I’ve seen so many laws pass and so much attention to young driving. When I was younger I was able to get my permit on my 16th birthday and my license six month later as long as I graduated from a accredited driving school. I was able to drive every where I wanted on my permit as long as I had someone 18 in the car. Conveniently enough Hubby was 18 when I was 16 so I drove all the time with just him on my permit. Even scarier, once I got my license I was set free to drive my little Toyota which was standard and I only knew how to drive an automatic. I remember my friend dropping me off to my stick shift Toyota and having to be at Cheerleading practice in thirty minutes and it took me fifteen minutes alone just to get out of the parking spot. I drove the back roads for at least a month before I braved the main ones. I was great at peeling out or jerking the car back and forth when I took off. I never knew which would happen so I hated the thought of a stop sign or a red light. We won’t even get into how many times it took me to pass my actual license test…that’s a posting of it own. Let’s just say I needed my Dad to come with me because I couldn’t afford it anymore with all the additional fees attached to it.
Now, kids can’t drive after a certain hour with peers in the car. They have to wait longer to get their license and you need someone 21 or older in the car if you want any passengers-period. Things are stricter, limits are in place.
What I don’t hear about is stricter laws for the elderly. However in Massachusetts alone I’ve heard of several major driving accidents where elderly was behind the wheel and it resulted in a death of a child. That is just in the past few months alone. What triggered this thought for me enough to write a post? Yesterday when I had the kids in the back seat driving down a major road at the legal speed limit of 45 mph an elderly driver pulled out in front of a car in front of me and caused both that driver and myself to slam on our brakes and drive off the road. The elderly driver was clueless to it all and just continued driving. What was worse was the they continued to drive at only 30 mph as the speed limit increased to 50 mph.
While I understand that there are many elderly drivers that are still great drivers, there are many on the road that are not. Here in MA a doctor can pull a patients license but it takes months to make it to the MVR. Plus, that doesn’t mean the driver actually stops driving. I also know of seizure patients who don’t stop driving but have been told to. The list goes on and on.
While I know there are a great number of people who are against retesting the elderly I am all for it. I get that they could get nervous, anxious, etc but wouldn’t anybody? If you fail the option to retest should always be there. I just think there are too many elderly drivers on the road that are clueless to the rest of the drivers on the street. Maybe they aren’t comfortable at the speeds the streets are at, maybe their vision isn’t what it use to be, maybe their response time isn’t the same. However, when I hear week after week that another child is dead as a result of an elderly driver who shouldn’t have been driving it outrages me.
What are your thoughts on this?
I have been saying it for years that they should have to retest every year. I am not saying this without thought into it. My grandmother as stubborn as she is, should really not be driving. Her reaction time is a lot slower then it used to be, almost every area now has a lot more traffic as cities are growing, and her little car would be no match for a big SUV.
I not only think they should be retested every year with a paper test but I think every 2 years they should have to take a driving test.
I don’t know about written tests but I definitely agree with a driving test every 2 years for anyone 70 and older! My husband is strongly against them as he thinks capable seniors would fail out of anxiety alone.
Here’s my take: I think so long as the majority of the driving population is way too busy to consider that the elderly need help (being driven to the store, pharmacy, doctors appointments, and more), the elderly will manage to find ways to drive, with or without a license. Honestly, it seems that the more needs they have, the less time family, friends, and neighbors have to help the elderly. As if they should be stuck in their houses 7 days a week. Forget that they need milk, bread, eggs, and heart medication to survive on.
I do think less should be driving, but since they are more often than not forgotten, they need a way to get their errands done (just like you and me).
I do agree with that but my husbands grandfather no longer drives and his grandmother has passed. He has an aid that brings him to run errands 3x a week. All he has to do is pick up the phone if he needs something off those times. Plus, with a background with the medical field (in our area at least) there are PVTA services specifically for elderly that do door to door service and charge $.50 each way for a ride).
BTW the person who cut us off was driving out of a bowling alley parking lot, not a drugstore.
I totally agree with you. They should have to retest. I don’t know how many times, on my to take my son to daycare or pick him up from daycare, I have some elderly person on the highway…and I have to slam on my brakes to slow down because they are doing 40 in a 55. Or worse, I’ve seen them doing 30 in a 55. This is hazardous not only to me and my son but to them as well. I just feel that if you can’t follow the law, if you can’t drive the speed limit, then you need someone else to drive you. Yes, you may have errands to run and places to go, but is it worth your life or the lives of someone’s children to get there?
How about we retest all Mommies with children under the age of 18, too?
While there are some careless/clueless elderly drivers, I’m willing to bet that their percentage is a lot less than drivers under age 30…and sorry, probably a lot less than many Mommy drivers who are paying attention to their children instead of the road. If you doubt that, compare the insurance rates of a 30 year old to those of a 70 year old. All things (accidents, points) being equal, you’ll likely find that Granny pays less than you do.
