Annual testing is a good thing. How about also having time restrictions for driving? Often times teens cannot be out past a certain hour so why not the same for the blue heads? I figure that they should be allowed out between 9am and 3pm unless they are going to a relative’s house or meeting. They should be self mandated to get their shopping and store running around completed before the evening rush hour begins. After people have been at work all day their tempers usually fire up more easily. If the older drivers (which are generally less responsive) were not on the roads, the traffic would flow more steadily. Instead of getting 4 cars through a stop light because the snow cap can’t hit the gas for 15 seconds, we could get 10 cars or so.

 

As a person that lives in an area with a high concentration of elderly drivers and more concentration during the winter (Snowbirds), I think that they should be tested once they start to receive their SS checks. I have a grandmother that gave her car up at 88 and it really hurt her, but she knew her limitations and did not want to see anyone get hurt. I also think people with more than three points should be tested on a regular bases until they have a clean record.

 

im a firefighter and running down the road with lights and sirens on everybody pulls over except old people either they cant hear or they dont look. they should retest after a certain age.

 

i know how that goes! hate that!

 

Ok, I think my "study group" and I have come up with a legislative cure.

At 65 all drivers must retake a driver's test just like they did when they turned 15 and 16. Pass and you get a new licence. BUT after 65 you have to retake every 5 years. Sound good?
Also, there could be a special tag or sticker or something they could buy (option) to tell other drivers that they're over 65.
BUT the incentive to do this could be Insurance discounts or free Luby's coupons or something. -something really nice.
Just a thought, but I think it could be put into effect and work.
---Contact your local congresman---

Just messin'. Bye.

 

i was almost killed by an elderly(90+) lady a couple years ago...driving along a 3 lane(1 way) highway...i see a car parked along the right shoulder...as I approach in the center lane...she veers out suddenly...i swerve to my left and she plows into my right side...sending me spinning round and round into a ditch and trees...a trucker stopped to help and when he asked her what she was doing...she said she was going the wrong way on the highway and wanted to turn around but someone hit her and drove off...she's lucky it was me she hit and not the trucker driving right behind me...so yes...old people should be tested at least yearly

oh i miss that cougar

 

I believe that the elderly are more dangerous than the young...I am sorry, but it is monday, and 3 times this week I have had to merge onto the highway doing under 40 with traffic doing 70+, one of those I was doin 20 mph behind an old man, every time it is the elderly in a buick or lincoln. I have been run off the road, almost run off the road, been stuck behind them in the left lane, them pacing or going slower thanthe right lane, not getting over,

And, on a personal note, I had two friends got hit head on by an elderly woman. One of them is 18, now has permanent back problems. The old lady was headed down the worng way on a 4 lane hwy. everyone walked, or was carried away still alive. After the wreck, the old lady asked one of my friend, the one still wlkaing, why they where going the wrong way. luckily, this was not during heavy, or even moderate traffic hours, as tehre were only a few (5 or 6) cars on the road.

 

Earlier today I was going down hiway (55mph zone) old man going 20 mph was in front of me. Hopfully this old fool doesn't drive on the interstate. I'm 50 so i'm getting up there I quess. But I think drivers should have to take a manditory driving test when they hit 65 or 70 and once a year once they get to 70 or so . I do know many good drivers in thier 60's. But if they can't drive safely get them off the road.

 

This is a great question for anyone that lives in the “Sun Belt”. IN Arizona the population in some area doubles or triples with the influx of the “snowbirds”. Well these people decides that they need to drive during rush hour and cause all types of problems. They seem to be lost and do a lot of start to turn right………wait…no…turn left and cause accidents.

Many people see this as a removal of their “personal freedom”. I always ask where in the constitution does it state that you have the right to drive? (They really do not like that argument.) I think that anyone that has major points on their record or is of the “check” (63) age should be checked regularly. If you are getting subsidized by the government then you can check your skills more. My grandmother drove until she was 89 and then she gave up her keys. She was heartbroken, but she know that her skills were gone and she was dangerous on the roads. She had been driving since she was 13 and never had a moving violation or accident.


This is all a moot point, because the politicians will always bow to the pressure of the elderly and the AARP. They would rather kill your family and mine then tell people that they should not drive.

