, but because he was rich the whole cost of it didn’t matter to him. Luckily they were all “one car” accidents, where he would hit a pole or a ditch or something, but imagine if he’d killed somebody?

Stubborn refusal to accept your age limitations should be judged as harshly as stubborn refusal to accept how much you’ve had to drink.

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 04:25:20 +0000

I’m of two minds on this. On one hand, my grandfather was killed at 60 by a woman in her 80′s who blew right through a stop sign.

On the other, my grandmother is 95 and just failed her eye test for the first time. She lives in a small town and basically only drove to the post office, grocery store and church, and probably hadn’t been on an actual highway in more than a decade. I don’t see that you can just cut off the privilege at an arbitrary age, although there certainly could be some toughening of the requirements, such as an actual driving test and a “real” vision screening.

By: Big Al

Big Al — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 04:15:28 +0000

My father quit driving at the age of eighty five. He had been in a wreck, and although it wasn’t his fault he didn’t trust himself any more. Lucky for him my wife and I moved in with him and could drive him where he needed to go.

My first girlfriend was killed in a wreck when a drug impaired driver hit the car she was riding in head on. Her father, who was driving, never got over it and ended up taking his own life several years later. The wreck wasn’t his fault, but he too almost never drove anywhere again, leaving the driving to his wife.

My wifes grandmother pulled out of her apartment complex and was hit in the rear by a motorcycle that was traveling at a high rate of speed. It too, wasn’t determined to be her fault, but she never drove again.

Car wrecks, even when they aren’t your fault can be devastating to your confidence behind the wheel. I wonder just how devastating it would be to actually be at fault in a wreck that takes someones life. I wonder if it would haunt you to know that you deep down knew you shouldn’t have been behind the wheel in the first place. I hope I never find out.

I think, for their own safety and peace of mind, as well as the publics, something should be done. Testing could well be a way. Perhaps the medical field could help, especially when prescribing some of the meds some of these people take don’t lend themselves well to motor vehicle operation. It hard to ask a family member to do it, as it can and has ruined relationships, especially among siblings.

Me, I’ve seen way too much carnage on the roadway. Too much blood and guts. It’s never something one can easily get over when someone dies in your hands, especially when it is so often so senseless. I don’t want to see any more, but I know that I will. Senseless seems to be a big part of what I deal with nowadays.

Drugs and alcohol do enough damage as it is. I have no sympathy for those people anymore.

Every time I see someone on a motorcycle riding without a helmet I want to slap the shit out of them. Sorry.

By: Viola Jaynes

Viola Jaynes — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 03:35:16 +0000

Melissa, So sorry to hear about your friend’s brother. My condolences go out to all of them. I am also so sorry for the elderly person who was at fault. I can’t even imagine what they must be going through.

I could not agree more with you on this topic and the solutions that you have proposed. Yes, this is an uphill battle, for sure.

p.s. you may want to look at the last sentence in your first paragraph. I have never heard the expression “sucks ass.” Interesting to picture that! At any rate, can’t really picture you as a feather brain. Aging does catch up with us. My back keeps reminding me of it all the time.