You know something else that really needs to be required teaching is dangers of being around a semi including the increased stopping distance, blind spots etc. My dad a couple of years ago taught in a AARP and RV club sponsored driving coarse for older people (great idea) now dad is a retired truck driver, after teaching it once he called me absolutely astonished at how un informed people are about semi's, do you realize that over half the class didn't know that those "alligators" along side the road were actually the tread off of semi tires? Including a retired HS teacher that had taught drivers ed for 20 yrs. and non of the class had any idea how much those weigh, he asked me for pictures of damaged caused by them (found some on the internet) and the driving istructor actually thought that the best and safest place to be around a semi was back by the trailer dual cause the driver could see you there, and no I am not kidding. That self same drivers ed teacher also missed the question about stopping distance of a semi thinking that with 18 tires it would be a fact that they could stop faster then a car, and THAT was why you didn't tail gate a semi cause they could stop faster. And this guy taught your kids for 20 yrs.

 

<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=3 width=350 border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=bottom><TD class=iii-fb-th align=left width=70>
Age group</TD><TD class=iii-fb-th align=middle width=70>
Number of drivers</TD><TD class=iii-fb-th align=middle width=70>
Percent of total</TD><TD class=iii-fb-th align=middle width=85>
Drivers in fatal accidents</TD><TD class=iii-fb-th align=middle width=70>
Percent of total</TD><TD class=iii-fb-th align=middle width=75>
Drivers in all accidents</TD><TD class=iii-fb-th align=middle width=70>
Percent of total</TD></TR><TR vAlign=bottom><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=left>Under 20</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=right>9,396,000</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=right>4.7%</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=right>6,300</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=right>10.1%</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=right>2,490,000</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=right>13.5%</TD></TR><TR vAlign=bottom><TD class=iii-fb-td2 align=left>20–24</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td2 align=right>16,886,000</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td2 align=right>8.4</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td2 align=right>8,900</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td2 align=right>14.3</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td2 align=right>2,640,000</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td2 align=right>14.3</TD></TR><TR vAlign=bottom><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=left>25–34</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=right>36,003,000</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=right>17.9</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=right>11,300</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=right>18.1</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=right>3,820,000</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=right>20.8</TD></TR><TR vAlign=bottom><TD class=iii-fb-td2 align=left>35–44</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td2 align=right>40,394,000</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td2 align=right>20.0</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td2 align=right>10,400</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td2 align=right>16.7</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td2 align=right>3,420,000</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td2 align=right>18.6</TD></TR><TR vAlign=bottom><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=left>45–54</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=right>39,851,000</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=right>19.8</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=right>9,600</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=right>15.4</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=right>3,060,000</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=right>16.6</TD></TR><TR vAlign=bottom><TD class=iii-fb-td2 align=left>55–64</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td2 align=right>29,685,000</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td2 align=right>14.7</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td2 align=right>6,600</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td2 align=right>10.6</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td2 align=right>1,610,000</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td2 align=right>8.8</TD></TR><TR vAlign=bottom><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=left>65–74</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=right>16,492,000</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=right>8.2</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=right>4,200</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=right>6.7</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=right>800,000</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=right>4.3</TD></TR><TR vAlign=bottom><TD class=iii-fb-td2 align=left>Over 74</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td2 align=right>12,793,000</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td2 align=right>6.4</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td2 align=right>5,000</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td2 align=right>8.0</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td2 align=right>560,000</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td2 align=right>3.0</TD></TR><TR vAlign=bottom><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=left>Total</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=right>201,500,000</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=right>100.0%</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=right>62,300</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=right>100.0%</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=right>18,400,000</TD><TD class=iii-fb-td1 align=right>100.0%</TD></TR><TR vAlign=bottom><TD class=iii-fb-td2 colSpan=7>Note: Percent of total columns may not add due to rounding; driver columns do not add because drivers under the age of 16 are not included</SPAN>.

Source: National Safety Council

Yep, we gotta test us old folks, and teach us how to drive. jd

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

monsterbaby - right on with that. one of the things that drives me crazy is seeing how people drive around the semis, add to that light trucks towing trailers. the thing i see most often is people cutting into the space the truck driver left for themselves for stopping and drivers sitting in the blindspot of the truck, makes me want to just slap them in the back of the head and ask "whats wrong with you?"

 

I would like to see a similar breakdown taking into consideration total miles driven.

 

yes, but the percent does not tell the whole story.

many young people are just knowingly and on purpose negligent while driving and doing things to increase thier risk while many old people are trying thier best to be responsible but do not have the capability to do it.

so what is worst, someone doing something on purpose because of negligence or someone doing something accidently because of a physical problem but both end in the same results?

plus the percentages does not show anything about circumstances behind, if it was single car wrecks, etc...

 

I agree. Maybe we need driving schools where 1 of the vehicles is a big truck. Let everyone learn how traffic behaves from behind the wheel of one of those. One of those closed courses would be a good idea.