It was one of those Mommy drivers that almost caused a huge accident on a major roadway during rush hour last month. No one reports that kind of driver to the media, though, because there would be outrage if there was a call to forbid Mommys to drive.
Grandmom driving too slow for you? Get some patience and deal with it until you have the opportunity to safely pass. The speed limit is a maximum speed, not a minimum speed. The world doesn’t have to move at a pace that’s comfortable for you; sometimes you need to be respectful of the pace that’s comfortable for others.
If you see a driver of any age who’s unsafe, jot down their license number and report them to the police. But don’t promote inconviencing all elderly people just because of a small percentage of crappy old drivers.
Be nice to old people. As a group, they sacrificed a lot for you. They have earned, and deserve, your respect and consideration.
I wasn’t knocking seniors in general. I was stating the fact that they are making many headlines in my area for hitting children and killing them recently. I can’t tell you the last time I’ve heard of another age bracket hitting a child.
Also, with my own personal experience they aren’t exactly the ones getting IN the accidents but causing them. Had me or that other car actually gotten hurt that driver kept driving and didn’t stop when we were knocked off the road from their carelessness.
Commenting on their driving has nothing to do with our level of respect for the elderly. I have a high level of respect for the elderly but still believe many of them shouldn’t be on the road…but many of them are still more then capable as well. I would have no problem with everyone getting retested after so many years. If you’re a good driver you have nothing to worry about.
Just an FYI Granny can afford to pay out of pocket everytime she drives into her own garage. How do I know this? Because we own an autobody. Most people over the age of 50 pay their accidents outright, resulting in lower rates. The garage isn’t going to file a claim against them.
I’ll tell you what – I taught my mother how to drive after my dad passed… no, let me rephrase that I TRIED to teach my mom how to drive. I took her to a cemetery and let her get behind the wheel. After sitting on a phonebook and a pillow she made it too see up over the steering wheel and for her feet to hit the pedals. Then I told her I just want to get the feel of the car, so put it in drive and we’re going to coast. She did that, and I said don’t put your foot on the gas pedal just coast. We coasted about a block and as we came to the end of the street I told her to ease her foot on the break very softly push down nice and slow. She looked under the wheel, and said which one is the brake? OMG I went off the deep end. I told her to stop the car, get out, and don’t call me until you read the book from stem to stern, and then find out all the parts of the car! She just didn’t have the common sense of understanding a vehicle. As they get older they lose it or they’re just slow at comprehending, and isn’t that what’s driving all about about fast reflexes & personally I think older drivers should get a hearing test every year or every six months.
I completely agree with you and I have said this same thing for years. My grandmother drove way too long. The last time I rode with her I was 16 and she sped up when the light turned red and then SLAMMED on the brakes just before getting to the intersection. The last time she rode with me while driving I was sitting at an intersection and didn’t have the arrow so I had to yield to oncoming traffic. She proceeded to tell me to “Go! Go!” with cars coming right at us. Needless to say, she had to wait a little longer to get home that night since I chose safety over impatience. I know that if she was still driving she would have either killed herself or someone else. And what’s scary is that I know she’s not the only elderly person who drove/drives like that.
I’m not being disrespectful to the elderly and I understand they have been through a lot in their years but there are many who should not be driving on the roads. And yes, I know I’ll be old one day, too, and I hope that if I ever become a danger to myself or someone else, someone takes the keys away from me. And it’s not like the cars that we drive are little golf carts. These vehicles weigh a few tons and can cause a lot of damage and even death. If you put someone behind the wheel of one of these vehicles and they are not alert or they do not have the reaction time they used to, things can get bad, fast.
Yes, Moms get distracted while driving HOWEVER, I have never pulled out in front of someone due to being distracted by my child. In fact, before I get to the point where I think I’m endangering myself, my son, or others, I PULL OVER.
As far as slow drivers. The posted speed is a maximum speed limit HOWEVER you can be pulled over if you are going a rate of speed that is slow enough to impede traffic. If someone is impeding traffic, I would recommend contacting your local police agency.
This is one I happen to agree with you on. As for maximum speeds as mentioned above, there are minimums as well because someone driving over 10 mph over the speed limit is just as likely to cause and accident as someone driving 10 mph UNDER the speed limit. This isn’t about patience, it’s about traffic flowing and not being a hindrance to the flow.
I totally agree with your post! I have been saying for years that seniors need to be re-tested after a certain age (70, maybe). Older people do have slower reaction times and when they get too slow, they shouldn’t be driving. How about all of the ones who drive into street markets because they thought they were hitting the brake, and instead pushed the gas pedal to the floor? It is usually older people that you hear about doing that.