 

My grandma has to be one of the world's worst drivers for several reasons:
1. She drives this Buick Century with the special edition package
and the bigger engine. it's over powered for her and has too
many technologically advanced gadgets. SO... She drives
everywhere at like 10-15 over the speed limit. (Yet, has never
been stopped by the fuzz)
2. She's diabetic now. So she poses a risk of suffering a siezure
(again) while going down the interstate at 75. She did this
about a year ago and caused $4,000 damage to her car. -got
lucky.
3. She's beginning to lose her sight, hearing, and sense.
4. I think she puts bourbon in her coffee.
5. She drinks too much coffee. (draw the conclusion)
6. She just logs too many miles for her age (72)

Love ya, grandma, but let your kids haul you around or call a cab.
Ciao

 

I dunno...my grandpa was a pretty bad driver. He drove his caddy up a 15 foot flight of stairs into his favorite bar, then they took his license away.

Old people are kind of crazy. I remember i was driving out a mall exit, which was a two lane, one way street. Here comes these two old guys driving down it the wrong way, flicking everyone off and calling them morons out their windows. Like yeah...everyone else is going the wrong way man...

Then i was at a stop sign, trying to turn left. This old guy in a lincoln with his wife in the passenger pulled up behind me. Traffic was pretty heavy so i couldnt go, this old guy starts laying on his horn. Like i'm suppose to just plow into traffic, so he can go.

So i flick him off. I see in the rear view mirror his wife like raise her hands to her head in shock "my god Horris...that boy just gave us the bird!". This guy starts going nuts, he starts yelling at nobody, punching his steering wheel, shaking his head in anger. "why i'd break that greenhorn in half if my spine worked!"

Then there's this old guy who lives down the street from me. This guy has probably always been nuts. Right now he's about 80, weighs at least 400 lbs, and is a drunken lunatic. He owns a multi-million dollar trailer wholeselling business. Every day he gets up at dawn, gets ripped, hops in his full size pickup and heads for work. Every now and then he has a week where he dosnt get in a wreck too! He's had his license suspended numerous times, he usually gets his drunken friends to drive him then. But he's got the green, so they cant do a lot to him.

So i'm thinking maybe they should just build an old people community. Like lepers or something, just give them an island.

 

slow driving can be dangerous but it is less dangerous than fast driving.

 

I disagree, someone doing 95 in a 70 but knows what they are doing and how to maintane control in the event something goes wrong and can read traffic for the most aprt, is ALOT safer than soemone in a 5000lb car doing 50 in the same 70 and has no clue where they are or what they are doing and can barely see the car in front of them much less read traffic.

 

screw reading traffic. Anymore, I think they give licences to people who cant read words, let alone traffic. Just the other day I was nearly bullied off a bridge by some redneck chick w/ a mullet! AND she wasn't even old!

 

Well, not to say it was necessarily his age but we just had a driver (3 days ago I think) at the age of 71 decide to get on the freeway in the wrong direction. He drove for at least 5 miles like that before slamming head on into several cars, killing himself and a few more.

I think drivers over the age of 70 should pass a driving skill test every year. I also think if they can't drive within 5 miles of the posted limit they should fail. IMO old drivers cause a lot more accidents than they are actually involved in due to people trying to avoid colliding with them. We have a lot of old timers where I live and I see them all the time, wandering lane to lane with no clue where they are, turning across several lanes of traffic, etc. They also need to be tested for night vision as this is where many of them have a tough time. They just can't make out what they're looking at. I drive close to 30,000 miles a year so I see them all. A lot of my driving is on a 2 lane highway, extremely dangerous (every year there's several head on collisions) and one of my biggest peeves is the old timers will drive 30-35 (in a 60), on a perfect day. Passing lanes are very limited and it creates a lot of dangerous situations.

Now in all fairness I've made a recent discovery . . . sort of revalation if you will. I'm 24 and for years was furious at the fact that my insurance was insane and that I couldn't rent a car. That magically changes at 25 years of age. Well just about a week ago I was driving and thinking about this. At 16 or 18 years old I thought I was driving quite responsibly. I was on top of things, knew what I was doing, didn't pull stupid dangerous stunts. Yeah right! Looking back now I wouldn't have rented me a car either. A LOT changes in just a few years as to the way you view driving and the laws. As much as I didn't like it I do have agree with tight restrictions on young drivers too.