DMV

[Redondo]

I live in an area where the motor homes come in the winter to get out of the snow.

 

Some of these people are feeble and can hardly make decisions while in a store. Yet they are driving these huge motor homes up and down the highway here. I steer clear of all of them if I can.

 

It seems like the older they are the bigger the motor home.

[pattimelt]

Check with her doctor.  The doc can sign a note that due to whatever medical condition, she shouldn't drive.  We had to do that for my father in law.  He scared all of us, and nobody would drive with him. 

[Homebrewer]

Went through this with my Mom a few years back. 82 at that time and had macular degeneration. Started with her pulling out of a Ralphs parking lot, going over the median, and back...ripping a hole in the transmission pan and making it just barely to her driveway before the fluid emptied out completely and the car came to a stop. Trail of transmission fluid from the point of impact to her front door.

 

I knew her license was about to expire as I had seen the renewal notice on her kitchen counter. Even after coaching her for days to take the written test, she failed miserably. I drove up and took her every 2-3 weeks to retake the test and each time she failed.

She said couldn't see the test form so they had her take the test from a cassette player...and she still couldn't pass it.

That was when I took her to her doctor and told him about her memory problems that I had, until that time, just attributed to being 80+

 

Unbeknownst to me..all during this time she had continued driving! I finally had to go around and tell her neighbors that she cant drive anymore, and removed her coil wire.

 

With a huge and growing elderly population...this is going to become a major problem in Southern California especially, where driving a car is like brushing your teeth, it is just something that people do everyday, twice a day, for their entire adult life.

I like the simulator idea someone mentioned earlier. After 80 years of age, this is something that needs to be done if not yearly, at least every 2 years. People over 80 seem to go downhill fast, when they start to go downhill.

DMV is going to need a major revamp, and some of the ridiculous money they charge for registration etc, is going to need to be used for keep the public safe from elderly drivers that shouldn't be behind the wheel.

[Tank]

my mom is 82 and still drives, although she drives a slower than most of the traffic around her. she wigs out in our cars when we're driving more than 65 mph.

 

i think anyone 75 or older should be required to take a driving test every two years or so.

[gotbeer]

 

When it comes to driving, I personally think hearing is almost as important as vision.  Not being able to hear sirens, honking horns, screeching tires, engine noises, brake or tire problems, people yelling for their attention, etc can be dangerous if not fatal as well. 

 

 

It's a good thing all luxury cars are made so you can barely hear anything outside.  

[mp170.6]

It's a good thing all luxury cars are made so you can barely hear anything outside.  

 

I've often thought the same thing.  Not just luxury cars either...it seems newer cars of all makes are getting quieter inside. 

[Tank]

was driving near home yesterday and got to an intersection with a light. light turned green and the car in front of me, with their blinker on to turn left, wouldn't move out into traffic. there was no turn lane so it was really hard to get past them. honked at them - twice - and they still wouldn't budge. finally moved to the right and barely squeezed by them. it was a car full of nuns, none of them younger than 70.

 

i honked at nuns. old nuns. twice. i may be in trouble.

[DowningRules]

This sounds like a gender problem, not age problem.

[Lou]

was driving near home yesterday and got to an intersection with a light. light turned green and the car in front of me, with their blinker on to turn left, wouldn't move out into traffic. there was no turn lane so it was really hard to get past them. honked at them - twice - and they still wouldn't budge. finally moved to the right and barely squeezed by them. it was a car full of nuns, none of them younger than 70.

 

i honked at nuns. old nuns. twice. i may be in trouble.

So disappointing.

You might not be going straight to hell, but you'll probably end up in Texas