Quote:
Originally Posted by quasar05
...She apparently has no one else that can take her places. My father-in-law is 87 and still drives, but he knows his limits. He's very careful and only drives during the day at non-peak times, and then only to Publix and back...
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Sounds just like my dad until the day he died
Quote:
Originally Posted by vett boy
....My dad died with the keys in his pocket .
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My dad too bro...93 and kickin' ass!
Was going to head to the store when he had his TIA. Thank God he hadn't gotten behind the wheel yet.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Dalton
...Not long ago, an elderly gentleman turned off of a busy street and right through the wall of one of our stores. He apparently thought he was turning onto another street.
Hell Mark! I was downtown the other day, hadn't been there for a month or two, and turned the wrong way down a one way street SOB! They'd changed the traffic pattern on me! (for real!)
...Many of the elderly drivers are easily confused and their reaction times are nowhere near what they once were and they may not be able to react fast enough in an emergency situation.
True, but most of them drive slower to compensate. Excelt the ones that buy VETTES!
...If it's a matter of no one being available to drive them, there are ways around that as well. Taxis, busses, and in our county, there's a no charge public transport available. They'll pick you up at your house, take you where you need to go and bring you back. |
Good points my friend. The problem is, these services aren't available everywhere thier needed
And in some cases, even the low cost options can't be afforded by those on a fixed income
It's a bad situation that truly needs to be fixed
Quote:
Originally Posted by als2052
Good arguement for yearly testing for 65 and over...
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Quote:
Originally Posted by quasar05
I thought I made a better argument for testing everyone. I was on a 4 lane divided road with a median this week and a school bus was in the oncoming lanes and its lights came on indicating that it was getting ready to stop for kids on the other side of the median. I passed a 30-something guy who stopped in the far right lane of our flow of traffic because he didn't know the rules related to school buses and traffic. Stupid has no age barrier. I'll take my chances with the little old lady doing 30 in a 50 over the knucklehead 20-something doing 50 in a 30.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vett boy
I resent that I can still drive better than the kid texting or the guy reading a newspaper .
If your going to do it to us elders lets do it to everyone YEARLY.Oh, illegals are exempt as usual .  |
The above three post are excellent!!
Until a few years ago, I regularly taught both the defensive drivers course (ticket course) and the New drivers course (for teens).
This subject was broached on many occasion in both classes.
The fact is, although the state "could" adopt said testing and even restrict ones ability to drive after a certain age (it's a priviledge, not a right), they won't.
With the number of over 60 drivers we have in Florida alone, it would be political suicide to even suggest it
Testing is the same way.
To suggest age or gender biased testing, invites a political chit storm and has the potential of resulting in years long and very expensive court battles.
Instead, what groups like AAA, AARP and other senior organizations (AAA's not a seniors org BTW-but they are a safety org), have done, is to begin thier own programs to train and educate senior drivers
Both sides, young and old, have thier issues as well.
We could say that based upon statistics, no one under or over a certain age would be allowed to purchase certain HP cars due to thier advanced handleing and performance characteristics....that'd go over well