Thoughts on elderly drivers?

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I just think we need real drivers training like they have in Germany with the Autobahn having parts that don't have speed limits and it is considered one of the safest highways in the world. To get my license I had to do, I think, 6 hours with an instructor and all he did was tell me everything that the book told me. I got my real driving classes when I did a racing school at the track in my Dad's car where they taught me not only how to drive fast on the track but how to avoid accidents, other cars, things on the road, etc. I also did offensive driving classes where they showed me how to avoid the accidents and stuff with cones and slick tracks where they made the rear end break loose and I had to control it.

We just need better driving classes. As for elderly I believe that they, along with everyone else, need to be retested for book knowledge at least when they renew and maybe make renewal periods every 1-2 years rather than every 5(?). My grandmother drove herself to church every Sunday and to the store every Thursday up until the day she died at 87 never giving us a reason to take her license my grandfather however we had to take his truck when he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and it got to the point where he wanted to drive around at midnight and once drove all the way to Columbia only to be lost and the fine LEO's of cola picked him up thinking he was drunk by the way he was driving because he didn't know what the street signs meant.

 

So when a person is driving drunk and gets pulled over its a DUI right?? Well elderly drivers should get a DWOAF..."Driving While Old As Fuck"!

An then sentenced to the death penalty

 

I have seen before an elderly driver going 30 mph on a summer day and clear and clean roads with a speed limit of 65 mph, I do not think that is safe.

But I agree with what you are saying, just not to an extreme. (which it sounds like you were saying because of "as long as they are driving safely")

 

My vote plus TF sees it first hand every day!

OMG I would get tested in just a few years.
Like to see the look on the scorer's face climbing in the tundra lol...burnrubber..just joking of course

 

Exactly what I was thinking, except on #6. A special permit to go as fast as you want? Sounds like a horrible idea, even dangerous. You have specially trained drivers going faster than traffic and weaving in and out of traffic. Same road you have people who don't have that special training with a different speed limit and different rules. People can't be trusted to handle "reasonable and prudent" speeds properly. If you tell them they can go 100mph, they'll try to go 100mph as much as possible, not just when it's "safe." Also driver training and vehicle standards are only 2/3rds of it. Roads aren't engineered for vehicles going 100mph. Curves aren't banked for it, lower grades of asphalt are used, and roads just aren't maintained for it. Faster traffic = higher maintenance costs and most states can't fix their current road issues. Introducing new ones will not help.

As for old drivers... meh. I've done stupid, inattentive stuff while driving. I did lots of stupid stuff when I was 16 and learning to drive. And when I'm old I bet I'll still do stupid stuff. When I'm not comfortable doing the speed of traffic it'll be time to hand my keys off to someone else. And if I don't the state should take away my license.

 

A major study done at the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute reported that drivers under 21 were more likely to be involved in accidents than those 75 or older. Accident rates dropped with increasing age, reaching a minimum from age 30 to age 65.

Edit:

Lest someone say that there are more young drivers than old, which is why their numbers are higher, the data reported were per-capita rates, not absolute numbers.

 

A buddy of mine was killed on Monday. Making a left turn on a motorcycle, an elderly woman ran the red light and hit him. He was thrown back into the lanes where he came from and was run over. The woman's excuse. She said the red light was not bright enough.

That being said I have no problem with elderly driving as long as they still can.

 

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IMO ... more tests are needed for 3 groups: ... (1) Very young ... (2) Very old ... (3) New drivers from other countries. ...

*** And set up road blocks .. and if you have a cell phone in the car and/or no insurance .. they take your cell & car .. and cane your azz in the public square. .. ..
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Wow, sorry for your loss.

 

I agree with most of what is said here, but at least here where I live, before doing something like what is suggested in this thread, there is a need for better public transportation. Note: I said here, places I've visited in the states are better than here on that matter

 

wow, sorry to hear about that. that's rough. It sucks she blamed the light instead of owning up to her own incompetence.

my biggest thing with the young vs old accident rate is WHY the young vs old get into accidents. Young drivers (specifically high schoolish range) crash usually due to lack of experience (or common sense) or doing stupidly dangerous shit that they dont think about the consequences untill after they have fucked up big time. old people cause wrecks due to their painfully slow reaction time, bad eye sight, general forgetfulness, and overall impaired cognitive ability. Old people (not all, just the bad drivers as pertaining to the topic) just seem to be totally oblivious to everything around them.

