6 ms·

My 96-year-old grandmother has macular degeneration in her eyes and neuropathy reducing sensation in her feet. She can neither see the road very well nor feel

My 96-year-old grandmother has macular degeneration in her eyes and neuropathy reducing sensation in her feet. She can neither see the road very well nor feel the pedals accurately. The state of Florida just renewed her license for six more years. I'd say it's irresponsible of her to keep up the license, except she has no options. The town she's in recently made it illegal for residents of her park to drive their electric carts across the street to Publix or down the sidewalk to the doctor's office. Those are the only two places she needs to go. Some of her friends who had given up their licenses in favor of electric carts are now SOL. They have to rely on favors to buy food and go to appointments.

sjg007 9y ago
There should be county sponsored transportation for medical appointments. Also it seems uber could work?
- sevensor 9y ago
  > There should be county sponsored transportation for medical appointments. How's your experience been with that kind of service? There's a reason lawbreaking octogenarians still ride golf carts down the sidewalk to get to the doctor's office, hoping they won't get ticketed. > Uber. I'm sorry. Did I mention my grandmother is 96? Ninety-six?
  - PhasmaFelis 9y ago
    > I'm sorry. Did I mention my grandmother is 96? Ninety-six? HN forgets that not everyone has coastal tech money a lot.
    - lovich 9y ago
      That is true, but periodic Ubers are also way cheaper than owning a car. If you only need to travel once a week it would likely be far cheaper than car taxes, gas, and maintenance
      - sidyom 9y ago
        There are also a lot of old folks where Uber is not.
      - Spooky23 9y ago
        The average social security pensioner makes like $1200/mo. Even with subsidized housing, not much cash for a smartphone.
        lovich 9y ago
        1200/mo is about what I took home for a year after college. It wasn't great but I was still able to afford a budget smartphone to use things like a GPS. I do understand the position of senior who are not doing well financially and I think we should support them, but supporting them doesn't mean they get to live the exact same lifestyle they became accustomed to when they were younger while the rest of society has to deal with reality.
  - sjg007 9y ago
    Yes, but you or another relative could order the uber for her. Are you sure there isn’t county based medical transport? Also since she is 96 she might be able to get away with an ambulance! It may take someone advocating for her but it’s not disallowed de facto.
  - cablej 9y ago
    I've got my 96-year-old grandmother using Uber - https://www.gosmartride.com https://www.gosmartride.com :)
    - justinboogaard 9y ago
      It could also be worth looking into GoGoGrandparent.com! 24/7 operators and they automatically monitor and file disputes if drivers go on joy rides. (Full disclosure: I work there.)
- virmundi 9y ago
  Historically churches and other community groups, including the Masons, would help in this regard. It appears as if this gone now. For example, black churches use to have get out the vote buses that helped people register. They would work with their paritioners and the large community to make sure that people could get to DMVs or wherever the locality required people to sign up. It appears like that is largely gone. Masonry and church attendance are on the wane. The government as god seems to have grown in its place. Unfortunately, many of the new adherents don't understand community nor civics. It will be interesting to see what happens as millennials gain more power.
  - BigJono 9y ago
    I feel like there's a void to be filled here. Something that allows people to build a sense of community without all the make-believe crap.
    - virmundi 9y ago
      There might be. I don't know what it is. As a former Mason, the teachings are symbolic. Few people think they are historical. People don't really do symbolic anymore. We do TV. Not be too much of a curmudgeon, but I don't think our society at this time has much of a philosophical bone left in it. As a result, we mostly reflect on ourselves as narcissists. Look at Facebook. It's use is a known cause of depression. We feel bad because others make their lives look so perfect or interesting. We get in flame wars on political topics. We no longer appeal to traditions like Locke or Rousseau. We don't reason about things. We feel and are offended. If what I said is even mostly true, how do you build a society on that? At this point we've stared too long into the abyss. Perhaps we need the "make-believe crap" to bind us. Perhaps its not crap, but rather what the world is and our ignoring is leading to our own demise?
      - behringer 9y ago
        Believing it is what got us here in the first place.
- EnderMB 9y ago
  Uber has a lot of negative press, but if there's one way for them to turn all of that around, it's to pander to the older generation and to provide senior citizens either heavily subsidised or a subscription-based system. They won't do it because it'll hit their bottom line, but being the ride option of both the young AND the old would go a long way towards repairing their reputation.
  - afarrell 9y ago
    More importantly, old people actually vote in local elections.
    - EnderMB 9y ago
      Absolutely. They vote in numbers, they put money towards traditional media, and as such they have a lot of power. Regardless of their "political" power, it'd just be a nice thing to do. Getting old sucks, and if Uber could do something as simple as making sure that an older person doesn't have to sacrifice their freedom then it's something a lot of people would get behind.
twobyfour 9y ago
When my grandmother became too old to drive safely, we sold her car and had her use the proceeds for cabs to where she needed to go. When that ran out, her kids and grandkids covered the cab fare. It wasn't all that much more expensive than the car itself. I can imagine it being a hardship, though, for those with less means.
pjc50 9y ago
> The town she's in recently made it illegal for residents of her park to drive their electric carts across the street to Publix or down the sidewalk to the doctor's office This right here is the problem - how? Why? Doesn't this violate disability discrimination law? I thought seniors were quite an effective voting bloc in cases like this?
- Spooky23 9y ago
  They aren’t road legal and aren’t insured.
  - pjc50 9y ago
    The UK exempts them from these requirements, so you'll occasionally see people driving them along the road. At 4mph. I'm not sure whether this is a good idea or not.
- sevensor 9y ago
  Everybody in her park is furious about it, and you'll see people risking tickets. No idea about discrimination law. Supposedly it was for safety -- old folks in golf carts were deemed a hazard to pedestrians on the sidewalks. So they incentivize them to drive cars instead, at much higher rates of speed. Seems crazy to me too.
nitwit005 9y ago
Even if we want to preserve people's independence, we all tend to go blind (and deaf) eventually. As people get older, there will inevitably be a larger population that needs to be driven.

