why dont they test over 80 drivers???

[Belzeebub]

I think mandatory periodic testing for all drivers of all ages should be put into place. Although the stats show the elderly and the under twenty five as "high risK", morons of all ages are on the road everyday. Im often very keen to observe the speed limit especially when driving through residential areas however, as a result, I have also drawn the extreme displeasure of idiots who want to go 55 mph on a two-way 25 mph residential zone.

I think 80% of the people who drive, should not! Too many people drive in the left lane, as if it their right to do so. Those people should be banned to leper island.

[Phil47uk]

Originally Posted by Muck Fe

Phil, that is karma writ large and brought a smile to the dial (the bit about the bleeding head and the smack on the nose).

Luckily, in this country, we have speed limits for provisional drivers (i.e. mostly young) where they must display a "P Plate" that has their maximum speed printed on it. There are also laws to limit the type of car they are allowed to drive, no turbos or large displacement V8's. Additionally, our seniors must take a driving test every year past a certain age (think it's 80).

Although these measures are a step in the right direction, it is still too easy to obtain a drivers licence in most parts of the world. Proper, intensive training is the only way, where they are shown the actual consequences of their lunatic ways.

Rick.

Well they are supposed to have speed limits here....But!

I don't think many Americans who have never been to Europe realise just how crazy it is over here. I think most would be scared shitless on a UK road.
I like America for driving. They are much more courteous on the whole than the Brits. ( With the exclusion of NY and LA. )

In the States someone will always let you onto a freeway. Here you have to take your chances and go, or you could be waiting an awefuly long time.
Brits overtake differently to Americans. Over there you are driving along when suddenly a car slowly appears along side you. You might be doing 50 and they will be doing 50.00001 . Half an hour later they are still along side but have nudged ahead a couple of feet. In England you come up behind someone, then floor it.
I noticed this driving from Chatanooga to Savanah in GA. I drove the whole state of Georgia and wasn't overtaken once.
I just couldn't help overtaking in the Brit fashion. Get behind the guy and when the coast is clear, hit the throttle. I'd be round and past him in seconds. I really found that American thing of driving along side the other person with only 1/2 mile an hour difference between you very un-nerving, especially when passing a semi.
The average speed on a US highway is 55mph and most stick around there. In the UK the speed limit is 70mph on motorways, but most of the silly sods are all doing between 80mph and 90mph.

[Lyrica]

in the last three years there have been many deaths here due to stupidity. the offenders driving along a dirt road and coming to a highway with a two way stop sign. well they don't stop. they just floor it thru the stop and hope for the best. i don't mind if someone has no survival instinct and wants to kill him/herself doing stupid shit, but they always seem to take someone else with them.

[babalooga]

I spent 30 plus years working in body shops and I can tell you it's a toss up between little old ladies and soccer moms as to who is the most dangerous on the road. I once had an old lady come in for an estimate for repairs right after she had a booboo as she called it, she came back an hour later for another estimate, yup you guessed it, another booboo. I watched her get in her car to leave, and I noticed she was just sitting there, so I asked her if she was alright. She told me she could'nt remember how to start her car! I called a relative of hers to come and pick her up, I hope that ended her driving career. Soccer moms just scare the beejeesus out of me.

[Hemply]

Tested? Hell, they need to be BANNED from driving after 80.

I can attest to this first hand as I sit here recovering from knee surgery due to an over 80 y/o driver who never saw me, never looked, never even hit his brake?!?! NOTHING!

My car gets side swipped, pushed into a concrete median strip, which it then bounces off smashing my knee into the steering wheel in the process. Me like an asshole see's how old the guy is that hit me and am screaming at him from my now stopped car, asking if he's ok? He's out of his car looking at me like I'm speaking a different language! Well of course he's looking at me like that, I then see he's wearing two of the biggest HEARING AIDS I have ever seen!
No wonder he never heard my horn blowing as he came right at me!

So now I sit here 4 days post-op hurting, disabled from working and driving by my surgeron for at least two more weeks! Problem is I am self-employed and if I don't work I don't make money.

All this mess because someone who can barely remember their own name is given access to a two ton weapon... makes a lot of sense to me!

[Belzeebub]

Originally Posted by Hemply

Tested? Hell, they need to be BANNED from driving after 80.

I can attest to this first hand as I sit here recovering from knee surgery due to an over 80 y/o driver who never saw me, never looked, never even hit his brake?!?! NOTHING!

My car gets side swipped, pushed into a concrete median strip, which it then bounces off smashing my knee into the steering wheel in the process. Me like an asshole see's how old the guy is that hit me and am screaming at him from my now stopped car, asking if he's ok? He's out of his car looking at me like I'm speaking a different language! Well of course he's looking at me like that, I then see he's wearing two of the biggest HEARING AIDS I have ever seen!
No wonder he never heard my horn blowing as he came right at me!

So now I sit here 4 days post-op hurting, disabled from working and driving by my surgeron for at least two more weeks! Problem is I am self-employed and if I don't work I don't make money.

