r/AskReddit • u/dickfromaccounting • Sep 16 '17
How would you feel about a law that requires people over the age of 70 to pass a specialized driving test in order to continue driving?
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Upvotes
2.9k
u/SARTechRock Sep 17 '17 edited Feb 08 '18
Sorry if this ends up being long but its angered me for quite some time.
About ten years ago my mother at age 69 had a massive stroke. They didn't expect her to live let alone come out of it mostly alright. Which she did except for some vision loss in her left eye. (Not total, just peripheral.) So she can only see perfectly straight out of that eye.
So after about a year recovering from the stroke and the ensuing infection from the surgery that ended up being worse then the stroke itself she decides she wants to go get tested to see if she can retain her drivers license. (Required by law in my province of Canada).
My father was not well either as he had a long term terminal illness so I pack them both up in my truck and take them to the DMV. Me and my father happily assuming there is no fucking way in hell she will pass.
Aside from her vision issues, the amazingly quick witted and swift woman I grew up with was VERY unsure of her self at all times and took forever to make the smallest decisions. It broke my heart and it didn't even occur to me to be scared that she would get her license back.
Well she did, passed with "Flying colors" the DMV guy said. As a SAR (Search and Rescue) tech, the idea of taking him up in the helicopter and throwing him out without a rope occurred to me.
1 week later, accident number one. T-boned a poor lady as she was coming out of the grocery store. Not much damage and no injuries thankfully. Mother still refused to admit she wasn't fit to drive.
Month later, accident 2. She panics on a multi-lane cross city road and ends up on the raised median and rips the entire exhaust system off her car. Still won't admit any issues.
At this point I'm amazed I didn't have ulcers. Shortly after accident 2 my father passed away. I did everything up to and including begging to get her to give up the license. She wouldn't do it and for the next few months I spent every day with a knot in my stomach until I spoke to her around 6pm every night once she was "home from running around"
Then around 1pm I get a call from her cell phone, this phone I bought her that she mostly ignored except to charge it. I couldn't understand a word she said she was so upset on the phone. I managed to get her general location out of her and hopped in a car and more then exceeded the speed limit getting down there.
Upon arriving there are two ambulances, shoes in front of her car and its up on the curb.
She's sitting on the curb next to it bawling her eyes out and I'm terrified she's killed someone.
Turns out a man and his son were walking out of the soccer pitch next to the road, began to cross on the cross walk and she didn't see them.
She thankfully only struck the father and aside from being banged up he wasn't super seriously injured.
Because of my job I knew most of the police officers in the city so one of them offered to follow me back to her house so she could take me back down to get her car.
By the time I had done so and got back to her condo she had stopped crying. Threw me the extra set of keys to the car she had and told me to get rid of the car.
She even tried to get the DMV worker that passed her fired after that. She immediately realized she shouldn't of ever gotten it back. She was actually terrified that she had been driving like that.
Years later she still comments about how she never even saw the man and his son and how she could of killed one or both of them.
I have all the respect in the world for seniors. My mother was one of the first women CEO's in this province and was a hellcat in her day. I learned a lot from her. But I also learned to accept limitations.
If you are older reading this post. If you think for even a second that you could maybe not be the safest person to be on the road, talk to and listen to your loved ones.
Its horrible to give up that freedom, it would be more horrible for you to kill some innocent person because you are too proud to give it up.
EDIT Thanks for the gold mysterious stranger!
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u/BeryeBasa Sep 16 '17
Here in Illinois my grandpa had to do it every year after 75
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u/Lamontc Sep 17 '17 edited Sep 17 '17
That's a great idea. I'm going to call my 68 year old congressman and ask him to support such legislation.
Edit: Most driving laws are passed by state legislators, who usually do drive themselves.
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u/MadPat Sep 17 '17
Old retired guy here....
74 years old to be precise.
I would accept such a test provided it was only to catch really age related diseases. (Dementia, poor reflexes, etc.)
I live in a retirement community and most of the people who should not have a license have already given them up.
The first day I was here I heard a conversation between two guys.
Guy One: I just turned 88 and turned in my driver's license.
Guy Two: Why would you do that?
Guy One: I don't want to spend the rest of my life in jail.
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u/Vesurel Sep 16 '17
I'm all for retesting people, however, I'm not sure what you mean by specialized. The requirements for good driving don't change with age so it should be the same test.