I am in total agreement with you. I believe that after a certain age (say 70) that people should have to take a driving test every year/2 years. I was witness to an accident (one car) that was driven by an elderly lady, she put the car in drive, instead of reverse and drove into a building (thankfully no one was hurt).
When I die, I want to die peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather did. Not yelling and screaming like his passengers.
I think everyone knows frequent testing for the elderly would be a good thing, but nobody wants to pay for it.
When we drive, our safety is in the hands of every driver on the road. If we could afford it, I think everyone should be retested. Even if you had a perfect score at 16, it doesn’t mean you are a perfect driver 10 or 20 years later.
I’ve been in several states that require driver testing for seniors and it’s worked out well. Most families appreciate the legal assistance in getting the keys away from seniors when its needed.
My driving instructor YEEAARS ago would comment on women drivers and old men in hats. I agree w/ the old men in hats. They drive slow as molassas. Being in the country, I think they go even slower thinking they are on a combine or some tractor! LOL I think they can cause accidents just as much as teens. Their reactions are slower, maybe not as observant.
Just my opinions
I know so many elderly people who don’t have family’s living nearby to take them places, like Dr. appointments or to get their groceries. So many are on very limited incomes that they can’t afford to take taxi’s. In the winter it’s too slick on many sidewalks for them to walk to a bus line waiting area, if there even is one. The community I live in doesn’t even have bus service, the city next to us does, but very limited as to where it even runs. You can’t just go and live in a nursing home because you are old, you have to meet criteria needs to take up a bed. Assisted living communities are too expensive for many elderly, at least in this community. I know that because my mom couldn’t even afford to live in one. A lot of elderly people don’t have long term care insurance because they could never afford to purchase it when they were younger. So what are the elderly to do. I know that when I was a nurse and was doing home care visits, I often saw older people trying to walk on slippery sidewalks to get to the bus stops in the city. I would stop and give them rides to the bus stop. They would ask me to take them to the Doctor’s office or the store, but I couldn’t. I had my home care appointments I had to get to, to give diabetics with very poor eyesight their insulin shots after doing their blood glucose testing. I needed to set up their medications for the day, etc.. Not everyone qualifies for meals on wheels either. So many elderly fall through the cracks.
I know in my state they have to pass vision tests each year to get their drivers license as well as have a note from an eye Dr. saying their vision is within certain guidelines. I know after a certain age that have to take the driving portion of the test, as well as the written more frequently. I know some they limit to daylight hours of driving only.
I think we as younger persons need to watch out for them more diligently. I also think get the license number and report it to the police if needed. They might not realize what’s going on because they have diabetes and are having a reaction, maybe they are getting Alzheimer’s. If these incidences are reported the Police Dept. can contact Social Services and maybe they’d have new criteria that would help them qualify for assistance, such as a home health care personal care provider that can do their grocery shopping for them.
I feel sorry for the elderly that don’t have their caring, involved children living near enough to help them, or ones that don’t have at least one child that will let them come and live with them if needed.
I don’t know how they can draw the line – driving tests and written tests don’t really show what’s happening all the time. I think when I too, my driving test we drove around the block, we might have gone onto a highway for a couple of minutes. I was a terrible driver when I started out, but I passed my test.
My grandma used to fall asleep when she was driving. She also had Parkinson’s disease and got really shaky while she drove. It was definitely not safe for anyone, and took her a long time to admit that she needed to stop driving. It was very hard for her to give up her independence.
My grandfather was legally blind for the last 20 years of his life, so he did not have a license. Somehow he occasionally convinced my grandma to let him drive anyhow. I’m not sure which driver was scarier. He could at least see shapes a bit.
How do you impose a limit? Certainly it can’t be done by age, it would likely be illegal to limit based on health conditions as well. I don’t know how the government could possibly draw a line on limiting the elderly.
It’s scary to think about who’s driving sometimes. It makes it even more pertinent for us to be aware of them!
We have an elderly woman on my street that is 102 years old. She still drives. She shouldn’t be. She has no hearing left at all, and her sight is very bad. Once when we were out side she was watching us instead of driving, and drove up on our lawn. I have been almost hit by many seniors in my town. I know they shouldn’t be driving. Not only do we have a bus system, but several taxi services, and a senior service that will take them places for under a dollar. A few weeks ago we had a senior drive into a starbucks. We have had several children hit while walking to school. I think it is very fair to ask that they be tested after the age of 70. It is for the safety of everyone, not just other drivers.
I agree 100%. The elderly need to be re-tested every 2 years or so. There are so many reasons that have already been mentioned. Put it this way, if you wouldn’t get in the car with that person because you fear for your safety, then they really shouldn’t be driving.
100% agree- in my line of work, i’ve seen easily 3 times the amount of BAD wrecks caused by elderly drivers who should have stopped driving YEARS ago.
Plus I actually saw DMV test and allow a elderly guy a renewal and he couldnt even walk without running into things. oy vey indeed!