All this mess because someone who can barely remember their own name is given access to a two ton weapon... makes a lot of sense to me!

Sue the old geezer out of his misery! Be well soon.

[Hemply]

Originally Posted by Belzeebub

Sue the old geezer out of his misery! Be well soon.

Not that I don't have a million better things to do with my time like getting back to my own practice and the patients I now hold in "treatment limbo" as I recover.

I will be lucky if this thing will resolve by next week enough for me to return to my office. I've only held my own practice going on my 4th year now. After the first two years if you can still support yourself you feel some relief, but with any independent business you feel more at ease after at least 5 successful years. This crap has stopped my earnings and my malpractice insurer doesn't want to hear I don't have their money... if I don't then I don't practice. The tax man doesn't want to hear I'm laid up on a bad knee and can't pay him his money.

I should consider myself lucky to have been so "blessed" that my auto insurance company agreed to pay for the surgery. I don't have health care insurance. I've been turned down by every major health insurer due to "pre-existing conditions"! Duh, no shit, I'm 42 years old, if I was 22 I wouldn't agree to pay over $900.00 a month for health insurance now would I, nope I'd spend that money on something important like a new LPC!

So it seems that I have no choice but to sue the old bastard out of his misery!

I'll keep working hard at getting things back quickly. All this and in three weeks I'm off for two weeks of fishing and relaxing in Key Largo and Islamorada... wonder if they take food stamps?

Thanks Belzeebub!

[myinstrument]

that sucks royaly. hope you are back at it soon.

[coldsteal2]

My dad drove through a red light going 60 at a
busy intersection when he was 81, i thoght
i was realy going to die, he had no clue
and thought i made it up.
The light "never used to be there 10 years ago"so his memory
didnt recognize the new light, thank god no cars
were passing through
My doctor said that is normal with older people its called "Motor Memory"
so used to driving through an area without a light for decades and one
pops up and they just dont mentaly even look

[WhippingPost]

I agree that there needs to be some form of testing after a certain age. However, I don't agree that the elderly drivers are as big of a problem as you all are making them out to be. Yes, they cause their own share of collisions. I serve on both medical and fire volunteer groups in my county (it's all we have here in rural America). A vast majority of the collisions I've responded to have been caused by young adults (typically in the high school/college age ranges). I've seen many people or all ages kill and be killed through acts of stupidity behind the wheel. Most of those that I have seen have been caused by young drivers, but that's because I live between too major college towns. If you take them out of the picture, then the statistics are pretty even across the board. Texting while driving, putting on make-up, reading, and - my personal favorite - trying to pick up a dropped crack pipe so that they didn't burn the carpet in the rental. Yes, it actually happened.

I agree, there needs to be testing after a certain age. In fact, I think there needs to be standardized testing more often. It is entirely too easy to get a license in most states. Also, most of those who have a license (and have for many years) only have very basic knowledge of car control, but no idea how to control a car. I think parents who buy their children any type of car with significant power to drive on the street are silly in the head.

I think driver training should be approached more like pilot training. I don't think you can learn how to properly control a car until you've lost control, so put the kiddies on a skid-pad. It will be fun and educational. I'm not saying that we should teach little Suzie Q how to drive a race car, I'm just saying that we should teach her how to drive a car. I can't begin to count the amount of times I've heard drivers (of all ages) say "I didn't know what to do." I also think that if you are caught with a cell phone in your hand while driving you should get a hefty fine. Need to make a call? Pull over or get a headset, but don't stop paying attention. And stop texting.

And, since I have to renew my license anyway, give me a test while I'm there. That way, I didn't stand in line for two hours just to pay you, and you get to make sure that I know the law. In this state CDL drivers are required to have a physical once a year to prove that you are of sound enough body and mind to drive. I would support that being a universal requirement for all licenses. It would end the "lost grandpa/grandma" drivers, and take a few other dangerous situations off the road as well.

I guess my point is that the problem isn't with the elderly, or the young. It's an overall problem. When most cut you off, you utter an expletive and forget about it. When granny does it, you remember it because she's different.

I know you didn't ask, but that's my $2.00.

[myinstrument]

Originally Posted by WhippingPost

I know you didn't ask, but that's my $2.00.

think alot of ourselves dont we ??? mine is only worth .02 cents.

here is where i see the difference. when young people drive the way they sometimes do it is a concious decision to become preocupied while driving or just plain driving dangerously. these people can pass any standardized test and most of them have quite recently. these elderly (and i dont mean all) are not as likely to pass the test since those who are the problem are oblivious to the world around them. im sorry but when a youth kills someone because he's driving like a dickhead its a crime and no test is going find that problem. when an elderly person kills someone on the road its usually a mental or medical issue which a standardized driving test will pick up on. one of these senarios can be AVOIDED the other is a concious descision.

[Hemply]

Originally Posted by WhippingPost

I know you didn't ask, but that's my $2.00.

I agree, whether young, old, texting, talking, stupid, I treat them all equally as assholes!

