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News & ArtsThursday, December 11, 2008
City Maybe Instead of Licensing Cyclists...
Posted by Erica C. Barnett on Thu, Dec 11, 2008 at 11:35 AM
They should require a special license for elderly drivers. (Think I'm being needlessly incendiary? Take a look at the statistics. Many states require provisional licenses for kids under 18—why not for drivers over, say, 75?)
2
At some point my grandmother only drove to places she knew how to get to and only made right hand turns. She knew her limitations. So many don't.
4
this idea is not even original, let alone incendiary. what 1 said. it's a fantastic idea but it will never, ever happen.
6
Hells YES. Get crazy-ass old people off the roads. I suggest we require them to implant a glowing crystal in their palm, and when it goes out, they lose their license.
8
I am for requiring drivers 65 and older having to retake the driving test when they renew their license. I also think drivers licenses for the elderly should only be valid for two years. When you are that old, when your reflexes and your mind goes, it goes down fast. My opinion is based on observing the elderly at the nursing home I have been in for the last 14 months. There are people here, who when I met them a year ago were "all there," and now most of them are in a vegetative state.
9
I was just almost run over by an old lady leaving a strip mall parking lot -- I was walking. As I approached her vehicle from the passenger side, carrying groceries, and waited. I made sure that she saw me...she turned her head away from the oncoming traffic and acknowledged me. So, I thought, ok, I'll walk (on the sidewalk) in front of her car. As I did, she began her turn into traffic plowing into me!! I was fast enough to sidestep out from the car and then began screaming at her and beating on her car so I could berate her. She kept the window up and started smiling like "oh, dearie, what are you talking about"! My response was to take a frozen pie from my supermarket bag and hurl it at her car! She then drove away and I called the cops...which of course did nothing.
11
Test ALL drivers, every 5 years, at the cost of the driver. No need for age discrimination at either end of the spectrum.
13
As the elderly lose the ability to drive they basically become shut-ins without some other means of transportation. Chalk up one more reason for dense urban living and a variety of public transit solutions.
15
Maybe they should only be allowed to drive golf carts? At least if they do hit something it would be less painful.
16
My grandparents refused to drive anywhere after dark and were notorious for doing 40 in a 50. I love old people, but requiring testing once you reach a certain age where it's statistically likely you're losing your faculties isn't mean, it's just common sense.
17
As my grandfather - who got at least 2 speeding tickets per year until he was 80- always says: gotta get these fucking old people OFF the road.
18
Many states require elderly drivers to retest (vision, rules of the road, and driving test) every 2 to 4 years.
It's not a bad idea.
They also frequently don't let teens drive in vehicles with other teens.
Both methods reduce accident rates dramatically.
It's not a bad idea.
They also frequently don't let teens drive in vehicles with other teens.
Both methods reduce accident rates dramatically.
19
I third @3 and @12. IN ADDITION TO.
BTW, I just want to say that this is the best post by ECB, like, ever.
BTW, I just want to say that this is the best post by ECB, like, ever.
20
We just need better driving tests. I've driven with plenty of people who are fucking awful drivers. The US test is a fucking joke - a majority of the focus is on parking. Reduce the number of people with insufficient skills who you license in the first place, and you solve a whole ton of problems.
21
That's a great case, I thought it was retarded that they'd always pick on the younger kids cause they couldn't vote, let's pick on the old people because their peers are screwups just like mine here. Fuck I'm still paying higher insurance premiums because other 23 year olds fuck up more than me.
23
There you go! When Vesely trolls you, troll the fucker back.
For the record, I think it was Dick Lamm, former Colorado governor, who probably gets credit for originating the ol' lets-fuck-with-old-people troll. But whatever. The point of ginning up controversy isn't to break new ground. The controversy is the point.
For the record, I think it was Dick Lamm, former Colorado governor, who probably gets credit for originating the ol' lets-fuck-with-old-people troll. But whatever. The point of ginning up controversy isn't to break new ground. The controversy is the point.
25
@20,
My driving test was ridiculously easy, and yet I barely passed. Since the woman from the DMV didn't have anything to test me on, she docked me points for the stupidest shit that had nothing to do with safety or knowledge of the law.
My driving test was ridiculously easy, and yet I barely passed. Since the woman from the DMV didn't have anything to test me on, she docked me points for the stupidest shit that had nothing to do with safety or knowledge of the law.
32
20
You are absolutely right. I had to take the driving part of the test twice because I failed to parallel park accurately the first time. I have had a license since I was 17, and though I haven't owned a car for the last 18 years (when I moved to Seattle) I still hate parallel parking. I would rather park in a lot for more money than hold up parking trying to parallel park without hitting someone's car.
You are absolutely right. I had to take the driving part of the test twice because I failed to parallel park accurately the first time. I have had a license since I was 17, and though I haven't owned a car for the last 18 years (when I moved to Seattle) I still hate parallel parking. I would rather park in a lot for more money than hold up parking trying to parallel park without hitting someone's car.
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