It's exhausting riding with a 95yo driver

In my LE days, I encountered several folks too old to be driving. Even after the State revoking their DL, it didn't stop them from getting behind the wheel and taking off. Some of the common replies from them were as follows:
Driver: I was driving before there was such things as driver's license.
another encounter...
Me: Sir, you ran that stop back there.
Driver: I've been running that stop sign for over 50 years. Folks should know I don't stop.
Me: Sir, you're driving down the middle of the road.
Driver: That's ok, now the ***'s can pass me on both sides.
Even with no DL and against the advice of Dr's. and wishes of the family, they will still drive. Some of them know unless it's something serious no one is wanting to jail 90 y/o people.
 
Driving and lack there of is a pet peeve of mine. Most drivers take a test at 16 and never again. You would think that holding a CDL ,commercial drivers license, retesting would be required every once in a while but was only required one time in 40 years. And when you take the test and live in Florida, you are also allowed with that license to drive a motorhome larger than some trucks, over snow and ice packed passes in Colorado in a blizzard. There should be an effort to re-educate drivers about new laws and roads since they first got their license. A lot has changed over the years. A public announcement on every radio station 3 times a day for a week about different aspects of safe and courteous driving. Fifty two weeks a year. From the proper use of a 3 lane road to what reflectors mean. Do you know what the reflectors mean? There are many different ones of different colors and different number and they all mean something different. Do you know how to tell early and in advance, when driving on a multiple lane freeway with both right and left hand exits, if your exit is a left or right? There is an easy way to tell but lack of educational efforts too inform drivers leave most in the dark. My grandfather never was in an accident but he sure caused a lot. People in Hobbs, New Mexico knew his car and avoided that turquoise Ford wagon like the plague.
 
Two additional bits.

One, it's harder to take away a driver's license than it is to deprive someone of their Second Amendment rights.

Two, I have a hard time reconciling how easy it is to say "that guy shouldn't have a license" with the rise in blood pressure I experience every time I hear "that guy shouldn't have a gun".

The two are contradictory, I know.
 
Old Corp said:
Was so proud of my Dad, who'd been an auto insurance claims adjuster for so many years. He recognised when he was beginning to 'miss a step' in his driving. Said he'd never want to be the reason someone got hurt, and gave up driving, as well as a large bit of independence. It could not have been easy.
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My grand mother gave us her car and moved into an assisted living place when she was about 84. It was a smart move and she knew it.

Geno44 said:
I hope you meant the guy was a WWII combat vet. If he was a WWI vet he would be at least 115 years old and probably shouldn't be driving.
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Yep, I forgot a "I" so, I went back and edited it.


I really don't want him to lose his license. Neither do I want him to go through the pain of hurting someone because of a mistake in judgement while driving. Hey, as long as he can pass the eye test and walk to his car, I'm not opposed to letting him drive. I'm just not sure I'm getting in the passenger seat for longer trips.
 
Rastoff said:
My grand mother gave us her car and moved into an assisted living place when she was about 84. It was a smart move and she knew it.

Yep, I forgot a "I" so, I went back and edited it.


I really don't want him to lose his license. Neither do I want him to go through the pain of hurting someone because of a mistake in judgement while driving. Hey, as long as he can pass the eye test and walk to his car, I'm not opposed to letting him drive. I'm just not sure I'm getting in the passenger seat for longer trips.
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And what about his ability to steer, brake, avoid collisions, etc? Many of them here can't even see and hear emergency vehicles running, let alone cars coming from side streets.

Personally, I think folks should need a road test (or simulator version) after 80.
 
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My Uncle is 92 and proudly proclaims himself as one of Patton's Boys (a medic (Combat Medic Badge and 2 bronze stars). He is somewhat aware that his driving skills have waned and has his daughter, sons and nephew drive when ever possible. Our biggest fear is when he decides to drive somewhere!
 
Our rights are being trampled on enough by others. Sure, driving might not be a "right" per se, but it is pretty close.

Everyone is different. I know people in their 40's that shouldn't be driving. I know people in their 80's who are perfectly safe. How do you set an age on it?
 
I am working on 93 and still drive. My daughter and grandson often ride with me and I have told them the day that you think I should no longer drive I will hand you my keys.
By the way, check out the wrecks and deaths caused by you young ones. There is some pretty stupid driving done by all age groups.
 
