As I mentioned a while back, my vision is impaired due to glaucoma, and I have not driven up till a couple of weeks ago. My eye doc asked if I would participate in some study on the effects of disabilities on driving--I figured that if she thought I fit in the study, I might as well. The lady from the study said there might be a few minutes of driving in the park where there was no traffic; I figured, why not?
So the day of the study rolls around; at intake, I got a half hour of vision tests and some psych screening, plus a test on the Rules of the Road. The next lady comes in, takes me out to the park, and hands me the keys to a dual-control car. We make a few maneuvers on command, and I don't run over anything. Next thing, she has me drive up a lane, and there I am in the middle of street traffic in St Louis. For the next two hours, she has me driving in all kinds of city traffic conditions while I'm puckered up so tight my voice is up at least two octaves.
I find out later that it's a (pun accidental) "double blind" study, where the person directing and taking notes on my driving has not been informed about the nature of my handicap, nor about the fact that I hadn't driven since around January of 2017.
So, to get to the point, I'm seriously thinking about going back to driving, at least on local roads, and I'm lookiing for a vehicle with built-in driving aids. I recently rode in a friend's Mercedes E-class with collision avoidance front radar, lane deviation warnings, blind spot warnings, and rear view camera, as well as a fairly large screen navigation system. I am not in a hurry to spend what an E-class costs, expecially since I'm over 50 miles from a Mercedes dealer, tho I'd consider it if necessary.
Can anyone recommend other brands / models /years of vehicles with comparable geezer protection devices?
Thanks.
So the day of the study rolls around; at intake, I got a half hour of vision tests and some psych screening, plus a test on the Rules of the Road. The next lady comes in, takes me out to the park, and hands me the keys to a dual-control car. We make a few maneuvers on command, and I don't run over anything. Next thing, she has me drive up a lane, and there I am in the middle of street traffic in St Louis. For the next two hours, she has me driving in all kinds of city traffic conditions while I'm puckered up so tight my voice is up at least two octaves.
I find out later that it's a (pun accidental) "double blind" study, where the person directing and taking notes on my driving has not been informed about the nature of my handicap, nor about the fact that I hadn't driven since around January of 2017.
So, to get to the point, I'm seriously thinking about going back to driving, at least on local roads, and I'm lookiing for a vehicle with built-in driving aids. I recently rode in a friend's Mercedes E-class with collision avoidance front radar, lane deviation warnings, blind spot warnings, and rear view camera, as well as a fairly large screen navigation system. I am not in a hurry to spend what an E-class costs, expecially since I'm over 50 miles from a Mercedes dealer, tho I'd consider it if necessary.
Can anyone recommend other brands / models /years of vehicles with comparable geezer protection devices?
Thanks.
