My grandfather is a charmer, when he used to drive he had a few people he would charm on either a daily, monthly or yearly basis.
On a daily basis it would probably be his children and grandchildren which explains the 3 layered chocolate cake he isn’t supposed to have sitting neatly on his dining room table.
On a monthly basis it would be police officers and mechanics when he would try to get out of tickets or trying to convince ‘his guy’ that the small ding could be dealt with within the day before he got home reguardless of how many other cars were before his at the shop.
On a yearly basis when things got really bad it was probably be his doctor because he would need a letter to say that he could continue to drive even though we all knew it was time for him to stop.
Dealing with ‘not driving’ can be a big deal for the elderly, it takes away their sense of independence and confines them to asking for a ride or just staying at home.
Many of them never recover from the shock of being sedentary and often they get pretty worried about it until it finally settles in and they accept it reluctantly.
We will all get there someday and while we can drum up statistics now about accidents and how annoying the elderly are on the road, we can’t help but try to understand what they are going though as they hang up their car keys for good.
There is a new survey that just came out conducted by the Princeton Survey Research Associates International that say that
A whopping 14 million drivers between 18 and 64 were involved in an accident or near accident with an elderly driver. Millennials are the group most likely to be involved in an accident or near accident with an elderly driver, a result that should surprise no one.
The study brings to the fore front the age old debate that maybe the DMV or CDC should not be in charge of determining if a person over the age of 64 should be allowed to drive. Considering how many accidents there are involving the elderly, should the government step in and regulate?
There is probably more politics to this question than this post could handle but if you ask my grandfather he would say an emphatic no, because he would think it does not serve his agenda. However some might have differing opinions especially if they were involved in an accident with some one elderly.
Where do you stand? Should the Federal Government regulate our parents and grandparents as they hit the streets?