Home › Forums › Open Discussion › To the friends and loved ones of the older lady driving a red Caddy CTS…
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April 11, 2012 at 2:01 pm #602848
velo_nutParticipantIt would be safer if you removed the keys from her possession. Speed Limit driving, the ability to hold a straight line and the understanding of stop lights… These things are oblivious to her and will soon end badly.
April 12, 2012 at 8:29 pm #754428
Betty TMemberI’m not a youngster myself. But scarey as it is there are others out there, who can barely navigate on their own let alone a car.Driving is their last leg of independence. So hard to give up. I have ridden with some of those people and it gets a little scarey, not a 2nd time. Hope someone can step up in the Cadillac case.
April 12, 2012 at 11:23 pm #754429
JoBParticipantwouldn’t it be safer for all of us if we provided a good public transportation system for those who can no longer drive safely?
as it is.. when you take away the keys you also take away the independence..
and often as not.. the will to live
April 12, 2012 at 11:31 pm #754430
oddrealityParticipantYou sure it was an elderly woman? I have had numerous similar experiences with age 20-40 something males.
They are a lot more dangerous to me ~along with all the distracted people texting and phoning while driving.Usually the elderly just drive a little slower than some others. If she really was more dangerous than other people I hope she gets off the road..
I hope that about a lot of younger people too.
April 13, 2012 at 12:12 am #754431
RarelyEverParticipantAn elderly lady and former neighbor of ours got on the freeway using an exit ramp and, after getting into a head-on collision ended up killing the driver of the other vehicle, an 18-year-old student. She was driving a new SUV and had to have her leg amputated; still, she lived.
I’m still upset about not having alerted her family to try and take her keys from her. I was worried about her driving and would get a bad feeling in my stomach anytime she got into that car.
Hindsight is 20/20. :(
April 13, 2012 at 1:59 am #754432
MSWSMemberIn the late 1980’s, I had an elderly neighbor in WS, Gladys Owens, she was 79 when she hit the little girl in the cross walk on California Ave SW. She only drove short distances from her home to teach piano lessons to children. I would discuss this with her husband Joe while he dug his underground garden compost bin. It upset him terribly to think of the little girl and her family and what they had to go through. It so bothered him he ended up shooting his wife and burying her in the new compost bin in the back yard.
Gladys never should have been driving.
April 13, 2012 at 1:40 pm #754433
velo_nutParticipantNot just old… VERY old.
April 13, 2012 at 3:58 pm #754434
amaliaParticipantI recently had an old man nearly right-hook me (on my bike) entering a nursing home on Mercer Island. His [presumed] daughter in the passenger seat mouthed “I know, I know” and waved me off apologetically, and it occurred to me that she knew he shouldn’t be driving but wouldn’t take the privilege away from him.
Tough choice, maybe, but losing that independance is not nearly as bad as having to live with the repercussions of incidents like those described by Rarely Ever and MSWS. To state the obvious.
April 13, 2012 at 8:31 pm #754435
Betty TMemberI’M NOT OBJECTING BUT UNTIL SOMEONE GOES THROUGH THIS ISSUE WITH A PARENT OR OTHER FAMILY MEMBER THEY DON’T KNOW HOW TRAUMATIC IT CAN BE. IT’S NOT EASY.
April 13, 2012 at 8:38 pm #754436
MBParticipantIt was very difficult for my parents to take the keys away from my Grandparents years ago, but it would have been MUCH harder to watch another family bury a loved one because they couldn’t bring themselves to do what was right. The pain from loss of independence (which is a very real and legitimate pain) doesn’t compare to pain of hurting or killing someone.
April 13, 2012 at 9:29 pm #754437
AlParticipantIt’s incredibly difficult to get someone declared unfit to drive. There’s no application process and unless their personal doctor is willing to verify it, or the police themselves take the license away (after a horrible crash usually), it’s impossible to get the DMV to revoke it. There’s got to be a ‘proven’ danger.
My mother ended up hiding the keys to my grandfather’s car after we discovered he had been taking high-speed shortcuts through various parking lots rather than using the street and ended up in minor fender-benders. It was the last option (after doctor, DMV and police were contacted) but we didn’t want him killing someone. He was able to get around via family help, metro and the van at his retirement complex.
April 13, 2012 at 11:00 pm #754438
anotherwsmomParticipantI *just* had this discussion with my Grandmother. She was stunned that the DOL granted her a new license this year (88 years old) without any kind of driving test. She still drives quite well but clearly, not everyone her age does. God help me when it’s time to take away the folks’ keys.
April 14, 2012 at 3:42 pm #754439
35this35mphParticipantHere’s how you report. Anyone can do it, however you have to know at least the person’s name and address. Note that age alone is not a legitimate consideration. And it is NOT a confidential process. If the driver or their attorney wants to know who made the report they have access to that info. Important to prevent it from becoming a tool for harrassment.
April 14, 2012 at 7:12 pm #754440 -
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