Comments on Profile Post by yotacowboy

In one single 40 minute grocery trip today i saw: elderly driver driving with hazards on, on major interstate with a 55mph speed limit, at 25mph, no obvious signs of damage to vehicle or other mechanical impairment. Another elderly driver splitting lanes for 3 goddamn miles after passing a curb-parked vehicle that had a driver's side door open...

and finally, an elderly driver trying to make a lefthand turn out of a non-traffic signaled parking lot, waiting for a "large enough" break in traffic to proceed, waited for nearly 15 minutes after at least half a dozen opportunities to safely proceed were available.

I know, I sound like an unempathetic asshole, but why has none of any these drivers' friends or family suggested to them that if driving is so apparently dangerous and outside their envelope of capability, do they not cease putting themselves at great perceived risk??

My wife has had elderly patients who are legally blind who drove themselves to the appointment - no joke. Fact is we are an individualistic culture combined with a car culture. Friends and family can "suggest", but to do so with any strength is rude and a denial of a persons central "freedom" and individual autonomy, which is a denial of their very identity and "value" as a human being

Really, if you can't drive what's left - the nursing home (i.e. "assisted living") for most of them, which is the meaningless "last days" according to most of them AND their "friends and family", so it keeps getting put off...besides its expensive and who actually has the money.

Young whippersnappers like yourself are just going to have to leave a little earlier, you know, so that you can toil to pay for these folks social security, Medicare, and however else they are drawing from our wallet ;)

Sad thing is that it takes an accident for some people to finally give up driving. I had a resident of a local nursing home pull out and turn left in front of me while I was at 55mph on the road... I wasn't more than 25' away when he pulled out and I slammed into the front end of his car - totaled both cars, luckily no one was hurt (I had dropped off both kids at preschool less than 5 minutes previously).

I knew the director of the nursing home and he said that the guys family had been trying to get him to give up driving for more than 5 yrs. He quit that day.

I know accidents happen to everyone at every age. But people need to be honest about their capabilities and not put others in danger. Now that there is Uber & Lyft, there is no excuse...

TBH, I'm amazed at how shit most of us are at driving. I welcome a future where the machines do all the driving.

I remember watching a news feature a long time ago about giving driving tests to the elderly more frequently for obvious reasons. However any attempt to implement this has been attacked as ageism and countered by some elder interests group.

You'd think insurance would get to be prohibitively expensive; I remember car rentals being unaffordable until I turned 25. (Not to disagree with any of the above but youngsters are often shit drivers, too, and I include my younger self in that).

@Cspirou here's NZ: https://www.nzta.govt.nz/driver-licences/renewing-replacing-and-updating/renewing-for-seniors/ . My father finally failed his at 98.

Wonder when they'll do the same with guns :)

You’re making an assumption that these people have younger friends and family to help them. Many don’t and are unaware of services that could help. Don’t be a dick.

Yeah, you're right, DigMe. I got a bit too fired up.

I think it is quite healthy to be a bit scared of driving. But 99.999% of the time, I forget.