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Topic: Elderly Drivers vs the world (Read 1784 times) |
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Fritz
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Elderly Drivers vs the world
« on: 2008-05-06 13:34:18 » |
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Well ‘us’ old farts have to start looking over our shoulders. The Meme is all old people are bad drivers, which has clearly been spliced into our social DNA and now it is being activated as the boomers become known as old and decrepit dangers on the road ... who paid for and built these roads anyway .... oh ya ... there will be no gasolines soon ; so I guess old farts that set the destruction of the planet into motion get the last laugh .... :-0
“Take no prisoners” may have to be the battle cry of the old farts (aka Elderly) behind the wheel …
Fritz
http://www.metronews.ca/ottawa/Local/article/48814
Elderly driver crashes eatery
Twice in last month a car has been driven through a structure
By TIM WIECLAWSKI
May 04, 2008 11:19
For the second time in just more than a month, an elderly driver has lost control of her vehicle in a parking lot and crashed into an occupied building. [color:y] [Fritz] 2 in one month; we may need a hang'in
Unlike last time, however, when a woman was killed and three others injured after a car plowed through a mall bus shelter, this time only the motorist suffered minor injuries.
At approximately 10 p.m. on Saturday, an 86-year-old woman crashed her vehicle through the window of a Harvey’s restaurant on Montreal Road, near the Aviation Parkway. Ottawa Police Sgt. Paul Batista said it appeared the woman mistook the gas pedal for the brake while turning around and plowed her vehicle through the front corner of the building.
Fortunately, no one was seated in the front part of the dining area near the window when the car crashed through.
Paramedic team leader Cory Van Delst said the driver appeared anxious and shaken following the incident, but suffered only minor injuries in the collision. She was transported to Montfort Hospital for observation.
No charges will be laid since the incident occurred on private property.
By yesterday morning, plywood boards had been erected in place of the shattered window at the restaurant, but shards of glass and overturned tables and chairs were still scattered inside. There was a deep tire divot in a small patch of grass in front of the building.
A Harvey’s employee, sweeping outside, said the car had driven clear into the restaurant.
Representatives from Harvey’s would not comment on when the restaurant would reopen.
It’s the second time in a month [Fritz] no mention of the litany of carnage cause by them hopped up ‘young’ins’ behind the wheel in the last month :-p that an elderly female driver has smashed into a building. On April 2, Claire Blouin, 84, allegedly lost control of her vehicle in front of the Lincoln Fields shopping centre and plowed into a bus shelter, killing 66-year-old Jacqueline Dyrkton.
Dyrkton’s grandson, a 77-year-old man and an 89-year-old woman were also injured in the collision.
–tim.wieclawski@metronews.ca
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Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains -anon-
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Fritz
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Re:Elderly Drivers vs the world
« Reply #1 on: 2008-05-17 00:55:00 » |
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Well and so it begins; count'em, 6 mishaps in a major city involving old people in 3 years and now it is get'em off the road. This stinks and is social engineering at its most insidious.
I would like to see the driving record of the all the politicians and media; maybe they should have graduated driving licenses; their beady little eyes and shallow brains must be a danger on the road.
Dismayed and pissed.
Fritz
PS: Maybe we should just "put down" anyone over the age of thirty; that would be humane and solve the food and energy crisis 
Licence grey zone
Province considering restrictions for senior citizen drivers
http://www.ottawasun.com/News/National/2008/05/14/5558501-sun.html
By AEDAN HELMER, SUN MEDIA
Bert Hanmer has been driving for 75 years and he's not about to stop now.
The Ontario government has proposed a form of graduated licensing for senior citizens, requiring drivers deemed a high risk to stay off 400-series highways and to avoid driving at night.
Transportation Minister Jim Bradley said Monday the province will consider limiting driving privileges in place of the current policy of suspending licences.
The idea is being widely supported by seniors, including Hanmer, 93, who recently passed a written exam and vision test "with flying colours" to retain his licence.
"I prescribe rules for myself," said Hanmer. "I don't drive after dark, and I try to avoid driving on the Queensway. Personally, I'd rather not take the chance. It's common sense."
The proposed amendment to the province's current "all-or-nothing" policy is also drawing support from senior advocacy groups.
Susan Eng, vice president of advocacy for the Canadian Association of Retired People, said drivers with mild cognitive limitations, as well as those who don't feel comfortable driving at highway speeds or at night, would accept a limited licence.
'POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS'
"For those people there could be a category of restricted licence, much as there is for young drivers," said Eng, "so they are able to maintain their mobility and independence, while at the same time saying they do not intend to put themselves in these potentially dangerous situations."
Ontario drivers aged 80 and over are now required to complete a vision test and a written competency test, as well as participate in a group education session every two years. Physicians are required to report any deteriorating health condition that might affect a person's ability to drive.
Al Loney, executive director of the Council on Aging of Ottawa, said his membership supports the idea of more road testing for potentially high-risk drivers, "but it should apply equally to other drivers," he said.
Loney said incidents like the April 2 Lincoln Fields accident where 84-year-old Claire Blouin was charged with dangerous driving causing death after a car backed over a bus shelter, killing a 66-year-old grandmother -- draws unfair negative attention, since seniors are responsible for a relatively low percentage of collisions.
"Every time there's a situation like that, there's talk that goes around that all these old people should be taken off the road," said Loney. "There are many people driving who probably should be taken off the road who are much younger."
Loney said having a licence taken away can be "a tremendous blow" to a senior.
"But if the doctor is saying this person really is unsafe to drive, then they're unsafe to drive, period," he said.
ROAD AGE
Recent collisions involving seniors in Ottawa:
- April 2: A 66-year-old woman dies as her grandson looks on when a car driven by an 84-year-old woman backs out of a parking spot in the Lincoln Fields shopping centre, crushing a bus shelter. Claire Blouin was charged with dangerous driving causing death.
- Nov. 18, 2007: Three seniors are injured after a T-bone collision on Dwyer Hill Rd. The elderly driver is charged with failing to yield to traffic.
- Sept. 29, 2007: An 87-year-old Smiths Falls woman dies after a head-on collision in Kars.
- Nov. 20, 2006: An elderly woman dies near Maniwaki after failing to stop and turning onto a highway and into the path of an oncoming transport truck.
- Nov. 14, 2006: An 83-year-old man dies after his car veers into a ditch in Dunrobin. Police believe the man suffered a heart attack.
- Aug. 2, 2006: Rita Curley, 84, is charged with dangerous driving causing injury after steering her car into a New Edinburgh coffee shop, striking a 51-year-old patron.
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Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains -anon-
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Hermit
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Re:Elderly Drivers vs the world
« Reply #2 on: 2008-05-19 15:36:33 » |
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Another slippery slope ski session in progress. Wait till they discover from "News of the World" that the issue also involves satanism and the molestation of prepubescent mice.
To avoid the undignified spectacle of arrant prejudice at both ends of the age-spectrum (consider that children can obtain their first licenses at 14 in Iowa with no sign of a resulting trail of corpses), it is my opinion that computer simulator based functional testing, with optional component testing allowing basic capability expansion, should replace all statutory limits. This would allow limited but achievable capability for basic mobility for most and a scrupulously fair evaluation. Of course, with what is happening with fuel and the climate, perhaps a demonstrated need should be required for all travel authorization... but imagine the resulting bureaucracy and shudder.
Kind Regards
Hermit
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With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion. - Steven Weinberg, 1999
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