Community Chat

[boby]

Maybe a bit OT, but the issue of retesting has been mentioned.

Some states already do that. Apparently Florida does not. It should be mandatory in all states.

I'm nearing 65, so I'm not someone with a bias against elderly drivers, but I could fill a book with examples of folks who shouldn't be driving anymore. Start with a neighbor of mine, who's 88, wears two hearing aids, wears glasses thicker than Coke bottles has arthritis in her neck which makes it impossible for her to scan her mirrors adequately, and just got her 8-year renewal.

The argument that elderly drivers have fewer accidents needs qualification: true, but that doesn't factor in that they drive far fewer miles. Adjust for miles driven, not to mention accidents caused as opposed to accidents involved in, and the numbers go in the opposite direction.

As Americans we value mobility, and its a shame when anyone loses that mobility, but there are people out there driving 4,000 lb missiles that they can't control.

[azterry!]

On 1/20/2014 deepwaterdotter said:

An older lady at my church said that she prefers to drive in the left lane because she can see the line marking the outer edge of the left lane more clearly from the driver's seat.

that is a shame.

It is so dangerous for drivers to use only the left lane because of eyesight problems. Often, they are travelling substantially below the speed limit. This impedes traffic and causes many more lane changes than what would be normally needed in order to pass the slow moving driver.

[JustJules]

Your view of the "facts" seems fuzzy. If it was 2 or more lanes (on one side) it is not illegal to pass someone on the right. It doesn't sound like the motorcyclist was passing on any shoulder of the road. The motorist was most likely not doing the speed limit and the motorcyclist was just advancing past them in traffic. Regardless every motorist is taught not to rely only on their side view mirrors. A motorist has the obligation to put on their turn signal to notify traffic around them of their intent to change lanes, then turn their head and check. The problem with most senior drivers is they forget to use signals and rarely turn their heads to check before just pulling into another lane. The motorist was at fault, they had the obligation to make sure it was safe before pulling over into the other lane.

I have long been a proponent that senior drivers should have mandatory retesting starting at least at 70 and every 5 years thereafter. It's not just an issue of vision testing, bad eyesight can be corrected with glasses, but many seniors take medications or have physical ailments that make it difficult for them to react quickly. Again, many don't like to turn their heads and look. I don't see anything wrong with taking away automatic renewal, it's not like they are saying ban all senior drivers. If an elderly driver can pass the test, they have every right to keep their license and be on the roads. The problem is so many elderly drivers that aren't capable of driving safely anymore, never get retested, and end up causing accidents that kill people, like this one. My dad finally had to give up driving last year when he was diagnosed with Parkinson's, but I had noticed changes in his driving before that. He didn't feel comfortable driving at night and his reaction time was slow, and I had decided that was enough. It was a difficult conversation, but he admitted he no longer had the confidence to drive safely. When we sold his car he was melancholy, and when he had to renew his license and only got a State ID card instead, he had to accept that his driving days were over. It is a hard decision to make, but I would be devastated to think I had let him keep driving and he caused an accident that took a life or lives.

[Qwackertoo]

That is the one thing seniors do not like to give up while still living independently.

My sister & I have already decided that when the time comes for that "talk" with our Father, we are letting our brothers do it. We do most everything else . . . well she does more than I do but I live 700+ miles away and she lives less the 10 miles away . . . but yep, not going there, that will need to be done by the sons.

A few months ago, my Father called me to let me know he had made it back, what for most people is a 2 hr. 45 minute drive to his brother and his wife's home for a weekend visit . . .where my grandparents all lived and my parents grew up . . . he said he beat his record time and this man has been driving this route for about 35+ years . . . . said he made it in 2 hrs. 15 min . . . not all interstate either. YIKES. He had to have been flying for parts of it. Scary. I won't let my kids ride with him and haven't for a couple of years now.

[JuJu Squeezie]

Passing in the right lane is illegal and just asking for trouble. If a driver always obeys this law, they don't expect to pass a car using the left lane and return to the right lane and get clobbered by some jerk driving fast and passing in any lane to get ahead. (Hello Bikers)

There is also a new law in FL, not sure how it reads exactly but you aren't supposed to hog the left lane on freeways and higher speed limited highways and interstates. I sometimes see seniors seeming to be scared to death, hands grasping the wheel cruising the left lane, sometimes too slow but seeming to be afraid to go back to the right. That's wrong too.

Motor cycles, geez, they are sometimes so hard to see and get hit a lot. I do not like the packs riding 2 abreast or more and driving more to stay in a pack instead of going with the flow and making larger vehicles watch out of them more than they watch out for themselves. Weekends around Daytona can be annoying in this way. But, you really must look both ways and look again and maybe again before pulling out or passing.

