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New mod - not my choice!

2K views 21 replies 14 participants last post by  arfur 
#1 · (Edited)
It started out as pretty good day - not so much now. I am backing out of a parking spot at the strip mall when I see a vehicle coming at me. The front of the vehicle is already smashed in and heading for me broadside. I slammed the Bad Banana into drive and nailed it. Almost jumped the curb in front of me. I was a split second too late. She caught me in the right rear quarter panel behind the rear wheel - tore off the entire bumper assembly, went across the aisle, bounced off a van, jumped a curb and hit the post in front off the mall. Turns out she had already been hit by someone else out on the main road, some 200 yds. from where she got me. Good news is there was no one walking in the area and she did not go thru a store front. All three in the original crash were taken to the hospital, and I hate to say it but all were elderly. It is tough on the older folks if we don't let them drive anymore but something has to be done. I don't have the answer, just glad the Banana and I will live to fight again, and no one else was seriously hurt. It really looks stupid when your rear bumper is in your trunk. :awkward: :cool:
 
#3 ·
If I had to take a test every year I would because I know people of all ages that should not be driving. :beat:
 
#4 ·
bad banana said:
It started out as pretty good day - not so much now. I am backing out of a parking spot at the strip mall when I see a vehicle coming at me. The front of the vehicle is already smashed in and heading for me broadside. I slammed the Bad Banana into drive and nailed it. Almost jumped the curb in front of me. I was a split second too late. She caught me in the right rear quarter panel behind the rear wheel - tore off the entire bumper assembly, went across the aisle, bounced off a van, jumped a curb and hit the post in front off the mall. Turns out she had already been hit by someone else out on the main road, some 200 yds. from where she got me. Good news is there was no one walking in the area and she did not go thru a store front. All three in the original crash were taken to the hospital, and I hate to say it but all were elderly. It is tough on the older folks if we don't let them drive anymore but something has to be done. I don't have the answer, just glad the Banana and I will live to fight again, and no one else was seriously hurt. It really looks stupid when your rear bumper is in your trunk. :awkward: :cool:
Bad luck BB - that would devastate me!

I really do think that the elderly should be re-assessed regularly if they wish to continue driving - say past 75.
 
#8 ·
Phantomcobra said:
Unfortunately most road tests check to see if you know the rules and if you can stop and turn the car, not if you can drive! Big difference!
Yup - if the examination was designed to see if somebody could 'drive', you would see a drop in drivers on the roads in the US and the UK of greater than 50% I reckon! :confused:
 
#10 ·
My grand father was killed by a old man who crossed the center lane and hit him head on. They need to change the laws and make them test every year.
 
#11 ·
you know the funny thing is that my insurance is higher than that blind old bat that hit you.. and its just cuz im 28 too!!.. i used to race mini sprinters too. i can drive decent, (obviously if i was an awsome driver i would have a sponsored ride) but my reflexes are good and i dont drink and drive.. but i still pay through the A$$ for my insurance because of people like that.. here are some guidelines that i think should be considered to be made into laws..

1. if your hair is blue = no license

2. if after 40 years of driving and you still have your hads at 10 and 2 cuz you are nervous = no license

3. if you drive with a dog on your lap = no license

4. if you can remember when there werent any cars = no license

5. if you refer to cars as "HORSELESS CARAGES" = no license

6. if you have shrank more than 3 inches because your bones are old = no license

7. if the brand of your car starts off with the letters OLDS = no license

8. if you yell at people for driving too fast when they are doing the speed limmit = no license

9. if you ever get confused between the green and the red lights = no license
 
#12 ·
AARP would never go for the retest thing. It's a tough issue but Arfur you're right and the stats back it up. They are a higher risk group for accidents being beaten only by the testerone laden teenage boy (or Godaddy after a new mod)
 
#14 ·
Sorry about your luck Banana, esp.to a fellow Idahoan. I think the median age of your average driver in ID Falls is around 75. I'd like to add a couple license guidelines to mechanicjacks list:
If you drive more than five miles with your turnsignal on=no license
If you have to sit on two or more pillows and tie 4x4's to the gas and brake pedal to see over the dash=no license
If curvature of the spine hunches you over so bad that you look through the space between the horn and the top of the steering wheel to see out of the windshield=no license
If the passenger with cotton hair is a child of the driver=no license :grin:
 