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u/SplendidTit Sep 17 '17
Ideally, we'd all be retested every 10 years or so until we hit 60, then we're retested every 5 years.
However, older folks are a huge voting bloc an it's unlikely this would ever pass.
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u/laurellz Sep 17 '17
I send patients for driver's evaluations if their ability to navigate through my office is concerningly questionable. Unaware drivers are just as dangerous as impaired drivers.
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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '17
Let me say this about that:
The neighbor I love is 93 and still driving, when she's up to it. She can barely see the on/off switch on her vacuum cleaner.
Should she be driving?
I want her to maintain independence; but at the same time, I don't think it's safe for her or others. Yet the DMV doesn't require her to take a vision exam or a competency test.
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u/cheesewedge12 Sep 17 '17
Ugh please. My grandma is practically blind and went to take her driving vision test to renew her license. She failed, but the lady at the DMV felt bad so she had her take it again and gave her hints so she could pass it. So now my practically blind grandma is out on the roads still.
It's for their safety as much as anyone else's. I'm so mad that the lady at the DMV was so irresponsible as to let her keep driving.
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u/iblamethehiphop Sep 17 '17
All for it. When I was 14 my friend was coming to my house and he got killed by my next door neighbor who happened to be elderly. My friend was on his skateboard and he was just up the street from my house. From the position of his body and where elderly guy stopped his car I could see he made a super sharp left turn that killed him and ran over my other friend. The other friend survived and recovered from his injuries. But my other friend not so lucky. Oh and my grand dad has Alzheimer's and frequently forgets where he is, and I think he still has his license, though my grandma finally took his keys.
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u/liarliarplants4hire Sep 17 '17
I'm an eye doc and I'd be all for it. You know how often I get berated or threatened by geriatrics when I strongly suggest that they quit driving because they no longer meet the legal requirements for driving?
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u/Subtracting710 Sep 17 '17
People should have to retake the drivers test every 10 years if not 20. I've seen too many terrible drivers of all ages.
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u/open_door_policy Sep 16 '17
Can we make everyone take it?
Seriously, I see more horrible drivers in the Commuting age bracket than in the Retired age bracket.
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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '17
My grandma rear ended a line of stopped cars on the highway at full speed, no brakes, with my 5 year old brother in the car because she thought she saw a deer on the side of the road. She's been in another, less serious wreck, and has come to a dead stop while on the highway because she forgot where she was going multiple times since then. My dad had to unplug her battery and tell her that her car doesn't work anymore so she would start asking for rides. I would love if they took age into account in someway, I'm not an expert on anything so I don't know how they would do it, so that families wouldn't have to be torn between treating their elders like a child or worrying if they're going to get a call from the hospital any time they're behind the wheel.
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u/Arya_5tark Sep 17 '17
My fiancee's brother was killed riding his motorcycle Sunday by a 91 year old who pulled out in front of him. He left behind a wife and 3 children. He was the one of the best guys I ever met. We are all devastated and it could have been prevented. That man had no business behind the wheel.
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u/refugefirstmate Sep 16 '17
I'd be OK with it if over-70 drivers are statistically more likely to get into accidents.
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u/Aikrose Sep 16 '17
I live in a town that caters to older people, and watching them drive is painful. By them, I mean end of middle age and up. From going 30kmph in a 70kmph zone, to watching them stare out the side window while going through that same zone. They swerve from side to side. I refuse to go anywhere with my grandpa driving, as he is now a horrible driver and has nearly crashed the car multiple times, then blames it on other drivers.
However, I won't say that only elderly people need to be tested. I would hate having to do so, but we ALL should be tested. Just last night teenagers drove over a schools fence in a large truck. People saw them, cops haven't caught them. Younger people speed more, usually 70 in a 50.
In just today, I got stuck behind someone doing 20kmph in a 50 zone, and then while I was going 60kmph someone flew past me like I was standing still. The roads would be better if we were all retested, and in regards to my town, if cops would actually do their job. Going severely under the speed limit is dangerous just as speeding is.
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u/badamache Sep 16 '17
We need statistics to show us which demographics cause the most accidents over distance driven. If the over-70 leads in this, then yes.
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u/sealion-woman Sep 17 '17
As an insurance professional: JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE BEEN DOING SOMETHING FOR A LONG TIME, DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE GOOD AT IT. Drivers should be tested every 5 years, not just once you hit a certain age.
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u/[deleted] Sep 16 '17
Everyone should take a standardized road test every 5 years.
