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Anecdote: There was an old lady living nearby who despite being 80+ years still driving around in her 20 year old car. She literally ran over traffic cones and

by fho 5y ago

Anecdote: There was an old lady living nearby who despite being 80+ years still driving around in her 20 year old car. She literally ran over traffic cones and ... a child on a tricycle [1] and never got prosecuted. She recently passed away ... sad, but the streets around here are definitely safer now. (This was in Germany just for reference) [1] The child was fine it was a low speed collision ... but still ...

yardie 5y ago
There was recently an accident in Miami Beach. Elderly woman driving a Bentley reversed into a terrace restaurant. Killing 1 and injury 6, including a 3yo [0]. No charges filed because being senile driver (and voter) is not against the law. [0] https://www.local10.com/news/local/2022/02/25/recalling-tragic-scene-day-after-woman-backs-into-south-beach-dining-area-kills-1/ https://www.local10.com/news/local/2022/02/25/recalling-trag...
- jen20 5y ago
  In the UK there’s a catch all for this called “driving without due care and attention”.
argiopetech 5y ago
I caution against age as a sole proxy for driving ability. As a contradictory datum, my 80+ year old grandmother (in the USA) maintains a 100+ acre farm. She daily drives a (impeccably maintained) 2006 3/4 ton pickup, to include multiple yearly 10+ hour trips hauling a 10k+ lbs trailer. She almost always brings a passenger on these trips for companionship and safety. I've never heard any complaints, and never personally observed her driving unsafely. It won't be this way forever, and I'm under no illusion that she is the norm for her age, but I'd hazard she's a better drive R than most people on the road. I would like to see a move toward more frequent driver testing for all drivers in the USA, decreasing in frequency after the first few years of driving and increasing in frequency for older drivers. Testing after initial licensing is not the norm in any state I've inhabited, so this would probably require a significant uphill battle on both the individual and government fronts.
- ISL 5y ago
  Triggering testing/education after traffic violations might be a middle-ground.
  - dfxm12 5y ago
    This seems too reactive. I agree it is better than nothing, but if someone is going to have the wherewithal to put a law in place around this, I think the goal should should be more about preventing violations than punishment. Maybe you should have to re-take the test when your license expires instead of the license being a lifetime certification. That would be every four years in my state. Not sure if it is different state to state.
    - Retric 5y ago
      States already introduce mandatory vision tests and inquire about medical history with age even very Red or Blue states. https://www.dps.texas.gov/section/driver-license/drivers-age-79-or-older https://www.dps.texas.gov/section/driver-license/drivers-age... https://www.dmv.com/md/maryland/senior-drivers?tg1=DVA&utm_content=dmv.com&utm_medium=dmv_&tg7=dmv_&utm_source=dmv.com&tg9=dmv.com&utm_term=organic_dmv&utm_campaign=organic_dmv https://www.dmv.com/md/maryland/senior-drivers?tg1=DVA&utm_c... Florida has vision requirements, and accepts reports of medical issues making driving unsafe: https://www.flhsmv.gov/driver-licenses-id-cards/medical-review/vision-standards/ https://www.flhsmv.gov/driver-licenses-id-cards/medical-revi... In that context Florida’s standards are lax, but still exist.
      - brimble 5y ago
        The DMV worker that administered my mom's last test definitely fudged things so she could renew her license. Luckily she basically never drives anyway [edit: because my dad who's still a decent driver drivers her around when she needs it because they both know she's not safe on the road, not because she can get by without a car], but I doubt that was an isolated incident. Because of how we've designed our cities, not being able to drive can represent a huge loss of freedom. In the moment, it seems some (and I'm guessing many) DMV workers take pity on the vulnerable elderly person in front of them rather than some hypothetical future victim of that driver.

by fho 5y ago

yardie 5y ago

There was recently an accident in Miami Beach. Elderly woman driving a Bentley reversed into a terrace restaurant. Killing 1 and injury 6, including a 3yo [0]. No charges filed because being senile driver (and voter) is not against the law. [0] https://www.local10.com/news/local/2022/02/25/recalling-tragic-scene-day-after-woman-backs-into-south-beach-dining-area-kills-1/ https://www.local10.com/news/local/2022/02/25/recalling-trag...

jen20 5y ago
In the UK there’s a catch all for this called “driving without due care and attention”.

argiopetech 5y ago

I caution against age as a sole proxy for driving ability. As a contradictory datum, my 80+ year old grandmother (in the USA) maintains a 100+ acre farm. She daily drives a (impeccably maintained) 2006 3/4 ton pickup, to include multiple yearly 10+ hour trips hauling a 10k+ lbs trailer. She almost always brings a passenger on these trips for companionship and safety. I've never heard any complaints, and never personally observed her driving unsafely. It won't be this way forever, and I'm under no illusion that she is the norm for her age, but I'd hazard she's a better drive R than most people on the road. I would like to see a move toward more frequent driver testing for all drivers in the USA, decreasing in frequency after the first few years of driving and increasing in frequency for older drivers. Testing after initial licensing is not the norm in any state I've inhabited, so this would probably require a significant uphill battle on both the individual and government fronts.

ISL 5y ago
Triggering testing/education after traffic violations might be a middle-ground.
- dfxm12 5y ago
  This seems too reactive. I agree it is better than nothing, but if someone is going to have the wherewithal to put a law in place around this, I think the goal should should be more about preventing violations than punishment. Maybe you should have to re-take the test when your license expires instead of the license being a lifetime certification. That would be every four years in my state. Not sure if it is different state to state.
  - Retric 5y ago
    States already introduce mandatory vision tests and inquire about medical history with age even very Red or Blue states. https://www.dps.texas.gov/section/driver-license/drivers-age-79-or-older https://www.dps.texas.gov/section/driver-license/drivers-age... https://www.dmv.com/md/maryland/senior-drivers?tg1=DVA&utm_content=dmv.com&utm_medium=dmv_&tg7=dmv_&utm_source=dmv.com&tg9=dmv.com&utm_term=organic_dmv&utm_campaign=organic_dmv https://www.dmv.com/md/maryland/senior-drivers?tg1=DVA&utm_c... Florida has vision requirements, and accepts reports of medical issues making driving unsafe: https://www.flhsmv.gov/driver-licenses-id-cards/medical-review/vision-standards/ https://www.flhsmv.gov/driver-licenses-id-cards/medical-revi... In that context Florida’s standards are lax, but still exist.
    - brimble 5y ago
      The DMV worker that administered my mom's last test definitely fudged things so she could renew her license. Luckily she basically never drives anyway [edit: because my dad who's still a decent driver drivers her around when she needs it because they both know she's not safe on the road, not because she can get by without a car], but I doubt that was an isolated incident. Because of how we've designed our cities, not being able to drive can represent a huge loss of freedom. In the moment, it seems some (and I'm guessing many) DMV workers take pity on the vulnerable elderly person in front of them rather than some hypothetical future victim of that driver.