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rights of the elderly- perplexed - 1/13/2007 6:32:38 AM

pahunkboy

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Joined: 2/26/2006
From: Central Pennsylvania
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my sister is agasp that my grandmother [80-s] will still drive. Gram totalled her car. I guess I was surprised by her cavalier attitutude.

I am 5 blocks from my gram. I can drop in unannounced any day, and time- and she is more functional then I am.

She does have the start of dementia.

Office of aging checks in on her.

It is my feeling that her rights be intact. This poor woman never had so much as a traffic ticket in her life!!

Ive totalled more then 1 car.

dont mess with my momma, dont mess with my gram! *clenches fist*

jump in with any comments,...

Post #: 1

RE: rights of the elderly- perplexed - 1/13/2007 6:49:43 AM

farmbound1

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Joined: 7/29/2006
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she has the start of dementia and she is more functional than you are?

you've totalled more than one car? I would suggest that you attend a driver re-education course for yourself and that your grandmother attend a driving course for the elderly. These courses will address issues with safe driving that both you and your grandmother have. I would hate to see you total someone else's car or injure someone. Same goes for Gram. Even though she may not have had any traffic tickets, she is now at an age where it is a good idea to address the issues of safe driving involving eyesight, hearing, delayed reaction time, and the onset of dementia. Please drive carefully and responsibly.

(in reply to pahunkboy)

Post #: 2

RE: rights of the elderly- perplexed - 1/13/2007 6:59:02 AM

pahunkboy

Posts: 33061
Joined: 2/26/2006
From: Central Pennsylvania
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Male drivers-young-party- are more agresssive.

You bring up a cogent point. However- I believe we have time left. Gram shampooed her furniture before office of aging got there!! she doesnt drive the main highway- only a few blocks to the grocer. she KNOWS her capability.

In this area- the state does NOT take away rights of eldery very easily. I knew an old lady who lived with no running water and a pig sty. The authorities did not remove her from her home. She wanted her life that way. I hope to god we dont get so polically correct that teh elderly are further tossed into the junkyard heaps....

I have several herniated disks in my back- as well as a few other physical problems- so yes- she is more functional.

(in reply to farmbound1)

Post #: 3

RE: rights of the elderly- perplexed - 1/13/2007 7:13:02 AM

sub4hire

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Joined: 1/1/2004
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In 1984 I was driving down the street minding my own business when some old lady comes out of nowhere driving 65 on a street that is marked 30. Hits me in the drivers side door. My head hits something. It is 2007 now and there has not been a day since I have not had a headache.
The old lady ran up to me as I was trying to break free...yelling at me telling me I did not stop at the stop sign I did not have.
She hit us so hard we knocked down a telephone pole and landed on the other side of the street as if we had been driving that way.
Never could understand she had to stop at the stop sign. Never understood I did not have to stop when I had no stop sign.
I petitioned the court and everyone else I could think of to have her license revocked. She had money...I read in the newspaper a year later she had killed someone with the next accident.
She retained her license throughout everything.

There is an age where the elderly does need to be looked at. Licenses taken away.
It could be your grandmothers first of many.

(in reply to pahunkboy)

Post #: 4

RE: rights of the elderly- perplexed - 1/13/2007 7:29:17 AM

pahunkboy

Posts: 33061
Joined: 2/26/2006
From: Central Pennsylvania
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There is an age where the elderly does need to be looked at. Licenses taken away.
It could be your grandmothers first of many.

_____________________________

I agree the time will come. Testing in PA is every 2 years for elderly. 4 years for non-elderly.

Im sorry for you pain. Chonic pain is HORRIBLE. I live chronic pain myself- only when you live it- can you truly know it.

My heart goes out to you on the pain issue.

Hugs my friend, Hugs.

(in reply to sub4hire)

Post #: 5

RE: rights of the elderly- perplexed - 1/13/2007 8:21:00 AM

seeksfemslave

Posts: 4011
Joined: 6/16/2006
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The sad fact is that there does come a time when elderly people should not be allowed to drive. The problem is recognising when that is, there is such a wide variation.

