Author |
Message |
Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Thursday, December 16, 2010 - 2:37 pm
I have the exact opposite gripe, Costa. I take Caleb to school, then take Kota, and pick her up in the afternoon. School zone is clearly marked, children are in the school zone, I slow down to 25. Never fails, on each of these trips every day, I get at least one impatient person behind me who wants to honk or come flying up my tail end and then zips over to the next lane to speed past me. Kinda scary considering the normal speed limit around both their schools is 50mph's! Maybe it's cuz I'm actually going to the schools and seeing kids I personally know walking and I'm more aware of the fact that they are school zones and maybe others just aren't paying attention to that? Ticks me off though, there's already been one kid at Caleb's school who got hit (in the crosswalk) and seriously injured this year cuz someone didn't pay attention to the fact that it was a school zone.
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Thursday, December 16, 2010 - 2:49 pm
GAL - No problem using farkel or doober. I actually came up with the words, or at least the descriptions as I think I'd heard "doober" before from a nurse in an emergency room, to substitute for far less nice words that crossed my mind. 
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Costacat
Member
07-15-2000
| Thursday, December 16, 2010 - 3:41 pm
I love it... farkels and doobers! I don't encounter farkels too often, but dang, them doobers are EVERYWHERE!!!! And neither one should be allowed on the road. Who the heck allows them to be licensed?
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Naja
Member
06-28-2003
| Thursday, December 16, 2010 - 3:45 pm
aww you guys! My sweet Granny had to work at the restaurant until her late 60s. She was so intensely scared of driving that my grampa helped her devise a route where she only had to do right turns going to and from work. He worked also and couldn't drive her unless it was his day off. It probably would have cut Granny's income by 1/2 or 1/3 if she took a cab. Sometimes older people just have to drive and we should be patient.
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Serate
Member
08-21-2001
| Thursday, December 16, 2010 - 4:41 pm
Sometimes older people just have to drive and we should be patient. I agree.
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Colordeagua
Member
10-24-2003
| Thursday, December 16, 2010 - 5:04 pm
I live virtually across the street from an IL DMV. Road tests going on on the streets immediately around here. You bet they're going the speed limit (which seems kinda slow). And when they stop at stop sign as they should, takes 'em forever to move again.
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Texasdeb
Member
05-23-2003
| Thursday, December 16, 2010 - 5:20 pm
"doobers" - I absolutely love that "they" now have a name! It's much nicer than....."prunes" or "blue hairs"! I will be one of those "doobers" in fewer yrs than I care to acknowledge. I'm not a "doober" yet, so I'm going to gripe about them: Why do the doober's think they need to go out to lunch Mon. - Fri. between 12 & 1? They have all the time in the world & most of us "workers" have 1 hr to get to where we will have lunch, get seated & waited on, eat our lunch, and get back to work...........impossible! That's why I seldom go out to lunch unless it's a work related lunch and time is not an option.
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Costacat
Member
07-15-2000
| Thursday, December 16, 2010 - 5:23 pm
Actually, no, I don't agree that "sometimes old people just have to drive." If they don't follow the rules of the road (and yes, signaling your intention is a rule, as is following the speed limit) or are an impediment to others, they should not be allowed to drive. Ever. We took away my grandmother's license when it became apparent that it was no longer safe (for her or others) to drive. Naja, did your grandmother drive the speed limit and did she signal her turns? BTW, the ass that was driving like an idiot today was considerably older than 60 something. Closer to late 70's or early 80's I think. Definitely a menace on the road.
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Serate
Member
08-21-2001
| Thursday, December 16, 2010 - 5:48 pm
If they don't follow the rules of the road (and yes, signaling your intention is a rule, as is following the speed limit) or are an impediment to others, they should not be allowed to drive. Ever. Well to be fair, if these rules were enforced all the time [no matter what the age of the driver] or they should not drive ever, I think there would be more people under the age of 50 than people older than 50 that would lose their licenses and never drive. Ever.
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Serate
Member
08-21-2001
| Thursday, December 16, 2010 - 5:51 pm
When I lived in Kansas, I saw many times at the DMV the worker helping the older driver through the vision exam so he/she would pass. That's not right. And once I mentioned it and was told something to the effect that it was so sad for an old person to lose their drivers license so they made every effort to help them keep it. 
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Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Thursday, December 16, 2010 - 7:15 pm
But what do you say to a situation like this. (This was one of my BBF's parents a few years ago, and since then, both have died.) Her mom never learned to drive. Her dad had diabetes. As they aged, his eyesight grew worse and worse. To the point of the the mom "navigating" as the dad drove (virtually blind.) I think it was not very safe. Luckily nothing bad ever happened. But they had no help (BFF lived in another state and had no knowledge of this til after the dad died and her mom told her of it.) They had no family in the state they lived in and no one to help get them to dr. appts, etc. Sometimes people gotta do what they gotta do to survive. I am not saying I agree with it.
