I was just watching one of those stupid "MOST SHOCKING MOMENTS" TV shows and this one was on deadly driving and I noticed something.

Every other one was someone elderly. Of course you had your drunk or high idiots...... But the next clip was of grandma, and she hit the gas instead of the brake and mowed down a crowd of people. Or grandpa's going down the wrong side of a divided highway at 60 MPH.

I wonder how much this is true sometimes. I look at my grandparents and I start seeing it. Hes gotten pulled over more times ten fold then me in the past 5 years and hasn't gotten a ticket.

In fact he got pulled over yesterday for doing 15mph over and the cop let him off with a warning, and not kidding, it said this on the warning, "must take Betty out for a nice dinner or face getting a ticket in the mail". If that were me i would have gotten a ticket without a second guess.

Danged old geezers, every one of them should be run off the road the minute they turn 50.

Yep! A big part of the problem is geezers drivine 10-15mph under the speed limit and azzholes driving 10-15mph OVER the speed limit. Even on an interstate that is a really bad and potentially harmful combination.

My mother always drove like a bat outta hell, regardless of how many different meds she was on, right up until she azz-ended the vehicle in front of her and bumped it into another car. We yanked her driving privileges at that point.

Dad had two or three fender-benders in various parking lots before he voluntarily gave up his driving. Thankfully, no one was hurt before he quit and also moved himself into a nursing home. He turned 87 Friday...... He probably wouldn't have lived very much longer if he'd continued driving. Hell, he couldn't drive worth a damn when he was 40............... He'd always lived out in the sticks and couldn't handle traffic worth a damn. Two more cars on the road was heavy traffic for him, at that.

It's all about experience ...
I was told that one can safely drive the number of MPH as the number of years they are old.
But I don't think my car will do a 100.

Dad turned 87 last Sat. and just returned from a road-trip.

Drove from N. La. to New Mex. then up through Ok. City to Cabot, Ar., to get fishing bait, then back home.

Knock-on-wood, he hasnt had a wreck, that I can remember, and only one speeding ticket.

Well, when I leave this world, I want go peacefully in my sleep like grandad. The passengers with him were screaming though.

That's a winner!

My Mom drove until she was 92. First time she failed her every three month 'wellness/fitness' check up, she handed in her keys, sold her car.
I don't recall she ever had a ticket. She was a helluva good driver.

My Grand-mother was a Christian nut that absolutely believed that God would keep her alive whenever she drove straight through the stop signs, give way signs, red lights, and intersections...she scared the living [bleep] out of me!

One of my brothers went to Queensland with her to visit relatives and had such a terrifying experience that he would never get into a vehicle with her again.

The woman was a raving lunatic when behind the wheel of a car, and you have no idea how pleased we were when she gave up her licence. I lived a whole state away from her, and didn't feel safe went she went for a drive.

Most of the accidents around here are caused by elderly people, and women drivers.

However, in a stark contrast, most of the fatalities are caused by people under 30.

Maybe she should have spent more time reading the Bible instead of driving. She'd have read how Christians are to obey the law. Expecting God to protect her when she breaks the law? It also says that we are not to put the Lord to the test. He wasn't protecting her but rather the other innocent people on the road.

Yep...when you start 'shakin off' and hear the meat a flappin on the end.....it's a done deal!! May as well put a 230 gr. hardball through each ear hole!!

Nothing but Precious Memories left!

There's always that horseshirt about statistics showing that elderly drivers are the safest drivers. Says a lot about statistics.

I'm a driving instructor and I took my Mom's driving license when she drove over a curb stop and hit the car on the other side. I drive her wherever she wants to go. My Aunt's friend just lost her insurance. She is 90 and is crying about it. She has hit several people. Well, you can't drive an uninsured car here. Driving requires good reflexes and they fade. There's nothing we can do about it. The statistics show that there is a learning curve and experience makes you a safer driver... to a point. Then when motor skills go with age, accidents go up again. There's nothing you can do. Then there's eyesight. I get a new license every 5 years. The elderly have to go in every two and they get their eyes checked. There's a reason.

If you have a loved one that you think is a danger on the road, you can request they be road tested. The driving schools usually provide road testing as a service. It's easier for a lot of people to have an instructor make the call. I've had to do it a few times. I also drove a half dozen little old ladies around for a good part of my life. It's not like there's an effect. People's lives don't just end.

I've seen it go the other way too and had parents want their kids tested, and I've seen parents take their kid's licenses. Teenagers are a menace too. I tell my students that I've been rear ended at stop signs and lights about 10 times and it's 50/50 between teenagers and old people. We have the worst drivers in the Country in Rhode Island too. Year after year. We have one of the highest insurance rates too. We have the highest insurance fraud rage here as well. Our premiums reflect the losses to the vultures and deadbeats.