I think that every time you renew your license and after a certain age a driving test a regular driving test should be required. Its amazing how many people just don't remember basic rules of the road and right always from driving school. People just seem to make up their own rules and drive according to how they think it should be. The test for elderly people wouldn't test driving skill as much as it would test for them just being all there so they weren't driving obliviously and being able to react quick enough to avoid accidents.

ya, all those are extremely ridiculous and way too harsh. they seem fine until you have to deal with them, then you will be pulling your hair out. and having a special "go fast" permit? how does that help anything? Just because someone has a go fast license doesn't stop the 75 year old lady from pulling out in front of him while going 100+. Having some people that can go as fast as they want while others have to stay below a speed limit is going to do nothing but cause trouble and accidents

 

Im 63 it's been long time now but no ticket in over 15 years, I like to jump the interstate at 1 am for a 100 mph run I think if you cant get the heart pumping from time to time you are already dead.. Love to see the very young driving while beating on the GD cell ph.. Too bad to me you cant do a head shot on them for the home team and be done with it... Jim

 

After 60 driving requirements should be raised and they elderly should get tested every year. My mom is over 60 and I tell her almost every day she shouldn't be driving. She is 'scared' of everything on the road and drives very, very timid. Scares the shit out of me when she is doing 15 under the speed limit on the freeway.

 

We get a lot of old seasonal residents (aka snow birds) here in Florida, and during the winter it is a pain because you always have to think for them too.
However, that being said, there are a lot of drivers of all ages that do not belong on the road. I personally think 16 is too young and immature to be operating a vehicle. I know I will catch hell for saying that, but I know how my buddies were at 16. I grew up on a farm and have been driving since about age 6, and driving 18-wheelers with corn to the silos since about age 12. My dad gave me good driving instructions and did not give me the option to mess up. You pay attention while you drive, or you don't drive.
There should be better driving education (not sure how it will be regulated) and I think even though it will definately not be popular, testing should not be just after a certain age, but every 2 years for everyone.

 

Anyone who hasn't seen this southpark needs to see it

give em all these
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy5rkw4SeP4&feature=share

 

gotta blow that carbon out of the cylinders too

 

So by the time you are 70, you'll have to do stuff like the parallel parking test, but you have to hit it drift style!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SFMLlJU4qY&feature=endscreen&NR=1

The old folks would rock then!

 

^ This. There are terrible drivers in all age groups. You have to drive like you are invisible.

 

Jesus! I just watched your video. Amazing how much damage can be inflicted so fast. I hope your recovery continues to get better.

9 years ago my father was bicycling, and was hit from behind by an 83 year old woman who just sort of drifted onto the shoulder where he was. She was driving a car (Chevy Lumina?) and he was on a road bike. His left ass cheek rode up her fender to where the antenna was which tore through him. He then got thrown 30-35 feet (Measured from the bike tire rubber from being run over, to where the pool of blood was) and landed sort of head first, crumpling over himself. He broke 3 vertebrae in his neck and is now paralyzed for life. If he hadn't had his helmet on, it probably would have killed him. Technically he is considered a quad, but he has enough feeling in his arms that he can roll his own wheelchair.

The 83 year old woman? Well, she's dead now, but her excuse was that she never even saw him.... He was always in flourescent clothing when he rode. He was a golfer, cyclist, runner, swimmer, tennis player.... Now, he rolls and it takes him 1/2 hour to get dressed.

1 year later my father-in-law was t-boned by a speeding teenager who ran a red light. Luckily he only had collapsed lungs and a host of other issues that he is recovering from. But, it forced his retirement from teaching because he looses his voice if he lectures for more than a couple minutes.

Old, young, drunk, stupid, distracted... it doesn't really matter. Wrecks will happen for any number of reasons. We'll all bitch about it, but who of you will actually DO something that will set in motion a change in the laws? I have not.

Challenge issued.