(in reply to pahunkboy)

Post #: 6

RE: rights of the elderly- perplexed - 1/13/2007 12:37:01 PM

ownedgirlie

Posts: 9184
Joined: 2/5/2006
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There was a thread on this last November, in which I listed all sorts of stats regarding elderly drivers. I went to pull it, and realized it was started by you. So, despite what studies show, you seem to just have a thing against the elderly. Maybe you were hoping for a new argument this time?

http://www.collarchat.com/m_691643/mpage_1/key_elderly%252Cdriver/tm.htm#694309

(in reply to pahunkboy)

Post #: 7

RE: rights of the elderly- perplexed - 1/13/2007 12:52:37 PM

KatyLied

Posts: 13029
Joined: 2/24/2005
From: Pennsylvania
Status: offline

quote:

I am 5 blocks from my gram. I can drop in unannounced any day, and time- and she is more functional then I am.

She does have the start of dementia.

Is it possible that you are seeing her only in her more lucid moments?

_____________________________

“If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.”
- Albert Einstein

(in reply to pahunkboy)

Post #: 8

RE: rights of the elderly- perplexed - 1/13/2007 9:42:26 PM

MistressYlwa

Posts: 263
Joined: 8/25/2005
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ownedgirl,

quote:

There was a thread on this last November, in which I listed all sorts of stats regarding elderly drivers. I went to pull it, and realized it was started by you. So, despite what studies show, you seem to just have a thing against the elderly. Maybe you were hoping for a new argument this time?

I read the past post and reread this one. I don't see in either that the OP has anything against the elderly. In fact, in both posts he has made very supportive statements. Perhaps you could point them out to me, as I fail to see anything to support your statement.

Mistress Ylwa

_____________________________

Mistress Ylwa

You see what power is - holding someone elses fear in your hand and showing it to them! - Amy Tan

(in reply to KatyLied)

Post #: 9

RE: rights of the elderly- perplexed - 1/14/2007 6:27:07 AM

LTRsubNW

Posts: 1604
Joined: 5/6/2006
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: pahunkboy

my sister is agasp that my grandmother [80-s] will still drive. Gram totalled her car. I guess I was surprised by her cavalier attitutude.

I am 5 blocks from my gram. I can drop in unannounced any day, and time- and she is more functional then I am.

She does have the start of dementia.

Office of aging checks in on her.

It is my feeling that her rights be intact. This poor woman never had so much as a traffic ticket in her life!!

Ive totalled more then 1 car.

dont mess with my momma, dont mess with my gram! *clenches fist*

jump in with any comments,...

A very common issue and one covered well by some posters above.

One stated that testing is done every two years with the suggestion that this was adequate, when indeed, dimentia can happen suddenly and the next drivers test could easily be 1 year, 364 days away.

Here's a very simple and effective way to see earlier signs:

Contact all the grandchildren and let them know your concerns. Tell them that it's likely that Gram may well be approaching an age where her faculties aren't fully with her at all times. Being that there are multiple grandchildren, you have not only many eyes on the case, as it were, but many different perspectives.

Here's how you'll find the first signs of dimentia;

If she starts forgetting to put a 5 dollar bill in her birthday cards to the kids, that's an early sign of dementia.

If, however, she starts putting 100 dollar bills in these same birthday cards...she's perfectly fine and she should continue driving.

_____________________________

Small deeds will always mean more than large intentions.

(in reply to pahunkboy)

Post #: 10

RE: rights of the elderly- perplexed - 1/14/2007 6:58:23 AM

pahunkboy

Posts: 33061
Joined: 2/26/2006
From: Central Pennsylvania
Status: offline

LOL- birthday cards.

umm- due to family politics- i must yield to my uncle john, her son. if he felt no license i have no choice in the matter what so ever.

my gram is a special person to me. she always believed in me. i send her cards for no reason. i share fruit/food with her.

oh- aunt janie too- caries abit of weight. i believe it is she that is taking gram car shopping.