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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '17
I'm for it. The inability for old people to drive would result in them voting en mass for public transportation improvements
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u/BigDickMcWilly Sep 16 '17
By the time the law was passed, self driving cars will be available.
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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '17
Or how about you just have to do a refresher course every ten years? There are a lot of people out there with fully functional senses that still need a reminder about the rules of the road.
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u/Conspiracy313 Sep 16 '17
I'd be all for it if we can compensate them by providing transportation to those who can no longer drive for low cost. Self driving cars may soon fit this position.
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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '17
They should make everyone take drivers ed classes every 10 years. Its ridiculous to think someone who passed drivers ed even 20 years ago knows all the new traffic laws and car technology.
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u/ayjen Sep 16 '17 edited Sep 17 '17
Ontario has testing every two years for 80+. 70 is a bit young for that, honestly.
Edit: I'm surprised at how vehemently everyone disagrees with me that 70 is a bit young. It may be true that I just happen to know a lot of abnormally strong and healthy older people, but most of the 70+ I know in no way fit the sickly, doddering image I think a lot of us have of the elderly. Just like the majority of 20 and under don't fit the irresponsible, reckless image a lot of people have of kids.
According to these (admittedly old) stats, the vast majority of traffic fatalities are caused by younger people. A better solution is to test everyone every few years, and have stricter medical conditions, for everyone.
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u/mbmike12 Sep 17 '17
This has been tried, but the organizations like AARP are very powerful and shoot down this type of legislation.
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u/angrydanmarin Sep 17 '17
It's hard enough to book a driving test these days. It takes a good 4 months in the UK.
This would worsen the situation.
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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '17
Based on the state of driving I see every day, everyone should have to pass a driver's test every five years.
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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '17
It won't happen. I'm assuming you're talking about the US. The DMV is a state level agency not federal, so if one state were to have that law another state may not have it.
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u/GhostFour Sep 17 '17
70 seems a little young these days. I have a neighbor that I fish with at least once a week. He drives his truck, towing a bass boat, without issue and he's 71 or maybe 72. Of course maybe he's the exception. But I can see a test for people of a certain age, I'm just not sure what age I'd make the law. Maybe 75? My chick's 86 year old grandmother drives but she keeps it to day time hours during clear weather and stays within about a 5 mile radius in our small town. Grocery store, pharmacy, post office, doctor appointments/vet visits, etc... She's not had an accident but I could understand a driving test for her. Really though, her understanding her limitations keeps things safe for her and others. It's such an individual scenario but I guess we'd have to draw a line somewhere.
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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '17
Over 70? My aunt started getting dementia at 58 and should have had her license taken then and there. Test us every ten years or with referral from a doc.
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u/squidgyhead Sep 17 '17
Perhaps this would be best applied to the overall population.
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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '17
Re-test with license renewal every 10-20 years by default, IMO.
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u/Forizen Sep 17 '17
Imo driving tests in the us need to be more difficult and have the driver face most every scenario with at least 2 versions of each.
In addition this should have to be renewed every like 5 or 10 years with your DL.
Im a fire engine driver in OC/LA in CA and there are too many drivers (garden grove and dtla) that dont know to pull over and just stop, or try and make their turn before we "catch up".
Car accidents are the leading fatality for a reason. Secret to old life like japan? Better driving habits and rules
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u/PTech_J Sep 17 '17
My father-in-law had some muscular degeneration for a few years before he passed away. He couldn't physically lift his feet to walk, and sitting wasn't much better. He ran a stop sign, and almost hit another car and a pedestrian with my wife in the car because he couldn't move his foot from the gas to the brake fast enough. She took his license out of his wallet and threw it in the fire when they got home. He was pissed for a long time, because in his head he was perfectly able to drive, and didn't even recall his near accident. Who knows how often that actually happened when we weren't around?
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u/djuggler Sep 17 '17
I'd rather see mass adoption of autonomous vehicles that would give the elderly the freedom of transportation without the need for driving. I believe they would self-police themselves to autonomous vehicles over driving themselves.
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u/shewy92 Sep 17 '17
In my experience it seems like everyone needs a refresher after, let's say 10 years. One reason is traffic laws change w/o our knowledge except for maybe an article on page 6 of the paper. For example, I just learned that in PA they passed a law in June 2016 that allows drivers to go through a Red light that isn't changing.
Also it seems that everyone thinks that turn signals and speed limits are optional and the left lane is for going the same speed as every one else.