The reason I remember the 150 year old man with the satellite dishes for hearing aids is because he's the guy who hit me!

The last guy who hit me was my age; this genius told his insuance
company: "never saw him, never looked, didn't care".


I could see requiring a physical every time you renew your drivers license; I could also see having to submit to a urinalysis in order to receive a monthly welfare check.

[WhippingPost]

Originally Posted by myinstrument

think alot of ourselves dont we ??? mine is only worth .02 cents.

Not at all! I just think that with inflation, the rising cost of gas, and the price of vowels these days...

here is where i see the difference. when young people drive the way they sometimes do it is a concious decision to become preocupied while driving or just plain driving dangerously. these people can pass any standardized test and most of them have quite recently.

Actually, I agree. I think it's too easy to get a license these days. I don't think that 15 minutes with a state trooper is enough to determine whether someone is fit to drive a car. There's no amount of training or level of testing that will stop stupidity - I think we both agree on that. However, current drivers' education is a joke in my opinion. All drivers (especially new) need to be reminded of how dangerous driving is.

one of these senarios can be AVOIDED the other is a concious descision.

I disagree, kinda. I think that both scenarios can be avoided. One could be avoided by a physical/driving test. The other could be avoided by the driver not being an idiot.

[WhippingPost]

Originally Posted by Hemply

I agree, whether young, old, texting, talking, stupid, I treat them all equally as assholes!

Hehe. Dad had this saying, "When you're on the freeway, just remember that they're all trying to kill you."

The reason I remember the 150 year old man with the satellite dishes for hearing aids is because he's the guy who hit me!

The last guy who hit me was my age; this genius told his insuance
company: "never saw him, never looked, didn't care".

I think I'd remember him, too, and I don't blame you. The other guy... definitely doesn't need to be driving. Well, neither of them do, obviously.

I could see requiring a physical every time you renew your drivers license; I could also see having to submit to a urinalysis in order to receive a monthly welfare check.

I'm all for that urinalysis. I would almost vote for abolishing the welfare system altogether. I know that it serves its purpose, but a majority of the people on it are simply abusing the system.

[Muck Fe]

Originally Posted by Phil47uk

Well they are supposed to have speed limits here....But!

I don't think many Americans who have never been to Europe realise just how crazy it is over here. I think most would be scared shitless on a UK road.
I like America for driving. They are much more courteous on the whole than the Brits. ( With the exclusion of NY and LA. )

In the States someone will always let you onto a freeway. Here you have to take your chances and go, or you could be waiting an awefuly long time.
Brits overtake differently to Americans. Over there you are driving along when suddenly a car slowly appears along side you. You might be doing 50 and they will be doing 50.00001 . Half an hour later they are still along side but have nudged ahead a couple of feet. In England you come up behind someone, then floor it.
I noticed this driving from Chatanooga to Savanah in GA. I drove the whole state of Georgia and wasn't overtaken once.
I just couldn't help overtaking in the Brit fashion. Get behind the guy and when the coast is clear, hit the throttle. I'd be round and past him in seconds. I really found that American thing of driving along side the other person with only 1/2 mile an hour difference between you very un-nerving, especially when passing a semi.
The average speed on a US highway is 55mph and most stick around there. In the UK the speed limit is 70mph on motorways, but most of the silly sods are all doing between 80mph and 90mph.

Yeah, driving with some modicum of courtesy in this country has gone the way of the Dodo too. It seems it has become a race to see who gets to the next red light fastest. Then it's the TLGP (traffic light grand prix) to see who can get off the line fastest!! Our motorways also have a 70mph (110kmh) speed limit, but it's more like being the injured car in a grand prix with the rest of the field going by at warp speed.

In the thirty years I've held a licence, I've had two traffic accidents, neither of which was my fault, but the near misses are numerous and only avoided because I keep my concentration on the road ahead and what is going on around me.

I'm with you on the creepy feeling of another car matching your speed right next to you on a road, just doesn't feel quite kosher.

Rick.

[Belzeebub]

Originally Posted by WhippingPost

Hehe. Dad had this saying, "When you're on the freeway, just remember that they're all trying to kill you."

I think that applies to most NY and NJ roads.

[Phil47uk]

Originally Posted by Muck Fe

Yeah, driving with some modicum of courtesy in this country has gone the way of the Dodo too. It seems it has become a race to see who gets to the next red light fastest. Then it's the TLGP (traffic light grand prix) to see who can get off the line fastest!! Our motorways also have a 70mph (110kmh) speed limit, but it's more like being the injured car in a grand prix with the rest of the field going by at warp speed.

In the thirty years I've held a licence, I've had two traffic accidents, neither of which was my fault, but the near misses are numerous and only avoided because I keep my concentration on the road ahead and what is going on around me.

I'm with you on the creepy feeling of another car matching your speed right next to you on a road, just doesn't feel quite kosher.

Rick.

Yeah, just let the silly bastards all fly by. As long as they don't involve me or my family, they can all wrap themselves around a tree for all I care.