#15 ·
I have been investigating Traffic Collisions for 16 years now. It is very rare for the elderly to be involved in accidents. Although they are the ones that cause them. Generally it is because they are going slower than the flow of traffic, and impatient driver tries to go around them and got into an accident when they try to pass. Or in the same case, as you are trying to pass, the elderly make an illegal turn movement and you try to avoid a collision with the elderly driver and strike something else. Generally, the elderly will drive away after the crash, because you, being the younger, more aware driver, swerved to avoid hitting the elderly driver, striking another object they leave the scene because either they don't believe they have to stop (because they were not hit), or have no clue as to the havoc they have just caused.

And then you have the usual "The gas pedal stuck" and driving through a Farmers Market or Post Office because they hit the gas instead of the brake. They freak out because the car is revving out of control and forget to take their foot off the gas.

Sorry to make generalizations about elderly, but I am speaking from experience. Take their licenses or have them take a driving test every two years after 70. I have sent quite a few Elderly drivers to the California DMV to retake their whole driving tests and will continue to do so.
 
#16 ·
How about this. You know the ignition interlock devices that judges order habitual drunk drivers to put on their ignitions where you blow into the thing and it registers their B.A.C.? How about a reaction meter. Where you push some buttons in reaction to illuminated buttons that were flashed by the computer (like the old "Simon" game), the elderly will just have to push buttons in response to what the computer tells them, and they have so many milliseconds to respond. If they pass 5 consecutive times, they can drive.

BTW, this was a semi-serious post.
 
#17 ·
96ss said:
I have been investigating Traffic Collisions for 16 years now. It is very rare for the elderly to be involved in accidents. Although they are the ones that cause them. Generally it is because they are going slower than the flow of traffic, and impatient driver tries to go around them and got into an accident when they try to pass. Or in the same case, as you are trying to pass, the elderly make an illegal turn movement and you try to avoid a collision with the elderly driver and strike something else. Generally, the elderly will drive away after the crash, because you, being the younger, more aware driver, swerved to avoid hitting the elderly driver, striking another object they leave the scene because either they don't believe they have to stop (because they were not hit), or have no clue as to the havoc they have just caused.

And then you have the usual "The gas pedal stuck" and driving through a Farmers Market or Post Office because they hit the gas instead of the brake. They freak out because the car is revving out of control and forget to take their foot off the gas.

Sorry to make generalizations about elderly, but I am speaking from experience. Take their licenses or have them take a driving test every two years after 70. I have sent quite a few Elderly drivers to the California DMV to retake their whole driving tests and will continue to do so.
Symantics - whether actually involved, or the catalyst - they are a high risk group (whether it be their insurance or somebody elses). :grin:
 
#19 ·
a few more future law sugestions.. :pray: please put them to use

1. if you use your rims as curb feelers when you park = no license

2. if you smell like mothballs = no license

3. if you cant go out without DEPENDS = no license

4. if you remember the great depression = no license

5. if you have a hearing aid FOR your hearing aid = no license

6. if you have a problem with seeing at night, chances are you cant see that well during the day either = no license

7. if you have a grab rail inside your shower to help you out = no license

8. if when you are walking and you take a step and the foot you are taking a step with never passes the foot that is not moving (just kinda shuffling using baby steps) = no license

9. if you have to fold up your walker and put it in the trunk before getting in the drivers seat = no license

10. if you are leaving the store and go to get into your car, and the car next to you parks, goes inside gets his stuff and leaves, and you are still trying to get into your car = no license


and if i say you cant have a car license, that does NOT mean go get a class A license and buy the biggest F-in motorhome in the world and then have a heart attack behind the wheel because you were pissed at the person flipping you off because you were doing 30 in a 65, taking up 2 1/2 lanes with your left turnsignal on, on your way to nowhere cuz you have nothing else to do.. SIGH................ i miss my grandparents.
 
#20 ·
If your car is "Taupe," or if it has a vinyl roof and was produced after 1975, NO LICENSE!

Whitewall tires, NO LICENSE!
 
#21 ·
arfur said:
Symantics - whether actually involved, or the catalyst - they are a high risk group (whether it be their insurance or somebody elses). :grin:
Agree. I had to rant because......well because.
 
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