Treacherous Tales Of Dangerous Drivers
Dear Readers: I’ve already printed several letters on elderly drivers, but the mail keeps pouring in and deserves space in the column. Here’s more:
Dear Ann Landers: You printed a letter laying it on the line about the hazards of elderly drivers. My father, who is nearly 90, was having eye problems. One afternoon, his vehicle was not in his garage, so I went over later and asked where he’d been. His answer was “My eyes were bothering me. I couldn’t read and couldn’t watch TV, so I went for a drive.” Scary, isn’t it? - Billings, Mont.
Dear Mont.: Scary? You bet. Keep reading for additional letters that will twirl your turban:
From Anchorage, Alaska: A 78-year-old man was driving the car that hit me. He refused to admit that he was in the wrong lane to make a turn. The police officer gave him a ticket. He contested it and won.
I don’t think he lied. I doubt that he knew what he was doing. So now this elderly, befuddled man has a “clean” record and will probably cause another accident. I hope he doesn’t kill somebody.
Boca Raton, Fla.: A friend of mine, who is 87 years old, received his new driver’s license in the mail. It’s good for six and a half years. Another friend, who had a stroke and is paralyzed on his left side, drives over to see him every day. He also received his license in the mail without taking a test. Florida is a great state to live in, with many benefits for seniors, but some of its laws need updating.
Fort Myers, Fla.: I know an 85-year-old man from Ohio who received his driver’s license by mail. This man ran over “three trash cans” and left the accident scene, not knowing he had killed three little girls. He was not required to have a doctor’s test or an eye test, and he thought he ran over three trash cans. What does it take to get the laws changed?
Saginaw, Mich.: My dear neighbors were hit by a 90-year-old man who “did not see” the stop sign. The woman was killed instantly, and her husband was left with two broken arms, a fractured pelvis and no wife. People need to know when to quit driving and have the decency to admit it.
New Jersey: My grandfather should have stopped driving years ago, but no one wanted to deprive him of his independence. What happened? He hit a family standing on a corner and changed everyone’s lives forever. Grandpa and his wife are now in a great deal of physical and emotional pain, not to mention the survivors of the family he hit. Please, Ann, print this message Seniors: when You feel yourself slipping, stop driving before you kill yourself and some innocent bystanders.
Desert Hot Springs, Calif.: So you were shocked at the issuance of a driver’s license to an 88-year-old Florida woman? I live in California and am 87. I received my renewal license in February. Issuance has been by mail for the last 24 years, each for a full four-year term. P.S. I am totally deaf.
Minneapolis: When my father developed Parkinson’s disease, I took his car keys away, and that was the end of it. If we don’t stop incompetent elderly persons from driving, we invite mandatory retesting for everyone after a certain age. This would be a nuisance, but it could save lives.
Fredericksburg, Va.: Advocates for senior citizens point out that young, inexperienced drivers cause the most serious accidents. The reasons: drinking, drug use and poor judgment.
This is Ann talking now. Fredericksburg is right, but nonetheless, mandatory retesting for drivers over the age of 70 should be a must in every state. Driving should not be a lifetime right.