View Full Version : On the road with the extreme elderly



sweetdaisy
10-18-2005, 12:35 PM
I'm not sure if this has ever been discussed on this forum, but I've recently been wondering what folks think about the extreme eldery being behind the wheel of a car.

I ask this because a woman I work with seems to have no qualms about her 96 year old father getting on the highways during rush hour. To me, this is a bit alarming considering his hearing is not very good, and neither is his eyesight. My grandma is another example. She is 83 and her eyesight is not terribly good, but she continues driving. (Fortunately, it's mostly keeping to her neighborhood area and places she knows the route to.)

I'm concerned this is a safety issue that continues to grow since people are living longer. Is this issue being addressed in any way?

Just to be clear, my intent here is not malicious. I do not think that once you reach a certain age that your driver's license should be yanked away, but I'm just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on this issue. Perhaps mandatory driver's exams once a year? Proof of eye and hearing exams? What's the answer to keep everyone safe?

mranderson
10-18-2005, 12:46 PM
My dad is 85, and in very frail health. and thinks he can still drive.

He use to drive fairly well, however, he would rarely get out of Texas without a traffic citation. He now drives very badly and is quite dangerous. My mom wants his right to drive revoked, but can not do it.

I urge everyone to try and convince the seniors that are no longer able to drive well to put away the keys. Yes. You should be tested annually after a certain age. However, I am not sure what age that should be.

dirtrider73068
10-19-2005, 08:45 PM
I would agree with sweetdaisy, at a certain age they should be tested every year or two years at the most. I know if I get to that point I will stop on my own and make somone take me where I want to go. We need to test the elderly for one to look out for our safety and the safety of the elderly.

sweetdaisy
10-21-2005, 11:33 AM
Just read this. How appropriate given my thread from a few days ago. When will this issue become important enough to be discussed by those who can affect change?


ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (AP) -- A 93-year-old driver apparently suffering from dementia fatally struck a pedestrian and drove for three miles with the man's body through his windshield, police said.

Ralph Parker was stopped after he drove through a tollbooth on the Sunshine Skyway, Traffic Homicide Investigator Michael Jockers said. The toll taker called police, he said.

Parker was not likely to face charges because he did not appear to know what happened or where he was, said Bruce Bartlett, chief assistant in the Pinellas-Pasco County State Attorney's Office.

"He may have somewhere in his mind have realized it was a crash, but immediately forgot about it," Jockers said.

The victim's leg was severed in the Wednesday night crash, police said. The man, whose name was not released, was 52.

Parker had renewed his license in 2003.

"That was the one thing he had, to get in his car and just drive for the sheer enjoyment of driving," Jockers said. Parker lived alone after his wife died in 1998, authorities said.


http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/10/21/elderly.driver.ap/index.html

Karried
10-21-2005, 11:46 AM
SweetDaisy, the minute I read your post I thought of the above driver and the driver who plowed through the crowds in LA a while back - of course that all gets media attention and perhaps there are millions of elderly drivers who do fine ( although none I've seen on the Kilpatrick - they all are going 35 mph! :-)

The state should alter the test for the elderly and test them for reaction times and mobility in addition to vision... anyone can get glasses.

Curt
10-21-2005, 02:32 PM
I personally think that once you reach a age..which I am not sure of what age that would be..that you need to have a letter from your doctor every year stating that you are in good health mentally and physically in order to renew your drivers license.I mean lets also face it..any one of us could be driving down the road at any age and have a short circuit and have a heart attack or something so I am not discriminating on age here..but there must be a certain average age where people start to deteriorate to the point where they need an annual exam to determine whether or not they are healthy enough to drive or not.