Let me guess, you saw "christian nut" and "raving lunatic" so you felt the need to proselytise at me?

My dad had 2 at fault accidents in his late 70's. The last one totaled 2 cars. I'm still not sure dad was truly at fault on that one. He was confused and did not clearly explain what happened to the officer. The other guy kept his mouth shut and let dad take the blame. At best the 2nd car was 50% responsible. That was the last time he drove.

Mom is 8 years younger than dad and did all the driving for about 8 years. At 80 we finally convinced mom she had no business driving. It was much harder to get mom to stop than dad.



Elderly drivers and female drivers of any age tend to have far more accidents than males under 25. But insurance companies pay out far more in claims on male drivers under 25. There is a big difference in backing into another car in a parking lot, or hitting a mailbox which is the most common accident for women and elderly. The young males are the ones who drive off the road at 100+ killing 4-5 people and end up getting sued for a million dollars. Insurance companies only look at the dollars they pay out, not the total number of accidents.

I'll take them over the bird-chit-brained YOUNG idiots texting/yakin' on their PHONES every day and twice on Sunday...

GET OFF THE DAMN PHONE AND DRIVE!!

Just making it clear that what you call a 'Christian nut' and what a Christian is are far removed from each other.

i just saw it the other day. i came up to a scene with cops all over it and saw one of those giant concrete pots that they plant trees in was smashed and pushed out onto the road from a bank parking lot. saw a car all mangled up on the curb on the other side. now mind you, this car came from a small parking lot with enough speed to push a giant concrete pot full of dirt and a big tree about 10 feet and continue on its way across the street and crunch into a high curb. little old lady sitting in the drivers seat. looked about 100. didn't take a genius to figure out what happened. thank god nobody was in her way.

years ago i had an old neighbor in his 80's. he insisted on driving even though both legs were basically dead below the knees from diabetes and would eventually come off. he was backing into his driveway, nailed the gas,smashed into his house, dropped it into drive, nailed the gas again and shot across the street and up the front porch steps of another house and had his foot jammed into the gas until the rear tires were smoking. the neighbor came out and turned the key off.

My Granny used to tear up the roads with her 283 Impala right up into her '80's. Drove a motor home off on vacation, too. She quit driving around '90.

Now that I'm officially old (Medicare card and all) I've probably gotten a little sloppy about keeping it between the lines. I tell my wife, "Stop worrying, this truck has an off-road package."

Here where (evidently) basics are not taught (or not understood) like "passing/faster traffic keep left, slower traffic keep right" and "don't turn until the intersection is clear" and "yield to the vehicle on your right", am not sure risk from elderly drivers even makes it on my radar screen.

Heaven forbid you're at a four-way stop; I'll take my chances with the elderly ever time.

We had to take Mom's keys too. Her vision went, but she tried to keep driving. One Thanksgiving at my sister's house Mom was leaving and hit the platform on the back of my sister's vehicle that carries my nephew's wheel chair. Mom stopped like what was that, backed up and hit it again. I met her in her driveway and told her what she had done. She said, "I heard something, but I couldn't see anything, so I went on." I said that's why you can't drive any more.

My dad had dementia. When he was in his mid-80's we were trying to figure out how to keep him from driving. Then a friend of theirs caused a bad wreck. Dad said he wasn't going to drive any more. Mom told him that if he wasn't going to drive, he should give his pickup to me and he agreed. Mom called me immediately and said 'come get this pickup out of here while he still remembers he gave it to you.' I took it the next day.
As we figured, with his dementia he had to be reminded daily that he no longer had a vehicle and Mom had to keep the keys to her car hidden. They lived in a mobile park and he had a golf cart to run around the park in. We had to get rid of it, too, to keep him off the busiest street in town. I took it home for 'repairs' and somehow forgot to take it back (I sent Mom the proceeds from it's sale).

Mom willingly gave up her keys when she was almost 90. She was a pretty good driver but at that age, who knows what can happen. I bought her car from her to make sure she stuck with her decision.

Far as I know my old man never put a set of brake shoes on a vehicle. When he saw a stop sign a block or so away he's simply take his foot off the gas and coast to it. Drove me crazy!

Unfortunately while reading this thread it dawned on me that the breaks on my eleven year old pick up are showing very little signs of wear:(

Edna and Marvel (both of exceptionally mature years) were toodling along in Edna's car. They approached an unregulated intersection with a car approaching from the right. As Marvel watched in alarm, Edna showed no sign of yielding to her right and continued on through the intersection not noticing the squealing tires and gestures from the other driver. A bit later, they approached an intersection with a stop sign in front of them and none on the perpendicular road, along which traveled a dump truck. Seemingly unconcerned, Edna continued on through the intersection at her leisurely but steady pace. The dump truck was left on its side in the ditch, long streaks of rubber indicating its path to its resting place. Next up was a red light at the intersection of a busy highway with traffic streaming by in both directions. Marvel, already wet from the dump truck episode, could not make a sound come from her open mouth as Edna calmly drove through the intersection, somehow untouched by the mayhem that was left in her wake. Marvel finally found her voice and croaked out, "My God, Edna, are you trying to kill us?" At this, Edna replied in a startled voice, "What, am I driving?"