(in reply to LTRsubNW)

Post #: 11

RE: rights of the elderly- perplexed - 1/14/2007 7:19:13 AM

spankmepink11

Posts: 1310
Joined: 9/28/2005
Status: offline

I have the utmost respect for the elderly, but i also believe passionately in restrictions/testing for elderly drivers. Tests on cognition, reflex, and vision should be done every 6 months, like a physical, in order to retain a drivers license.

I'd also happily pay an additional tax for a senior transportation system.

(in reply to pahunkboy)

Post #: 12

RE: rights of the elderly- perplexed - 1/14/2007 7:20:10 AM

sub4hire

Posts: 6775
Joined: 1/1/2004
Status: offline

I just moved halfway across the United States to pursue my destiny. In any event.
Going back to the original question at hand.

I have not taken a drivers license exam since I was 16, when I first got my license.
I am 40 currently. Why? Because I've always had a good record and California does not require to do so.
I've gotten a ticket here and there and went to traffic school. Still I feel I should have had to take the test.
I've moved, I looked over the sample tests here. Got ready to go take my test at the local dmv. The day I got there they asked me for my CA license. Looked it up on the computer. Then gave me my new license without any test. Even added another 2 years to the expiration date on my license. I'm now good until 2011.
I live in a very different area than what I lived in before. We have signs on the road now that I have never seen before.
We have ice and snow. Rarely did I ever drive in that in the past.
Now I realize if you tested people more often it would cost the states more money but would'nt it be worth it?
Simple legislation could make a law to when you reach a certain age you must take the drivers license test every year. Then all elderly would have their skills.
Dementia, if you live long enough everyone will end up having it. At that point you should'nt have your license anymore.
At some point you are not going to find your way home and it is the right idea not to give someone a license to easily drive 3000 miles from home when they don't know where it is.

(in reply to pahunkboy)

Post #: 13

RE: rights of the elderly- perplexed - 1/14/2007 7:29:09 AM

NorthernGent

Posts: 8730
Joined: 7/10/2006
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: sub4hire

In 1984 I was driving down the street minding my own business when some old lady comes out of nowhere driving 65 on a street that is marked 30. Hits me in the drivers side door. My head hits something. It is 2007 now and there has not been a day since I have not had a headache.
The old lady ran up to me as I was trying to break free...yelling at me telling me I did not stop at the stop sign I did not have.
She hit us so hard we knocked down a telephone pole and landed on the other side of the street as if we had been driving that way.
Never could understand she had to stop at the stop sign. Never understood I did not have to stop when I had no stop sign.
I petitioned the court and everyone else I could think of to have her license revocked. She had money...I read in the newspaper a year later she had killed someone with the next accident.
She retained her license throughout everything.

There is an age where the elderly does need to be looked at. Licenses taken away.
It could be your grandmothers first of many.

It sounds like an awful lot of bad luck and a serious case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

On the other side of the coin, one swallow doesn't make a summer and I'll take a wild stab in the dark that as a percentage of the respective populations the elderly cause, and are involved in, less acccidents than other age groups.

I'm not convinced it is a good idea to restrict the freedom of movement for the elderly. Surely, they should be afforded the same liberty as the rest of us.

_____________________________

I have the courage to be a coward - but not beyond my limits.

Sooner or later, the man who wins is the man who thinks he can.

(in reply to sub4hire)

Post #: 14

RE: rights of the elderly- perplexed - 1/14/2007 7:35:17 AM

pahunkboy

Posts: 33061
Joined: 2/26/2006
From: Central Pennsylvania
Status: offline

part if this issue is a slippery slope. next we will target sleepy drivers????

AARP is a powerful lobby.

IMO the DUI laws are on the edge of running amuck. i had one hell of an argument on a caller mothers against drunk drivers... i did not support the 08 limit. HOWEVER- now that i see a street person can buy their own meter- i relaxed my stance. i have never been drunk in my life.
but i have been medicated......... yadda yadda

(in reply to NorthernGent)

Post #: 15

RE: rights of the elderly- perplexed - 1/14/2007 8:05:44 AM

sjacket

Posts: 152
Joined: 1/4/2004
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First, driving is not a right, it is a privelege. If that privelege is not being abused, it should be afforded to all who qualify for it.

