Old people driving...

[alkalinetaupehat]

...is a scary thing.

From the local paper:

An 83 year-old Manistee woman drove her Jeep into the side of the West Shore Bank on the corner of US-31 and Third Street around 4:45pm Monday night. Sgt. Schemeling of the Manistee City Police said the woman misjudged her speed while trying to park and hit the gas pedal instead of the brake. No injuries were reported. The Jeep bore a hole in the side of the bank. Bank official Daryl Pieczynski was sitting at his desk when the Jeep hit. He said he heard a loud noise and then saw his bookcase go flying. "I just ran out of my office," he said. "It was a little scary."

45% of the city population is over 45.

 

[MotF Bane]

An old woman driving though... it gets worse.

 

[KIAman]

I live in a gated golf-course, suburban housing community which houses a majority of retired people. We have 2 well-visible huge intersections with stoplights exiting our community to the main road. Nobody should ever have accidents on these intersections just by looking at them.

We average 4 accidents a month and guess who are involved? The old, retired people who live here. Some bad enough to cause deaths.

My most stressful moments of my day include right after I pull out of the gates when I go to work and right when I am about to pull into the gates after I come home from work.

This shit is scary.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Opps...

 

[LTC8K6]

It's not as though it's hard to find young people doing the same things, though.

 

[Iron Woode]

since when is 45 an old person?

We have seniors here ramming into buildings nearly once a week now.

WTF

here's the latest one: http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2010/06/16/14411886.html

 

[Zenmervolt]

I've had a few closer-than-I'd-like calls with old people when I'm on my motorcycle. Too often they just don't see you.

ZV

 

[CurseTheSky]

They should make a brief driver evaluation test / course a requirement every 5 years. I'd be pissed about the time and effort I had to take out of my every day life just like everyone else, but in the end, it would be for the better.

 

[Iron Woode]

I've had a few closer-than-I'd-like calls with old people when I'm on my motorcycle. Too often they just don't see you.

ZV

don't worry, they target everyone now, not just motorcyclists.

 

[CrackRabbit]

I was visiting a friend in Florida once, he worked in a "retirement community". Think of a small city designed specifically for old people, most of them had golf carts to get around in but a few still drove their own cars.
I was waiting for him to get off of work and was sitting outside when I watched an old man in an old Sedan DeVille attempt to parallel park. He calmly backed right into the car behind him. Then shifted in to drive and calmly bumped into the car in front of him and repeated this until he was parked.

 

[kalrith]

The accident I'll never forget was in Detroit about 10-15 years ago only a few miles from where I lived at the time. An old lady hit and RAN OVER a 12-year-old girl and her bicycle and then drove off. Someone got the license plate number, and the cops went to her house. They asked her if she was the one who did that, and she said something to the effect of, "Well, that could have been me. I was driving there at that time."

The lady ran over the kid (killing her) and her bike and didn't even notice it.

But, that's no reason for us to start having the elderly take driving tests. IMO everyone should have to take a driving test every 5 years or lose their license. It should be as strict as the driving test taken to get your license. This would result in either (a) people brushing up on their laws and driving techniques in order to pass the test or (b) in about 30-40% fewer drivers being on the road. IMO it's a win-win situation.

 

[desy]

I'd be better with every 10 , til you hit 60 , then every 5 with an option to an annual test if they are just squeaking by

 

[alkalinetaupehat]

since when is 45 an old person?

Fair, I just wanted to combine the 45-64 and 65+ ranges.

19.4% of the population is over 65.

 

[sisq0kidd]

I'm all for recurring driving tests, but what do the elderly do when they lose their license and have no one else to depend on for everyday activities? This is especially important for those living alone and need groceries, etc.

I don't have a good solution to this problem because on one hand, they're dangerous on the road. On the other hand, we can't take away their independence.

 

[marvdmartian]

IMO everyone should have to take a driving test every 5 years or lose their license. It should be as strict as the driving test taken to get your license. This would result in either (a) people brushing up on their laws and driving techniques in order to pass the test or (b) in about 30-40% fewer drivers being on the road. IMO it's a win-win situation.

I think a simpler solution might be to just never issue a driver's license to the morons in the first place!