sjg007 9y ago

There should be county sponsored transportation for medical appointments. Also it seems uber could work?

sevensor 9y ago
> There should be county sponsored transportation for medical appointments. How's your experience been with that kind of service? There's a reason lawbreaking octogenarians still ride golf carts down the sidewalk to get to the doctor's office, hoping they won't get ticketed. > Uber. I'm sorry. Did I mention my grandmother is 96? Ninety-six?
- PhasmaFelis 9y ago
  > I'm sorry. Did I mention my grandmother is 96? Ninety-six? HN forgets that not everyone has coastal tech money a lot.
  - lovich 9y ago
    That is true, but periodic Ubers are also way cheaper than owning a car. If you only need to travel once a week it would likely be far cheaper than car taxes, gas, and maintenance
    - sidyom 9y ago
      There are also a lot of old folks where Uber is not.
    - Spooky23 9y ago
      The average social security pensioner makes like $1200/mo. Even with subsidized housing, not much cash for a smartphone.
      - lovich 9y ago
        1200/mo is about what I took home for a year after college. It wasn't great but I was still able to afford a budget smartphone to use things like a GPS. I do understand the position of senior who are not doing well financially and I think we should support them, but supporting them doesn't mean they get to live the exact same lifestyle they became accustomed to when they were younger while the rest of society has to deal with reality.
- sjg007 9y ago
  Yes, but you or another relative could order the uber for her. Are you sure there isn’t county based medical transport? Also since she is 96 she might be able to get away with an ambulance! It may take someone advocating for her but it’s not disallowed de facto.
- cablej 9y ago
  I've got my 96-year-old grandmother using Uber - https://www.gosmartride.com https://www.gosmartride.com :)
  - justinboogaard 9y ago
    It could also be worth looking into GoGoGrandparent.com! 24/7 operators and they automatically monitor and file disputes if drivers go on joy rides. (Full disclosure: I work there.)
virmundi 9y ago
Historically churches and other community groups, including the Masons, would help in this regard. It appears as if this gone now. For example, black churches use to have get out the vote buses that helped people register. They would work with their paritioners and the large community to make sure that people could get to DMVs or wherever the locality required people to sign up. It appears like that is largely gone. Masonry and church attendance are on the wane. The government as god seems to have grown in its place. Unfortunately, many of the new adherents don't understand community nor civics. It will be interesting to see what happens as millennials gain more power.
- BigJono 9y ago
  I feel like there's a void to be filled here. Something that allows people to build a sense of community without all the make-believe crap.
  - virmundi 9y ago
    There might be. I don't know what it is. As a former Mason, the teachings are symbolic. Few people think they are historical. People don't really do symbolic anymore. We do TV. Not be too much of a curmudgeon, but I don't think our society at this time has much of a philosophical bone left in it. As a result, we mostly reflect on ourselves as narcissists. Look at Facebook. It's use is a known cause of depression. We feel bad because others make their lives look so perfect or interesting. We get in flame wars on political topics. We no longer appeal to traditions like Locke or Rousseau. We don't reason about things. We feel and are offended. If what I said is even mostly true, how do you build a society on that? At this point we've stared too long into the abyss. Perhaps we need the "make-believe crap" to bind us. Perhaps its not crap, but rather what the world is and our ignoring is leading to our own demise?
    - behringer 9y ago
      Believing it is what got us here in the first place.
EnderMB 9y ago
Uber has a lot of negative press, but if there's one way for them to turn all of that around, it's to pander to the older generation and to provide senior citizens either heavily subsidised or a subscription-based system. They won't do it because it'll hit their bottom line, but being the ride option of both the young AND the old would go a long way towards repairing their reputation.
- afarrell 9y ago
  More importantly, old people actually vote in local elections.
  - EnderMB 9y ago
    Absolutely. They vote in numbers, they put money towards traditional media, and as such they have a lot of power. Regardless of their "political" power, it'd just be a nice thing to do. Getting old sucks, and if Uber could do something as simple as making sure that an older person doesn't have to sacrifice their freedom then it's something a lot of people would get behind.

twobyfour 9y ago

When my grandmother became too old to drive safely, we sold her car and had her use the proceeds for cabs to where she needed to go. When that ran out, her kids and grandkids covered the cab fare. It wasn't all that much more expensive than the car itself. I can imagine it being a hardship, though, for those with less means.

pjc50 9y ago

> The town she's in recently made it illegal for residents of her park to drive their electric carts across the street to Publix or down the sidewalk to the doctor's office This right here is the problem - how? Why? Doesn't this violate disability discrimination law? I thought seniors were quite an effective voting bloc in cases like this?

Spooky23 9y ago
They aren’t road legal and aren’t insured.
- pjc50 9y ago
  The UK exempts them from these requirements, so you'll occasionally see people driving them along the road. At 4mph. I'm not sure whether this is a good idea or not.
sevensor 9y ago
Everybody in her park is furious about it, and you'll see people risking tickets. No idea about discrimination law. Supposedly it was for safety -- old folks in golf carts were deemed a hazard to pedestrians on the sidewalks. So they incentivize them to drive cars instead, at much higher rates of speed. Seems crazy to me too.

nitwit005 9y ago

Even if we want to preserve people's independence, we all tend to go blind (and deaf) eventually. As people get older, there will inevitably be a larger population that needs to be driven.