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Biscottiii
Member
05-29-2004
| Thursday, December 16, 2010 - 9:16 pm
Here's a story that's a real jaw dropper about my coworker who 6yrs later died of AIDS. Since he was an Electrical Helper he carried a CDL (Coml Driver's license) CLASS B - This class includes single or combination vehicles where the GVWR of the single vehicle exceeds 26,000 pounds. So his license expired. Mind you, he had to stop working due to "unsafe to work" when he was diagnosed (never went through the HIV stuff) because he couldn't figure which foot to use to step off of a truck. Early dementia, hobbling with a cane, difficulty seeing. Danged if DMV didn't just renew his license!! We were all horrified and aghast, especially his lawyer. I asked his daytime helper HOW? She was just as much in shock as the rest of us. She said he was particularly obnoxious when she gave him the ride over and she was so p!ssed at him, she just sat in one of the chairs while he hobbled up to the counter by himself. For YEARS when he wanted to buy a car, and he had the good credit to do so, he screamed that he could DRIVE! 'Even DMV thought so because they had renewed his CDL.' I finally told him that I would park a loaded cannon pointed at the kids in the park across the street - BEFORE I would take him to buy a car. Next time his drivers license expired, we simply didn't tell him. Bless all those shop keepers that would accept his checks (written out by his Helpers or me, because he couldn't write anymore)! Asking for his I.D. not one ever pointed out that his license had expired. That was a fearful moment every time.
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Thursday, December 16, 2010 - 10:41 pm
I'm a firm believer that after a certain age (70-75, or poor health) people should have to test at least once every two years if not every year. Worked too long at the retirement home and watched people who could barely walk, or remember anything, walk out and get into their cars and take off. And some of those same people come back later and ask us to call the cops, their cars had been stolen, only to find they'd forgotten where they parked them. When my bil's mom was dying from cancer, we had a hell of a time getting her license. She took off one day (this was smack dab in the middle of treatments and she had seven large brain tumors!) and when sis called the cops they told her they couldn't do anything about it cuz she still had a license. Now if she got into an accident, they could take it then. Eventually, they went around the whole license thing...one day while she was at treatment, bil and his uncle took off early from work, went and got her car, and took it to uncles. She had her license up until she died, but no car to drive. Right up until she couldn't get out of bed anymore, sis and bil were having to lock up their car keys so she couldn't take their cars. My step fathers dad had his license up until he died as well (renewed without him ever having to go to dmv) at 90 something. He'd had several major heart surgeries and major health issues and was still driving. Got to the point where even pulling out of his driveway he was running into other cars, trees, the house across the street. They finally did the same thing sis and bil did, took his car. We were extremelly lucky with aunt. She had cataracts so bad she was almost blind. Left her house for work one day, flipped a u-turn right in front of some guy she never saw. He followed her to work and asked what the heck she was doing. Scared her to death (both him popping out of his car and realizing she'd jumped into traffic without ever knowing he was there.) She called my mom to pick her up that night from work and never drove again. She had cataract surgery not too long after that and could see just fine, but that seemed to kick off a whole host of health problems (was diagnosed with diabetes and copd) and she just didn't feel safe behind the wheel of a car. It is hard when someone has to give up their independence like that and even worse if they have no one to help them get around. But, if they aren't safe to drive, they shouldn't be. I'm not saying pull someones drivers license when they get to a certain age, but people should definitely be tested more frequently and thouroughly to make sure they are safe for themselves and everyone else.
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Texannie
Member
07-15-2001
| Friday, December 17, 2010 - 4:55 am
On the other hand, my grandmother lived to almost 100, babysat for me when my son was 2 and she was 94 and the only time she was ever in an accident was when we insisted she take a taxi cause we felt her driving at 95 wasn't safe!! We did see her 'slowing' down at 96 and stopped her from driving.
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Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Friday, December 17, 2010 - 5:06 am
My DH's grandmother is 90. She never learned to drive, so no problems there, but she is as sharp as a tack. She doesn't take any unnecessary chances (ie if the weather is bad, she won't even walk outside down her front stairs.) If she did drive, she would be fine.