Now here's the problem you're going to face. First, the government gets a LOT of money off of selling you a license every so often, renewing your registration every year, selling you gasoline (taxed) and insurance (the companies that sell it pay taxes). Take 40% of the drivers off the road, that means 40% less revenue coming in.
Combine that with the fact that all those people will now have to find a way to get around. Taxis are prohibitively expensive, so that's out. That pretty much leaves some form of mass transit, or a non-vehicular method of locomotion (bicycles or horses.....but do you really want the morons who can't drive out clogging the streets with bikes or horses??). Buses cost money, plus there's the fuel cost, employee cost (both drivers and maintainers), insurance cost, etc. Yes, you can charge money for the bus ride, but most mass transit systems probably don't pay for themselves, and are tax assisted. But you just cut your tax revenues coming in by 40%, so where's the money going to come from?

And that assumes, too, that your town has a decent bus system. I live in a city of over 100K people, and ours is a joke.

Maybe a good idea would be to require driver's education for all drivers. If you don't take it in school, you have to get it from a private driver education company. Then have people go in for a refresher every 10 years (you could even set it up where they could use simulators for the refresher course). When I lived in Guam, the legislature there passed a law requiring new drivers (high school kids, one of the highest risk category of drivers) to have driver's education before they got their license. Believe it or not, it did cut down on the number of accidents, and actually started a small cottage industry with all the private academies that opened up.

 

[Kadarin]

I'm all for recurring driving tests, but what do the elderly do when they lose their license and have no one else to depend on for everyday activities? This is especially important for those living alone and need groceries, etc.

I don't have a good solution to this problem because on one hand, they're dangerous on the road. On the other hand, we can't take away their independence.

If they are incapable of driving safely, they are a danger to everyone around them and therefore should not be on the road. This MUST trump their ability to retain their independence, because the safety of others is at serious risk.

 

[DietDrThunder]

Ha! We have police officers in Fort Worth that have driven into homes like the original post photos. In the past 6 months, 2 officers charged with DWI (one drove into a home), 1 officer intoxication manslaughter (driving drunk in a squad car at high speed and involved in a head on collision), and one officer arrested while smoking pot in the squad car while on duty (no, he wasn't on a drug sting operation).

 

[CraigRT]

since when is 45 an old person?

We have seniors here ramming into buildings nearly once a week now.

WTF

here's the latest one: http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2010/06/16/14411886.html

Ha.. I drive past that bank every day.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

You dang whippersnappers just need to get the hell out the way

 

[lastig21]

clearly an older community when 4:45pm is considered "night"

 

[SithSolo1]

I'm all for recurring driving tests, but what do the elderly do when they lose their license and have no one else to depend on for everyday activities? This is especially important for those living alone and need groceries, etc.

It's called survival of the fitest...


I kid. In all honesty I can think of a universally acceptable solution where the tax payers aren't charged for it.

 

[StageLeft]

They should make a brief driver evaluation test / course a requirement every 5 years. I'd be pissed about the time and effort I had to take out of my every day life just like everyone else, but in the end, it would be for the better.

Every 1-2 years as you get older, no exceptions. This is fvcking BULLSH*T how the country looks at driving. IMO never, ever again allow a 16 year old to drive a car. Driving age has to start at 18 minimum. Also once you get old you get regularly tested. There are 75 year olds with the youthfulness of a typical 50 year old and there are 75 year olds who are two feet in the grave already and barely functioning and yet both may be driving.

but what do the elderly do when they lose their license and have no one else to depend on for everyday activities?

The same sh*t they do now when they stop driving? Most do stop at some point.

On the other hand, we can't take away their independence.

Old pepole stop driving all the time and make arrangements to deal with it. Mandatory testing just streamlines this.

 

[highland145]

My Mom, 68, said, "Oh, sometimes I even scare myself." My response, "What the hell do you think you're doing to everyone else?"

 

[MotF Bane]

But, that's no reason for us to start having the elderly take driving tests. IMO everyone should have to take a driving test every 5 years or lose their license. It should be as strict as the driving test taken to get your license. This would result in either (a) people brushing up on their laws and driving techniques in order to pass the test or (b) in about 30-40% fewer drivers being on the road. IMO it's a win-win situation.

And make the driving tests harder overall. They're retardedly easy now.

 

[MotF Bane]

Every 1-2 years as you get older, no exceptions. This is fvcking BULLSH*T how the country looks at driving. IMO never, ever again allow a 16 year old to drive a car. Driving age has to start at 18 minimum. Also once you get old you get regularly tested. There are 75 year olds with the youthfulness of a typical 50 year old and there are 75 year olds who are two feet in the grave already and barely functioning and yet both may be driving.The same sh*t they do now when they stop driving? Most do stop at some point.Old pepole stop driving all the time and make arrangements to deal with it. Mandatory testing just streamlines this.

Gotta agree with that too. There's no way in hell I should've had my license when I did; and just about nobody else at my high school for that matter.