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  #16  
Old 03-22-2017, 07:56 PM
Gmountain Gmountain is offline
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Give everyone a self driving car, and problem solved.
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  #17  
Old 03-22-2017, 09:27 PM
imwjl imwjl is offline
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It's a challenge. Fortunately my mother that age does hospice work and is very with it thus ready to give it up when it's time. Her mom did in her 80s. I recall my grandmother not happy with her response on a snowy day and shortly after that gave it up. Unfortunately another elder we know is too stubborn.

I'm for being tested at any age but I know what car vs pedestrian feels like when you're not the car to help have that desire.
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  #18  
Old 03-23-2017, 02:24 AM
LSemmens LSemmens is offline
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Originally Posted by sled View Post
After retiring from the police dept. I went to work for several years with the State Police in their driver's testing branch. I can tell you there should absolutely be re-testing. I used to give the tests when someone got a notice to retest via a ticket or a family member requesting it. As harsh as it sounds, there are some who just need to hang up their spurs and put the car keys away. Sure, it's inconvenient, but not as inconvenient as it is to other families who have to bury loved ones because of an innocent mistake..... not to mention the family of the elderly person who causes an injury or death to themselves or others. And yes, I would really be for retesting everyone every 5 years. All it takes is a quick drive to see half the people on the road really have no clue as to traffic laws anymore....
Agreed 100% EVERYONE, regardless of their age, should be required to demonstrate proficiency behind the wheel before being issued with a new license. Some places required vehicle safety checks before permitting them to be re-registerd, why should that not also apply to the nut BEHIND the wheel?

I consider myself fortunate to have had to retest for my license over the years. Mostly for a license upgrade, but, my last one was after a severe head injury (as the result of a drunk driver). I had no problem, but the tester did pick up on one issue where the law had changed since my last test and I had missed it. I was thankful. It was no biggie, but, still something I needed to know.
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  #19  
Old 03-23-2017, 04:46 AM
Parlorman Parlorman is offline
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We should start with actually training people to drive well including car control at the limit, emergency maneuvers, etc. Most drivers ed course these days are a joke (my son is taking one now) and the tests too easy. Periodic retesting is a great idea too.

I'm taking my son to advanced driver training like I've done as soon as he gets his license.

I spent years as a trucking safety officer earlier in my career.
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  #20  
Old 03-23-2017, 04:47 AM
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cotten cotten is offline
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Originally Posted by sled View Post
After retiring from the police dept. I went to work for several years with the State Police in their driver's testing branch. I can tell you there should absolutely be re-testing...And yes, I would really be for retesting everyone every 5 years...
First, thank you for your service. Second, I agree with the need for re-testing. 5 years is probably about right for those under, say, 75 or 80. About then, I'd suggest every two years. I say that because I saw how quickly both my parents' ability to drive safely declined.

At almost 80, Dad was still driving, cautiously in daylight, acceptably well. In less than a year, he voluntarily gave up driving, recognizing somehow that it was time. Mom was 82 and still drove, much too slowly and during daylight only, to do her local errands. One Christmas, I saw her, intending to back out of the driveway, but instead driving forward, through the closed garage door. She came to a stop only because the car couldn't push through the back wall. I got to her in about 5 seconds, but her driver's window was up and the door locked. I beat on the car, yelling for her to take her foot off the accelerator and put the car in Park. She was in a momentary daze. It took a good 20-25 seconds for me to get her to unlock the door and move her foot. I moved the transmission into Neutral and turned off the ignition. Only then did she begin to realize what had been happening. This had never happened before, and didn't again - but had this happened elsewhere, the results could have been truly tragic.

Even after that incident, it took a great deal of effort on the part of family and friends to get her to stop driving completely. She could not possibly have passed a driving test when she finally gave it up.

Generally, I think drivers' testing in the US is too lax, and the penalty for bad driving is too weak. I'm not sure we're ready for much more strict German-style laws on such things, but still...

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  #21  
Old 03-23-2017, 05:09 AM
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Mr. Jelly Mr. Jelly is offline
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The reason we don't test is because some "people" have decided that it is discriminatory and ageist to test people based on their age.

I respectfully disagree. We don't test because old people vote.
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  #22  
Old 03-23-2017, 05:16 AM
chitz chitz is offline
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I agree with the testing every 5 years over 65.

We would all benefit if the initial testing to get a drivers license was tougher.
They hand out licenses like chiclets down at the DMV.