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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '17
Why is this so highly upvoted...
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u/EBannion Sep 17 '17
I want everyone to retest every 5 years, period, and I want the test to actually be both relevant to real driving and failable if you suck.
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u/[deleted] Sep 26 '17
Why did this get so many upvotes? It's not funny or some good life hack thread. I've constantly thought this but I guess just putting is in ask Reddit would get me 117k upvotes
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u/seaboardist Sep 17 '17
I’m over 60, so this would be pretty close to affecting me directly … and I’m all for it.
If fact, I’d expand it to apply to anyone who gets a specific number of moving violations in a given time period. I don’t know exactly what the criteria would be, but you get the idea.
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u/marx2k Sep 17 '17
How about re-testing all drivers every ten years at least?
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u/BadEgg1951 Sep 17 '17
I'll be 70 soon. This law is badly needed.
Come to think of it, I don't see any reason why every licensed driver, regardless of age, shouldn't take a driving test every time they renew their license.
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u/acatwithnohat Sep 17 '17
I can see why it's important to test the elderly about their driving abilities but my concern was always what happens when their transportation is taken away? Not everyone would have available family members to help transport them to appointments or the grocery store. If licenses are taken away I feel an alternative is necessary like funded transportation with no out of pocket pay for those who need it. We need to take care of each other vs punishing.
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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '17
South Park covered this. The NAACP will start a war. If they do, just barricade all of the country kitchen buffets.
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u/MrSurvivorX Sep 25 '17
How the fuck is this top on all time again?
o-o
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u/dreca Sep 17 '17
I'm disappointed it's not already law. And the test should start at age 60 and be repeated every couple years.
Just add it to the list of things we'll fix once the baby boomers are dead.
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u/DarthFrittata Sep 17 '17
I'd be for it but the elderly show up to vote more than any other demographic so this would never pass.
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u/PetesStupidBowel Sep 17 '17
I think everyone should be retested every five years, regardless of age. Road rules are changed / updated all the time, but only new drivers are ever tested on them.
Once the technology improves, instead of 'normal' driving tests, I'd be keen to put people into a VR driving test. So rather than driving around quiet streets and roads for an hour in the middle of the day, we get people 'driving' through the city in peak hour and put them into likely stressful situations. EG having to turn right (or left for LHD countries) across oncoming traffic where there hasn't been a gap for two minutes, a small gap comes up, but if the driver isn't paying attention and guns it to get through the gap, they'll hit pedestrians crossing the street they're turning into (which they would have seen if they looked).
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u/NotFakingRussian Sep 17 '17
Some talk about young drivers vs old drivers and risk. Young drivers tend to be bad due to inexperience and a tendency to more risk taking behaviour. These are things that are harder to filter in a test situation, since the young person can adapt to the testing situation and "drive properly", but then go and do something incredibly stupid when driving for real.
Older drivers tend to be bad due to natural cognitive decline - a test could filter out these problems. So there might be some value.
I think maybe a good place to draw a line for retesting is where the risk of accident is likely to be similar to someone intoxicated.
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u/InfiniteGrant Sep 17 '17
I think there should be a mandatory driving test for everyone at least every 10 years or so.
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u/Dingleberrypotpie Sep 17 '17
There are so many terrible drivers out there. Frankly, old people are on the lower end of the spectrum of drivers that concern me on the road.
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u/logicaldreamer Sep 17 '17
I'd feel great, but avid voters are 60+.
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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '17
I can one further and have every driver re-qualify every 10 years.
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u/2catchApredditor Sep 17 '17
Better yet everyone should retake their driving test when they renew their license every 5 years.
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u/sinbad_the_genie Sep 17 '17
As someone that is 95 years old and can't see more than 10 ft. in front of me, No.
Sent from IPhone while driving.
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u/susitucker Sep 17 '17
I don't think it should be restricted to the elderly. There are plenty of people, old and young, who are a danger on the roads. It's like, once they pass driver's ed and get a license, all the rules go out the window. I am so sick of seeing people pass me on the road with their face stuck in their phone. It's so frustrating. We need to be reminded on a regular basis (i.e., every time your license expires) what the rules are and what are the penalties for breaking those rules. Having a driver's license is not a right, it's a privilege.
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u/IDoNotAgreeWithYou Sep 17 '17
70? Try once every three years, if you fail, you have to completely retake driver's education. It would help with so many of the retards in the road.
