Senior Citizen Drivers

I know its a touchy issue... but...

Some little old lady just sideswiped a parked car in my office parking lot SO hard that she knocked it over 2 parking spaces, spun it around and missed my car by an INCH. AN INCH!! And she's out t here and doesn't seem to think its a big deal that she has destroyed the truck of one of my coworkers.

Ugh.

Re: Senior Citizen Drivers

I firmly believe that anyone over the age of 75 MUST be forced to take a driving test every single year to prove they are still sound enough to drive!

My daughter has a good friend whose grandmother was killed by a 90 year driver who lost control of the car and rammed into a side walk where she was standing. She was 52 years old, just passed her medical school exams and had her whole new life in USA ahead of her.

Re: Senior Citizen Drivers

Oh that's sad and scary!

And awful for the person who owns the damaged car!

When my grandfather was around 80, I think, we had to have a conversation with him as a family and ask for the driver's license. It was more effort and work on our part because that meant we now had to drive him everywhere he needs to go - supermarket, bank, etc. But it was worth it because we had to do what was responsible for society - for people on the roadways. It wasn't right, with the way he was driving, to take a chance with innocent people's lives.

It took a lot because we also moved him into an +55 community, that way he could also take the community bus to many places he needed to go. This set-up was ideal. But, still, even with this set-up we had to put in a lot of effort as a family to be there for him when he needed rides and to go places. But it was right for public safety and that was the bottom line, for us.

Senior Citizen Drivers

That is the problem facing long island as more of the baby boom generation reach that mark of being a older senior citizen. Many families are not caring for their parents or simply have moved away. Being locked up in a home and not being able to go out only quickens the mind to deteriorate. That is why I didn't move out of my town - I wanted to make sure I was there for my parents as they age. It is my responsibility (my brother as well) to care for them and do as much as possible since that is what they did for us. I am even advocating selling our home to move in with them in the next 7-10 years because they will definitely need supervision unless they go into assisted living like my grandparents had to do because of health issues we couldn't possibly handle.

I do think they should get a retest every five years (at least) because it will continue to be a problem. My neighbor behind me drove through the fence last year then a month ago drove in reversed and slammed into the house across the street. They just figured out he has dementia and was driving until both accidents happened. HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW YOUR PARENT HAS dementia? They will be putting him in a home and selling the house now but meanwhile, he could of killed himself or others.

Re: Senior Citizen Drivers

Re: Senior Citizen Drivers

I think everyone should be retested every 5 years.

Especially new drivers!

Re: Senior Citizen Drivers

Senior Citizen Drivers

I do think it would not hurt for older people to be retested.

My sister was just hit by a 80-something year old woman who was coming home from a eye doctor appointment. The lady made a left hand turn out of a parking lot on Wantagh Avenue b/t Sunrise and Merrick and careened right into her car.

Re: Senior Citizen Drivers

Re: Senior Citizen Drivers

Do you work in East Islip? I think I might have passed by there today. Do you know what happened? Did she turn into the parking lot and just smash into your co-workers car? Or was she backing out? I always wonder if people panic and confuse the accelerator with the brake and make what might have been a small fender bender that much worse. It sounds like no one was hurt which is great but I'm sorry to hear about the damage to your co-workers car.

It is a difficult decision that many families have to confront at some point if the older person does not recognize for themselves that they can no longer safely operate a vehicle. We were lucky in that my one grandmother had a small fender bender and that helped make that decision without anyone or any property being seriously hurt. But frankly I'm more scared of the people who are texting and driving than the older folks on the road.

Re: Senior Citizen Drivers

Message edited 8/28/2013 2:33:13 PM.

Re: Senior Citizen Drivers

That is disturbing to hear that the driver who caused the accident was not concerned - do you think she was in shock or something?

Problem is that if she tells her family it was a small fender bender, no big deal then they might not see it as a big problem. Or she might not even mention it to them at all. And what if her family felt that she should stop driving but she did not agree - what can they do? Does anyone know if there are any legal options?

Senior Citizen Drivers

I'm pretty sure her car had to be towed. I know the person she hit can't drive her car b/c she dented the wheel/wheel well, and its not drivable.

Re: Senior Citizen Drivers

Senior Citizen Drivers

My 85 year old FIL is currently skillfully driving my big Toyota Sienna Minivan in Brooklyn, so not all older drivers are out there. I do agree that there should be re-testing at some point. Maybe every few years or something.

Re: Senior Citizen Drivers

Please don't get me started on elderly drivers. I told my mom that the moment she starts showing signs that she can't drive anymore, I will hire someone to drive her around. I would rather spend the extra money on that, then having to have to deal with an accident where someone can get severly hurt, and having to deal with all those headaches.

Re: Senior Citizen Drivers

Re: Senior Citizen Drivers

Re: Senior Citizen Drivers

Funny I just saw this. Last week I was behind a lady at a red light on Church st in Holbrook. When the light turned green she went and an old man driving south on Broadway drove straight though the red light and t boned this poor lady. He didn't even entertain the idea of stopping. Our light was green, he sped right through his light. He could barely walk. I totally agree that they should not be driving.

Re: Senior Citizen Drivers

I don't think it's just the elderly though.

There are plenty of people I know who have other issues going on who should not be on the road.

I agree with the poster who said that people need to be tested every few years.

Perhaps it should go along at the same time it's time to renew our registration.

Also re: parallel parking. We know a guy in his 30's who does not know how to parallel park. His wife does it and it's a running joke with DH who had to park at a Met's game for him once.

Re: Senior Citizen Drivers

I used to work at a pharmacy... Some of the elderly people that would come in we're such a mess it was SAD...and then to think they drove themselves there was scary!

It was also scary to see how many people who were on chronic pain meds (Vicodin, Percocet, Tylenol w/ codeine, etc) on a daily basis who were also driving all around! I wish there was something that could be done about that too

Senior Citizen Drivers

I am not against re-testing past a certain age, like 70. But if we're going to generalize I find young men who think they're on a race track, and people who text to be much more dangerous.

Re: Senior Citizen Drivers

In Canada where my grandmother lives, everyone has to redo there testing and road test at the age of 70 and every there years after that.

Senior Citizen Drivers

As much as I agree with everything that has been said, statistics show that the most accident-causing demographic is the newly licensed teen bracket (16-19). While seniors citizens do have slower reaction time, they have the advantage of years of driving experience.

Research indicates that the number of accidents caused by teen drivers will increase exponentially over the years due to texting/using the cell phone when driving. Ugh! Scary!

Re: Senior Citizen Drivers

Posted by MorningCuppaCoffee

I don't think it's just the elderly though.

There are plenty of people I know who have other issues going on who should not be on the road.

I agree with the poster who said that people need to be tested every few years.

Perhaps it should go along at the same time it's time to renew our registration.

Also re: parallel parking. We know a guy in his 30's who does not know how to parallel park. His wife does it and it's a running joke with DH who had to park at a Met's game for him once.