+100
Every incident I've had on the motorcycle has involved a teenybopper. The ladies of the blue hair express, on the other hand, wait 'til I've motored half a block and crossed the intersection before they turn left.

2 incidents with my elderly relatives...

I had a bachelor uncle who had an old woman for a housekeeper. He was 3/4 blind and she couldn't drive so when they went to the store, he'd drive and she'd give directions.

Another uncle had an ancient Chev pickup that he NEVER drove over 35 mph. When he died, his brother took it. It had almost 150k on it and was still on the original non-brakes. The shoes were completely gone, of course, and the drums were paper thin. My dad once took a trip with him from so. ID to CA, at 35 all the way across NV. Dad about went nuts. It was slower than a covered wagon.

There was a father and son here that were both disabled and decided to go to town. One was blind and the other was paralyzed from the waist down. Naturally, the blind dad drove while the paralyzed son navigated. They pretty much made it out of the driveway and into the ditch.....

On a more serious note, nearly every time I see a building smashed in, it is the post office or the drugstore. I wonder what buildings the elderly visit regularly? My local post office gets hit about every other year, right through the front window.

You pay taxes on both sides of the road...... You might as well us both!!!!!

Sent in an email.
My
neighbor was working in

his yard when he was startled by a late model car that came crashing



through his hedge and ended up in his front lawn.



He rushed to help an

elderly lady driver out of the car and sat her down on a lawn

chair.



He said with

excitement, "You appear quite elderly to be driving."



"Well, yes, I am," she

replied proudly.
"I'll
be 97 next month,

and I am now old enough that I don't even need a driver's license

anymore."
"You
don't need a driver's

license anymore?!?"



That's right! The last

time I went to my doctor, he examined me and asked if I had a driver's

license.



I told him 'yes' and

handed it to him. He took scissors out of the drawer,
cut
the license into

pieces, and threw them in the waste basket, saying, '
You
won't need this

anymore'.



So I thanked him and

left!"

It ain't safe fer him to operate a computer. God told me so.

Denny.

Oh,,, my old man's brakes were far from worn out. Like I said, "he'd just coast to a stop".
He also drove slow like your uncle. I often threaten to get out and walk as it would be faster. Course I kept that under my breath least I get five across the eyes:)

Well, I'll tell ya what-I'm 51, and if you want to try to run me off the road, JUST BRING IT! You'd be surprised what us old farts can do with a cane and a bottle of Geritol! Now shuddup and get back to work to pay for my social security check!

50 to 60 gets the best insurance rates, as you age the price goes up.

Former Colorado Governor Dick Lamm from the 1980's......also nick-named Governor 'Gloom', openly spoke out about the societal costs of keeping elderly folks alive.

He said........"old people have a duty to die".

Seen a number of elderly and Asians driving way under the speed limit (35mph) on a 65mph freeway. That's dangerous.

My Mom had her license taken away this year. We were trying to get the doctor to do it. I will never forget climbing into her car to drive her somewhere and finding the passenger mirror hanging by a cable. I don't think she remembered or noticed when hit happened. Then another time she was out and forgot how to get back home. She went back to the house we lived at 15 years ago and the nice people living there wrote out instructions on how to get home. Really sad. She barely remembers me.

Driving the speed limit on a freeway is dangerous here.

Sorry about your Mom.

Especially on I-20 through Shreveport!!

Old folks with diminished capacities are a hazard on the road, but so are testosterone laden azzholes who think that driving, and life in general, is a dick measuring contest. Along with chicks talking on phones, putting on makeup, etc.

Anything that interferes with full attention to safe driving.

I've heard that in Germany the cars don't come with a lot of bells and whistles and toys because they take their driving seriously, as reflected by the high speeds on the Autobahn.

Paul

I'm 72 and retired and I take full advantage of not having to hurry anymore. My Dodge/Cummins gets real good mileage at around 60 mph, so that's my normal driving speed.

Most of our highways have generous shoulders and when a vehicle approaches from my rear at a good clip, I pull over to allow them by.

The boom has brought so many damyankees down here that don't have any manners that it's pissing me off. Instead of speeding up and passing me, they want to keep on Cruise Control and take half a mile to pass, leaving me driving on the shoulder.

If it's a truck coming up behind me, I'll slow down as I move over, knowing he can't accelerate much.

I give these other [bleep] about 10 seconds to make a move and if they don't take advantage of it, I get back in my lane.

They are the same types who don't even "speak" when you meet them on a rural highway.