[JustJules]

On 1/20/2014 Panda Wrangler said:

Passing in the right lane is illegal and just asking for trouble. If a driver always obeys this law, they don't expect to pass a car using the left lane and return to the right lane and get clobbered by some jerk driving fast and passing in any lane to get ahead. (Hello Bikers)

There is also a new law in FL, not sure how it reads exactly but you aren't supposed to hog the left lane on freeways and higher speed limited highways and interstates. I sometimes see seniors seeming to be scared to death, hands grasping the wheel cruising the left lane, sometimes too slow but seeming to be afraid to go back to the right. That's wrong too.

Motor cycles, geez, they are sometimes so hard to see and get hit a lot. I do not like the packs riding 2 abreast or more and driving more to stay in a pack instead of going with the flow and making larger vehicles watch out of them more than they watch out for themselves. Weekends around Daytona can be annoying in this way. But, you really must look both ways and look again and maybe again before pulling out or passing.

Sounds like you have an issue with motorcyclists in general. They are probably some of the safest and most conscious drivers out there, because of the fact most motorists don't look for them or give them the proper space they should. The reason some cyclists ride 2 abreast is for that very reason, to make them more noticeable.

[LilacTree]

On 1/20/2014 Jules5280 said:

Your view of the "facts" seems fuzzy. If it was 2 or more lanes, it is not illegal to pass someone on the right. The motorist was most likely not doing the speed limit and the motorcyclist was just advancing past them in traffic. Regardless every motorist is taught not to rely only on their side view mirrors. A motorist has the obligation to put on their turn signal to notify traffic around them of their intent to change lanes, then turn their head and check. The problem with most senior drivers is they forget to use signals and rarely turn their heads to check before just pulling into another lane. The motorist was at fault, they had the obligation to make sure it was safe before pulling over into the other lane.

I have long been a proponent that senior drivers should have mandatory retesting starting at least at 70 and every 5 years thereafter. It's not just an issue of vision testing, bad eyesight can be corrected with glasses, but many seniors take medications or have physical ailments that make it difficult for them to react quickly. Again, many don't like to turn their heads and look. I don't see anything wrong with taking away automatic renewal, it's not like they are saying ban all senior drivers. If an elderly driver can pass the test, they have every right to keep their license and be on the roads. The problem is so many elderly drivers that aren't capable of driving safely anymore, never get retested, and end up causing accidents that kill people, like this one. My dad finally had to give up driving last year when he was diagnosed with Parkinson's, but I had noticed changes in his driving before that. He didn't feel comfortable driving at night and his reaction time was slow, and I had decided that was enough. It was a difficult conversation, but he admitted he no longer had the confidence to drive safely. When we sold his car he was melancholy, and when he had to renew his license and only got a State ID card instead, he had to accept that his driving days were over. It is a hard decision to make, but I would be devastated to think I had let him keep driving and he caused an accident that took a life or lives.

Jules, I took myself off the road almost four years ago when it became obvious to me that my physical abilities were becoming less dependable. I also began to notice that I wasn't able to react as quickly as I always could, or I was driving too close to a curb. I still have an active license, and if I absolutely had to I could drive short distances. But I don't do that anymore either because I gave my car to one of my daughters and she takes me wherever I need to go.

Some things need to end with illness and age. Believe me, driving has been the least of it.

[pinkskates4]

A relative on DH's side was 90+ and blind in one eye. She was allowed to renew - in person - in CA -without even an eye test.

She had already put several dents in her car by hitting objects she said she never saw.

She then had an accident totaling her car and nearly severing her foot when she got lost - making a two block return to her home from a hair appointment and drove for over an hour, finally going off the road and hitting the side of a mountain.

She was never able to return home and is now in Assisted Living. She still insists the accident was not her fault.

[Qwackertoo]

When teaching my kids to drive, 16 & just turned 20, I taught them to avoid if at all possible passing on the right on multi-laned highways and interstates . . . but it is not illegal.

[Qwackertoo]

I give motorcyclists double the space I need to when I can. 98% are very safe.

When I was driving with son, he had recently turned 16, but I was driving thank goodness, on a day road trip to move his sister in her first apartment @ college this past August, there was this IDIOT, yes in all caps, on a motorcycle, driving down a divided highway, speed limit was probably 60 or 65 . . . literally doing gymnastic type moves on, about and around the seat and handlebars of his motorcycle . . . he'd pull up beside you and do this . . . then speed up and as in bursting with speed to the next vehicle up ahead and repeat . . . I saw this until he was out of sight. I kept expecting to see him laid out in the road up ahead but thankfully did not.

After seeing the motorcycle riders and scooter riders in Italy this past summer, I'll take our riders any day of the week . . . although I wouldn't ride with anyone here OR especially there.

edit typo