There was an octogenarian woman in my hometown who drove a white 1988 Olds Cutass Ciera. The car had dents in every panel. The bumpers had so much paint scuffed from other cars they looked like a pastel version of the "Amazing Technicolor Dream coat". She hit my car, twice. She hit my dads car and then had the unmitigated gall to call the police and say that he hit her car. Dad's car was parked. She pulled into the neighbors driveway to pick up another old biddy for bingo, then backed straight across and hit dad's car hard. The police new it was her fault.

A few months before her death, she was in a traffic accident where she ran a traffic light at a highway intersection. She drove right into the side of a passing semi truck, totaling her car. She escaped injury and so did the trucker. I was at the accident scene just after it happened, Never so glad to see someone lose their car.
 
Rastoff said:
Our rights are being trampled on enough by others. Sure, driving might not be a "right" per se, but it is pretty close.

Everyone is different. I know people in their 40's that shouldn't be driving. I know people in their 80's who are perfectly safe. How do you set an age on it?
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I think so.

Individuals, family, friends, church.... all deal with these type of things in their lives every day without requiring some arbitrarily law government dreamed up to dictate every decision in life.
 
YOU DON'T HAVE TO LIKE IT

Eventually it needs to be done for most everyone if you live long enough. PIA annual written/driving/mental fitness tests, starting at a certain age? I'm wondering how much the cost of insurance goes up for elderly. (like for teenagers???) If going by track records, (accidents/tickets) I'd be thumbing it.
 
I posted earlier in the Corpsman thread about my 95 YO friend and the fact 2 years ago they took his license.

To be a 100% truthful he was a big menace on the road. He lived about 20 miles from our meeting spot and about 30 miles from the nearest city. He drove a rather big older Mercury, normally only doing about 35-40 in a 55 MPH area. That was day, night, winter, summer, rain or snow. Ran stop signs and just generally a problem on the road.

Everybody up here knew him and that included the state police and sheriffs. He was very rarely pulled over and if he was he was just let go to continue. He did both beach (saw action) and shipboard sickbay duties at Guadalcanal and for that reason everybody looked the other way when he was on the road.

He finely got in a argument with the wrong person over a traffic problem. He then lost his license
 
My mother is 91 - she drives like that.

She asked what sort of car she should buy as hers is now 10 years old. I told her 10,000 miles wasn't very much, why didn't she just keep driving it until ALL the body panels were dented and/or scraped.

She only has 2 left to go, and one of those is the roof. :)
 
Driving, gun handling and reloading is something everyone thinks they know how to do and take no advice from anyone. We know what we are doing so mind your own business. Hopefully we all get a reality check and re-think our abilities. I am a CDL holder and have over 2 million miles under my belt. I can and have drove most everything from trucks loaded with explosives to motorcycles. If there is a license required to drive something, I have it. Nobody was going to tell me how to drive. Then one day I took a Reader's Digest test about driving. I got 3 out of 25 questions correct. On this day and from that day forward I have worked on my driving skills. I did not realize how bad I was and how little I knew. I hung around both an Indy car driver and a Nascar driver for a time. Nearly got in 2 major wrecks while a passenger in their cars. Never think you are too good to learn anything.
 
nachogrande said:
Eventually it needs to be done for most everyone if you live long enough. PIA annual written/driving/mental fitness tests, starting at a certain age? I'm wondering how much the cost of insurance goes up for elderly. (like for teenagers???) If going by track records, (accidents/tickets) I'd be thumbing it.
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Ma has no accidents or tickets,but her premium was raised quite a bit in her 80s.Insurance companies understand risk :-)
 
My mom lived to be 92. She loved to drive and did so until she was about 85. She let her license expire accidentally. My step dad knew it was about to expire and said nothing. Then one day after it expired he ask my mom when her license expired. She looked at it and said it had expired and she needed to go get a new one. My step dad told her she would have to retest and she would have to start studying to pass.

When she heard that she decided to quit driving on her own.

My neighbor is 88. He fell asleep last year and took out a fire hydrant. He still drives.
 
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My mother's boyfriend (also 85) was a dentist and a flight examiner.His son more or less forced him to close his practice a few years ago and finally this year convinced him to no longer play PIC.That had to be really tough to accomplish.Ive known the guy for 50 years and his ego has always run far ahead of his judgement and still does.He still drives....
 
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