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Costacat
Member
07-15-2000
| Friday, December 17, 2010 - 5:20 am
If an elderly person has no local resources, such as family, there are plenty of OTHER resources to provide rides. These include various social services as well as services for the elderly and/or disabled. There is also public transportation and that includes taking a bus. There are many options for the elderly besides getting on the road and driving when impaired. Annie, LOL!! That was a total Murphy, wasn't it? The taxi accident. (And I'm not really laughing laughing, just laughing at the irony of it!)
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Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Friday, December 17, 2010 - 5:43 am
Not that I don't agree with finding and using other options, cuz I do. BUT, there are plenty of instances when those options are not available. Such as what if the person lives in a rural or suburban area where there is no bus service?
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Prisonerno6
Member
08-31-2002
| Friday, December 17, 2010 - 6:05 am
I think *everyone* should have to retest in order to renew their license. Limiting it to the elderly is ageism. There are many older people who are excellent drivers (my mother drove until she was 81, at which point she gave up her car because it wasn't cost effective for her) just as there are many younger drivers who shouldn't be on the road...
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Jeep
Member
10-17-2001
| Friday, December 17, 2010 - 6:36 am
This is an issue that has me torn in several directions. Last year, I had an 89 year old man pull out in front of me. I hit him almost directly in the driver side door. He died the next day. The fact that it was not my fault didn't erase the horror of the incident. I had to deal with the driving issue with both my Mom & Dad before they passed. Mom was impaired long before she died but didn't want to give up her license or car. So, I made sure I took her everywhere. I didn't give her an opportunity to drive. A bit later, my brother and I convinced her to sell the car and although she really wasn't driving because I drove, she cried when the car left the house. Her symbol of freedom and indenpendence was gone. Our area does not have public transportation and even only one cab company. Some of the elderly need their cars just to get food and to the doctor. Basic stuff. You don't have to live way out in the country to be stranded. My state does not require re-testing. They just started a brief eye exam upon renewal. So, it's left to the family to address this issue. Right now our driver licenses are for 5 years. Re-testing every five years does not seem unreasonable. But until this area addresses the issue of public transportation, confining non-drivers to their home doesn't seem humanitarian. Not everyone has family to help out.
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Friday, December 17, 2010 - 6:39 am
Just a point of clarification. Not all careless, unsafe drivers are farkels or doobers. Not all people of a certain age are automatically farkels or doobers. There are people who are good to great drivers at any age and there are people who ought not to drive regardless of their age. I agree fully with Prisonerno6 in that I've thought for years that getting a license renewed is way too easy. While it would be a giant pain in the backside I could see and support to some extent the retesting of all drivers, maybe every other license renewal, regardless of age. Heck some states even allow you to renew over the Internet with not even an eye exam. On a related note we had a very sad situation in our community last year. A young lady, actually a 17 year old high school student, was killed at the intersection not less than a block from the entrance to our housing area. It was tragic, ugly, and devastating. Naturally the parents were beyond themselves with grief and I can't imagine how they must feel literally and psychically having to drive past the scene of the daughter's death virtually every day. The unfortunate truth was the girl was a menace on the road and many of us had seen her blow through stop signs and speed in and around the community only to laugh and flip you off if you honked or confronted her. The parents' tearful statement on local TV was that she was a great, wonderful, and safe driver.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Friday, December 17, 2010 - 12:13 pm
Bigdog's Momma gave up driving about a year ago when she was 105.
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Hukdonreality
Member
09-29-2003
| Friday, December 17, 2010 - 12:42 pm
Why?
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Dfennessey
Member
07-25-2004
| Friday, December 17, 2010 - 12:48 pm
My neighbor will be 80 in January and he was always a 2 foot driver (one foot on the gas and one on the brake.) His children (at the advise of a doctor) told him he can not drive anymore (he is in the beginning stages of dementia). back in October he was going to the dentist (about 20 minutes southwest of Boston) and ended up in New Hampshire and was in an accident. He said his brakes failed (I think he hit the gas instead of the brakes)
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Friday, December 17, 2010 - 1:08 pm
Some people are bad drivers but some old people are very good drivers. I was with my Uncle and he was driving and he was still every bit as good a driver as anyone I've ever seen. He was quick and competent and he was in his 80's. Anyway, anecdotes aside, my understanding is that statistically, older drivers that are driving aren't very likely to be in accidents. Much less likely than younger drivers and we aren't testing them on an annual basis or taking their license away. The older ones may be a little slower and more careful but I can live with that.
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Nyheat
Member
08-09-2006
| Friday, December 17, 2010 - 1:16 pm
My grandpa started getting pretty scary with the driving in his late 70s. He was always a good driver but just started to lose it when he got too old. No point in feeling sorry for people who are a danger to themselves and others on the road. Driving too slow can also be a danger. But if someone can pass the tests and is an alert driver, then fine by me.
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