I remember having to parallel park. No more.
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  #23  
Old 03-23-2017, 05:55 AM
sled sled is offline
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Let's see if I remember... here you have to start out of the parking lot and pull onto a street. Bring the vehicle to a smooth stop, and back up in a straight line (you'd be surprised the number of people who do not check the mirror before stopping and then back without looking or cross left of center-Automatic FAIL). The you have to drive down the road and pull over to a curb and park and set the controls as if parking on a hill- the testor tells you if there is a curb or not and if you are uphill or downhill. Then you pull out (hmmm, ought to probably check that mirror and look over your left shoulder to see if something is coming- Automatic FAIL if you don't) Take a drive around town making left and right hand turns (probably ought to be using turn signals). Parallel Park, you get two attempts, you can bump the curb but not go up on it. Again, check before pulling out. Complete a 3 point turnabout (Properly) in an intersection to go back the other way. (If you wind up with all four tires in the wrong lane-FAIL.) Pretty simple stuff.... you'd be amazed the number of people who cannot do it.
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  #24  
Old 03-23-2017, 06:09 AM
Wadcutter Wadcutter is offline
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My mother-in-law is 87 years old and has absolutely NO business behind the wheel yet she insists on continuing to drive. I and most members of our family and many of her friends refuse to ride with her. The possibility of her killing or seriously injuring someone other than herself doesn't seem to phase her. Soon to be deployed next step: disabling her vehicle so it will no longer start. It's come to that. Why these people are not weeded out by the state motor vehicle departments is beyond me.
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  #25  
Old 03-23-2017, 06:16 AM
sled sled is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gmountain View Post
Give everyone a self driving car, and problem solved.
Man, I wish that day would come. I have a daughter on the autism spectrum (Aspergers) who is extremely high functioning, and who I think could do a wonderful job driving as long as everything went right. She would pay strict attention to the rules. However, I don't think she would respond fast enough to an emergency situation to keep from being in a wreck. The self driving car would be a Godsend of mobility for her.....
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  #26  
Old 03-23-2017, 06:20 AM
Silurian Silurian is offline
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'Driving Test' is a misnomer, what is tested is simply the physical control of the vehicle.
'Driving' is control of the vehicle, awareness of what is happening around you and the ability to anticipate and respond to potential dangers and hazards.

It is difficult to teach someone how to drive, a lot of it is simply down to experience. But if you send people out onto the roads with little more than a basic ability to control the vehicle, well you're asking for trouble.
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  #27  
Old 03-23-2017, 07:02 AM
Mandobart Mandobart is offline
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So glad my 90 year old dad voluntarily stopped driving last year. Hes been a poor driver for the past 20 years and really dangerous for the past 5. He ran over a center island in the road and damaged his car and that convinced him.

My now deceased father in law was a diabetic who took good care of himself, took medication and ate right, but he still had neuropathy with much of the nerves in his extremities not working. He thought his foot was on the brake but it was the gas instead and he rammed a light pole in a parking lot, causing some serious damage to the car, himself and his wife. Of course he was sure he was on the brakes....most of the stories of "stuck accelerators" on vehicles when old people plow through crowds are really no mechanical failures at all, just people who lost the ability to safely operate a vehicle due to failing nerves, vision, hearing, reflexes, etc.

There are also those unsafe to operate a two ton four wheeled death machine at any age or speed due to cognitive disorders, lack of focus, inability to pay attention, spatial disorientation, etc. Because of all this, as a motorcyclist I ride by two simple rules:

1. No one can see me, ever.
2. If someone does see me they will try to kill me.

Kept me alive over 40 years of riding.
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  #28  
Old 03-23-2017, 07:15 AM
RedJoker RedJoker is offline
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Count me in the test everyone group. I have peers that are horrible drivers.

Also count me as someone looking forward to self driving cars. One of the big issues of driving tests is that revocation of a license happens immediately and most folks have their lives set up around being able to drive. It would a painful transition for someone to suddenly need to be driven to every doctors appointment, errand, etc. Granted, it could be worked through but it would still suck.
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  #29  
Old 03-23-2017, 07:25 AM
Bikewer Bikewer is offline
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It can be a knotty problem.

I'm 70, and still working actively in police work... "Campus" law enforcement.

One of the things I've noticed in recent years is that with schools generally dropping "Driver's Ed".... Many people are driving around with very little knowledge of how to actually drive.

You see people all the time doing things that are stupid or dangerous, just because they've never been taught any different.

At the school I work at, we have over 40% foreign students, and it's fairly obvious that a percentage of these young people are simply obtaining driver's licenses from illegal sources and having a friend show them the basics.
They have little or no idea of the traffic law.....

We always had the option of assigning a violator to be re-tested if they seemed incompetent...

I recall an incident years ago where an elderly driver pulled out of a side street directly in front of my police car.... I hit the lights and followed him for several blocks with no response whatever.
Finally, I hit the siren and he did stop. When I checked his license, I saw an "eyeglass" restriction... But he was wearing none.

"Where are your glasses, sir?"

Patting his pocket.... "Right here in my pocket, sonny. I never drive without 'em."

He got cited... And re-tested.
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  #30  
Old 03-23-2017, 07:48 AM
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00Buck 00Buck is offline
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Here is some information about fatal vehicle accidents.

http://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/t/ge...fatality-facts

There is not much of a difference in the rate of fatal accidents until 80 years of age. 20-24 year olds are the most dangerous group. Should 25 be the age for getting a driver's license? It makes as much sense as testing everyone over 65. Legislating on the basis of anecdotes is popular, but not rational.

Everyone probably knows people who shouldn't be driving (no matter their age). Testing would weed out some of them, but at what burden on the vast majority who are as capable as any other age group?
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