Old Men on the Road

Just say NO!

Published on December 1, 2003 By JillUser In Misc

I have had way too many bad experiences with elderly men on the road to not say something. Driving is another example of something we tend to think of as a right but it is definitly a privilege. Some people should not be driving!

Examples:
I was driving up the aisle between parking places in a parking lot and a guy who looked to be in his 70s comes flying across the parking spaces. He has to slam on his brakes to keep from t-boning me even though he should have seen me for some time. He proceeds to wave his middle finger at me and yell profanities. All the while, his wife looks ready to crawl under her seat and is calling him an asshole and telling him to shut up. Not only was this man not following safe driving procedure, he was arrogant enough to think I was in the wrong!

My first Christmas as a married woman, my husband and I have our first new car. We are at my mother-in-laws home and my husband parks the nice new car in her front lawn as he did his old car for years. We are inside enjoying the holiday when we hear a big crash. The elderly father of the neighbor across the street managed to back all the way across the street, into the yard and into the side of our car. Thank goodness noone was walking out there at the time! If he couldn't see a great big bright blue car, he wouldn't have seen a person. This man was dying of cancer and should not have been driving!

Just today I was in the left turn only lane and an elderly man came right at me. He looked glossed over until I honked my horn (I had nowhere to go) and he turned back into his lane and almost forced another car off the road. I resent having to fear these people all of the time!

I understand that it is a real bummer not being able to drive. I hated it when my leg was broken and I had to rely on others. I would sooner live that reality than put myself and others at risk though. I beg that if you have a loved one that you know shouldn't be driving, don't let them!

Comments

Abe cubbage

on Dec 02, 2003

There are definitely too many incompetent elderly people on the road. It's really kinda mind boggling when you think about it. They cause so many accidents, yet not a single state has any laws to address the matter. At age 65 there should be mandatory testing every few years to verify that you are still competent enough to drive.

KarmaGirl

on Dec 02, 2003

I think that there should be a mandatory testing every 10 years before age 65, then every 5 years thereafter. There are way too many people on the road that should not be behind the wheel. I was reading this thing the other day of this lady who lost her eye to cancer. She still drives. Now, that scares me. There is no way that she can see everything that she should. I lose peripheral vision in my left eye now and then. I don't drive during those times because I can't see well enough. Don't people understand that cars are huge death-mobiles? People need to have more respect for the machinery than they do.

Lunaticus Minimus

on Dec 03, 2003

I agree, it's a feeling of being locked-up when an elderly person loses the ability to drive, but let's face it. Between vision impairment and compentency after a certain age you shouldn't be able to drive. Right now most state laws say you must be a certain age (16) to drive. You're too young, your judgement isn't all that keen and it's a precaution. Getting older is alot like a second childhood at a rapid pace.

Not only is it dangerous, but it can be enraging. "Come on, grandpa! Move that thing!"..Because the driver is in two-lane road with a mph of 50..and they're doing 35 because they have a hard time driving. They should not be driving. Road-rage is bad enough!

CariElf

on Dec 19, 2003

Livonia used to have a volunteer program called Fish that used to drive seniors and disabled people to their doctors appointments and things like that when their families couldn't take them. My grandfather ran it until it got to be too much for him, but by that time there were far fewer volunteer drivers anyway, so I don't think that it exists anymore. It was a great idea, though.

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