 

I'm 69 and I agree with retesting. To you younger people that have complained about your dad or mom continuing to drive when they shouldn't be.
My response is TAKE THEIR KEYS AWAY. When my dad was 75 he came out of a shopping center parking lot on a rainy night.
He was making a left turn to go south bound when he ran into an island dividing the north and south bound lanes.
He had forgotten it was there and his night vision, especially when it was raining, had deteriorated to the point that he didn't see the island.
He almost tore the front end out of his car and got the car hung up on the island. Front-end in the south bound lanes and the back end in the north bound lanes.
Fortunately no one was hurt. I told him he was no longer allowed to drive after dark or when it was raining.
If he needed to go someplace during those times he was to call me and I would take him. He told me he didn't want to be a bother.
I told him I didn't mind being bothered by him. I would much rather he bother me than to have the police "bother" me by calling and telling me he had been killed in a traffic accident.
He hated to admit it but he said he knew I was right. When my time comes and I know it's not that far off, I hope I won't fight it. I've already told my kids, if I do, to just yank my keys.
No matter how loud I yell, if they really love me they'll do it. I probably won't admit it but I'll thank them for it.

As for the 95 y.o. that ignored the law and complained. An ********* like that belongs in jail. To me his attitude says "it's ok for me to kill someone, as long as I'm not inconvenienced."
If the AARP ever decided to defend a jerk like that, I'd turn in my membership and encourage all my friends to do the same.

BTW Driving the the fast lane 20 mph below the speed limit is not the exclusive domain of little old ladies and old men.
It is the the inconsiderate SOB's that say "I have a RIGHT to drive here" that do that. Regardless of their age.
And don't even get me started on people that don't signal.

 

Jim I have seen that chart proposed by AARP before the real problem with it is it's all falsified information. Not one bit of it is true, take a close look the under 20 drivers are actually no where near the top. I actually read somewhere that even the total numbers were made up on that chart. Actual and truthful numbers say that the highest property damage caused per accident falls into what group? yep 65+ yr old woman but that chart doesn't show that (insurance industry statistics)
Heck the numbers in that chart alone should be the big tip off, it shows total drivers as being 201 million in a country of at the time that was written 280 million people and says drivers under 16 aren't included? So according to that study 72% of ALL people including older people and CHILDREN are lic drivers in this country? Now something else and I can't find the verification is that the study was actually taken when the total population was 201 million people and they just made the assumption that all people were drivers.

The other thing that study doesn't break out is fatality accidents, nor does it include how many of the total accidents were actually caused by someone that wasn't even in the actual accident itself ( that accounts for a lot more then you think cause by people that pull out in front of others without looking and the accident that happens is when someone does evasive manuvuars to avoid them and then the person that actually caused the accident motors off oblivious, gee sounds like maybe which group? oh yeah older people)

BTW I am also an aarp member but you can't believe a lot of what they put out.

 

I agree--bogus chart. Most people my age range (approaching middle to middle) that I know drive roughly 20,000-40,000 miles per year. Most elderly people I know (65+) tend to drive much less (<5000-10,000 MPY). So, to drive 1/4 as much and be in 1/2 as many accidents (by the chart) indicates an accident rate of two times as much.

We've all heard the phrase, "there are lies, damn lies and statistics", but I hate that phrase--the problem is usually poor analysis of the statistics. Statistics are just data. Data has to be correctly analyzed to provide insight into the truth of the situation.

Jason

 

I hope I am as level headed as you at your age. I also agree with your turn signal issue. Not to mention the friendly law enforcement types that don't use them either.

 

I'm kind of amazed that every state does not retest

 

I totaly agree with both of you on that one at any age. I would really hate to be the cause of my death or someone else because of my pride.

Lack of signal use, law enforcement types and the law enforcement types that do not even put their children in safelty seats. Sounds like another thread coming on.

 

Oh seat belts are a definite sore subject with me, makes you wonder when the people that work as law enforcement, and emergency workers such as EMT-B and ER nurses and doctors are known to have some of the highest percentage of people that do NOT wear their seat belts... hmmmm wonder if they know something that isn't being adverstised by the government like the fact that the seatbelt laws are more about collecting revenue and feel good then they are about actual safety.

 

seat belt laws are in my opinion are dumb and serve no purpose other than to create more of a nanny state. if i want to do something that is not harming anyone else, that should be my right to do so, same with helmet laws.

people's first response will be about insurance, my question is when since have insurance compaies have the right to have a say and decide policy for society? insurance is nothing more than gambling, they at first started by playing the game by the rules of society, now they are influencing those rules to gain an advantage (i.e. money).

 

Yes, I think that people should be retested at a certan age.

As far as younger drivers goes I beleve that the car you learn to drive in has alot to do with driving abilaty. I learned how to drive a 1967 ford truck it didnt have power brakes, power stering, and not having all of these modern safty features made me a better driver.