My day job is as a courier- I drive 120 to150 miles each day. City miles. Around town. Close and heavy traffic. I am not exaggerating when I say that every day I see easily a dozen elderly drivers who have NO buisiness behind the wheel of a car. Granted, neither do those people who are paying no attention while talking on their cell phone, eating their lunch, or riding with their dog in their laps (yes, plenty of that too!)

Two years ago while getting my license renewed, I watched the elderly woman in line in front of us fail her eye test. She explained to the woman at the desk that she had been losing the sight in her right eye for years, and was now completely blind in that eye. Apparently her other was not that good either. The BMV worker took her license and advised her that she would have to call someone to come pick her up as her license could not be renewed. She said "fine, I understand.", and went outside, got into her car and promptly drove away. The BMV worker called the police, I assume they found her before she killed or injured someone.

I also know a few elderly who have NO problems driving. In-attention comes in all ages and sizes, it is just a shame that not more can be done to get those off the road that who should be calling a cab.

Good luck to you and yours. Peace and a happy new year.

edited for early morning typos

< Message edited by sjacket -- 1/14/2007 8:07:23 AM >

_____________________________

Have you hugged your Sadist today?

(in reply to pahunkboy)

Post #: 16

RE: rights of the elderly- perplexed - 1/14/2007 8:36:07 AM

pahunkboy

Posts: 33061
Joined: 2/26/2006
From: Central Pennsylvania
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: sjacket
First, driving is not a right, it is a privelege. If that privelege is not being abused, it should be afforded to all who qualify for it.

In a way I feel it is a right. Tho if abused then ya- yank ones license. I am not one to buck the "man"- by failing to get a license, tags, insurance.

When one is subpeoned to court- one MUST COMPLY. to get my rx i must go in person, me, not a 3rd party. we have no bus, no train here. im not sure bicylces are allowed on teh roads. also- i dont know if amish horse and buggies require a license.

i feel there should be reasonable safeguards to protect the public. but i strongly am against erosion of driving "privideldges". some states yank ones drivers license for unpaid child support- and one country yanks DL for defaulted student loans. how this co-insides with the public good per the highways- im not sure.

in my poorest days- i always had a car- i always drove. i was homeless for 8 months. i had a car. at the time welfare was $195 a month. try runing a household or car for that, 1987. it cant be done.

the elderly are underappreciated for teh wisdom they have. we dispose of old people this is a youth culture. age discrimination is very real.
i submit- the as a society we all lose out by this mentality.

when i was a kid, "mr R" my next door neighbor was like my grandfatehr we would set out on the front porch and gab for hours and hours all summer long. i learned ALOT from that man! he would smake a pike- drink jim beam, weld watch the sunset. at times my brothers, dad, his son, or my cousin would join us. i wish i could live in a neighborhood like that again. where we were our own little village.

mr r, is dead now 20 years. many of his talks have benefited me. amazing just how much of a gift his time was to me.

some gifts are priceless... RIP mr r...

(in reply to sjacket)

Post #: 17

RE: rights of the elderly- perplexed - 1/14/2007 3:06:30 PM

ownedgirlie

Posts: 9184
Joined: 2/5/2006
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: MistressYlwa

ownedgirl,

quote:

There was a thread on this last November, in which I listed all sorts of stats regarding elderly drivers. I went to pull it, and realized it was started by you. So, despite what studies show, you seem to just have a thing against the elderly. Maybe you were hoping for a new argument this time?

I read the past post and reread this one. I don't see in either that the OP has anything against the elderly. In fact, in both posts he has made very supportive statements. Perhaps you could point them out to me, as I fail to see anything to support your statement.

Mistress Ylwa

You are correct. He did not say anything against them. I guess I was remembering the overall theme of that thread as being rather negative, and I incorrectly attributed it to him.

To the OP, my apologies for the the incorrect assumption.

(in reply to MistressYlwa)

Post #: 18

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