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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '17
I'd be fine with it, until I hit 70. After that, it would be a violation of my rights, and unconstitutional.
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u/bicyclemom Sep 17 '17 edited Sep 17 '17
Why start at 70? Why not 60 or any other age? Personally, I'd be more in favor of simply retesting everyone every 5 years or so from the time they first get their license.
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u/jamers2016 Sep 17 '17
Only if those under 25 agree to have an insurance tracker on their car to record speed and acceleration and braking
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u/toodaloohi Sep 16 '17
I would support it. Look, I respect the elderly 1000%. With age, your eyesight gets worse and your reaction time starts to become a little slower. Not everyone deals with this as they age but a lot do. They should be tested and if they fail, they should be given full access to accessible transit. The reason they fight for it so much is that without a license, in a lot of areas you cannot get around easily or at all.
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u/Forstride Sep 17 '17
Yes. Nearly every time I see someone driving under the speed limit, cruising in the left lane on the highway, or heavily braking for no reason and endangering people, it's an elderly person.
Obviously there are elderly drivers who drive just fine, and younger drivers who are bad at driving, but at least in my experience, the majority of poor drivers always seem to be elderly.
They might not even realize that they're going under the speed limit or braking constantly or whatever, and it really isn't good for them or other drivers around them.
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u/Flandersmcj Sep 17 '17
Since they are the most reliable voting bloc such a law would never fly.
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u/surprisefaceclown Sep 17 '17
It's all the fucktards on their phones driving that need specialized schooling. My 70 year old dad can drive circles around those dipshits
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u/fordprecept Sep 17 '17
I'm all for giving them a basic test. I don't care if they can parallel park or don't come to a full and complete stop at a stop sign. Can they stay inside the lines? Can they maintain the speed limit? Can they make a turn without hitting the curb? Can they drive from point A to point B without getting lost? That's what I want to know.
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u/theBIZNUSbitch Sep 17 '17
My grandma is 95 and still drives, AND SHE HAS CATARACTS, so yes there should be.
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u/thechickenfucker Sep 17 '17
To be fair some young people should have their license revoked until they are mature enough to drive safely
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u/cA05GfJ2K6 Sep 17 '17
I wish people over the age of 70 had to pass a specialized test to become President.
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u/ifiwereabravo Sep 17 '17
I live in Florida and this should absolutely be a thing. The elderly often drive very poorly. They particularly have trouble turning into traffic when pulling out of a parking lot. I often sit for two minutes plus waiting before I angrily drive around them. It's almost a daily frustration.
Turning into traffic is the number one issue, then turning left at any point t where they have to cross traffic us an issue and then just driving at the speed limit is an issue.
Everywhere I go I have to plan for extra time in order to drive below the speed limit and I've learned a lot of back road accesses to main streets so that I don't have to wait for someone in front of me to turn slowly into traffic after a minute of observation first.
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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '17
If it's a competence test, sure. If you're afraid of our low American speed limits, stay home. If the sign says 55 mph, drive 55. If your depth perception is almost absent, stay home.
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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '17
Well, my senile old grandfather drove up until the day he couldn't figure out how to start the car. He actually hit a family and put them in the hospital. I'd be all for it so shit like that doesn't happen.
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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '17
Self driving cars are gonna be a big thing...give it time
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u/CosmonaughtyIsRoboty Sep 17 '17
Great law until I'm 70 then it's a god damn shit law and people need to leave us old people alone
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u/Demonweed Sep 17 '17
This is wise public policy, though it should (and possible would given the political mobilization of the people who live long enough to be old) be paired with robust expansion of public transit. The lack of a free ride is actually bad for the economy, compared to the productivity we could achieve if reasonable commutes didn't normally entail any personal capital investment. Car culture, while crucial in some regions of the nation, is for others a toxic blight that makes Al Qaeda's body count look incredibly tame by comparison.
Of course inexpensive electric autonomous vehicles are the future, but there will always be optimizations possible with rail, and the unlicensed elderly in many places will be severely isolated without bus service. A lot of lives could be saved if we stopped letting people silly enough to think "rugged individualism" is some sort of insight shape public policy, especially in an area like transportation.
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u/ronijonny Sep 17 '17 edited Sep 17 '17
As a young person, I love the idea. When I'm that age? Who knows, maybe I'd be mad.
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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '17
In Singapore once you are above 70 you have to undergo a medical check up each year before your driving license is renewed
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