Is it still safe for my brother to be driving?

S

sprinkle85

New Member
I'm not sure if this is true or not but is there any definite age that people get cut off from their driving privileges?

I have known some pretty old folks who have smashed into mailboxes, curbs, etc. Are there any laws that prevent us from our right to continue to drive as we get older?

My brother has progressive glaucoma and refuses to stop driving. I think its more of an independence issue and not so much as he can clearly see and enjoys the experience.

How could I approach him in a polite and courteous way to inform him that he should consider a break from driving?

Should I involve more family members or do you think he will appreciate the question because I am his sister??
 

I don't think there are any laws except if an accident is caused by it, or police deem you unfit to drive. I stopped after my wife died because I felt it was time. As for a way to approach him, I'm not too sure I can't imagine having to tell someone that. Though I think it is best you keep it between you and him, there is no reason to involve others, all it will do is embarrass him in my opinion.
 
I'm with Bill.K, as far as not involving other family members. I would approach him in a caring and loving way. Let him know that his eyesight may cause him or someone else serious injury if an accident were to happen. Let him know that you'd miss him terribly if anything bad happened to him, and the guilt for him would be an extreme burden if he were to seriously injure another while driving. If anything, it'll give him some 'food for thought', and he may consider taking a break. I personally don't feel that there should be any limitations on elderly drivers whatsoever, as long as they have their wits about them and they can clearly see what they're doing on the road.
 

I would also suggest he go to the DMV for an eye check. The same one they do when you get your learner's license. If he passes, then according to the government, he is ok to drive, if he fails, then it will show him that may be a danger to others on the road.
 
I think no one should drive after 70 simply because our reflexes stop being the same. Even if you are relatively healthy you should stop driving at 70 tops.
 
My dad was 78 when he passed away. At his last driver's license test, it was only a short test - he was given a sheet of paper to read and then, was asked if he had any questions about what was written on the paper. He said he didn't have any questions, so he passed the test and was able to continue driving. He told this story as a joke, the reason he said he didn't have any questions was because he couldn't see enough to read what was on the paper. As his daughter, as well as the rest of my family, we didn't find his joke very funny.

As family members, we did offer him rides as much as possible. He manage to not get into any car accidents before he passed away, but sometimes, I wish I had been more firm with my sister, who lived closest to my dad, about our dad's driving. It is not just the safety of your brother that you need to be concerned about, it is also the safety of those around him, when he drives. You would not want your brother to hurt anyone else as a senior citizen driver. I would talk to family members and also, see if you can find out what your brother's doctor says about your brother driving.
 
That is really a difficult decision for a person to make. We all have our egos and some of us are too unwilling to believe (or admit to ourselves) that we can't do the same things we could do five or ten years ago. You may be a great driver at 80 years old but what happens if you suddenly have a stroke. I quit riding motorcycles at about 50 years old. I had no near misses but knew that my reflexes were getting a bit slower. And I will do the same with my driving. In fact due to the great public transportation where I live at it would be foolish for me to drive again.

It is just a subject that has to be spoken of with kid gloves. Good Luck!
 
How about casually bringing up the subject of Glaucoma? ask him how it affects him, giving you the opportunity of mentioning the damage that could be caused if he crashed, and not just to himself but to innocents around him.
I suffer from Glaucoma, and know full well the effects, I live in a rural area, and seldom will drive anywhere at all these days, unfortunately a car is a neccesity, thankfully my Wife drives "at the moment" but I would rather give up driving knowing I could kill someone.
perhaps he only needs someone to point out the drawbacks to him. I am sure done in a positive and caring way he will understand.
 
Trevor said:
I think no one should drive after 70 simply because our reflexes stop being the same. Even if you are relatively healthy you should stop driving at 70 tops.
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I gotta respectfully disagree with that. I believe anyone 70+ should be required to take a physical driving test, specifically geared to address reflexes eye/hand/foot co-ordination.

I am 65, I can still dump the clutch on a manual transmission at the drag strip and I can still parallel park my 4-wheel drive truck and 4-horse trailer, if I have to; my 4-wheel drive truck with a clutch:)

What tisses me off more than anything, when we hit 70 our auto insurance rates automatically go up, regardless of driving record. They put us right back in the category of a 16 year old that doesn't have a lick of common sense or street smarts. Yet another reason I would like to see the physical test enacted:eek:nthego:
 
Like TWHRider said, a person's reflexes will vary with age. I've had students well over 80 actively sparring with me, while some 50-year-olds can't stand on two legs without wobbling.

One problem with being an older driver isn't so much your actual limitations as the ones perceived by younger, more impatient drivers. Their rage at discovering they're behind "Grandpa" is awesome and fearful to behold - usually they solve their problem by stomping on the gas and jerking the wheel to get ahead of that "dangerous" old man.

...in the process running over 3 Boy Scouts, 2 nuns and a puppy.

So it isn't even always your own physical condition but the emotions you can invoke in others that makes you a "danger" on the road.

Personally I gave up driving years ago - not from physical limitations but from philosophical, ethical and practical ones. I don't miss it. Not one bit.
 
TWHRider said:
What tisses me off more than anything, when we hit 70 our auto insurance rates automatically go up, regardless of driving record. They put us right back in the category of a 16 year old that doesn't have a lick of common sense or street smarts. Yet another reason I would like to see the physical test enacted:eek:nthego:
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I know how you feel. I started driving when I was 16 and stopped when I moved to Thailand (public transportation here is great), so that gives me 47 years of driving without an accident and the last ticket I received was in 1984.
 
Each state or country will have differing laws as to when you must be tested. I think Florida (where I live) you can get a 10 year renewal once without testing so everyone ges retested a couple of times if they live in the state. Also, once you reach a certain age the test becomes more frequent.

It is a problem in that many elderly people in my area actually do not even have a Florida driver's license but one from another state. They also can run into more than mail boxes. There are many instances per year of someone hitting the gas pedal instead of the brake and going into the front of a store.
 
TWHRider said:
I gotta respectfully disagree with that. I believe anyone 70+ should be required to take a physical driving test, specifically geared to address reflexes eye/hand/foot co-ordination.

I am 65, I can still dump the clutch on a manual transmission at the drag strip and I can still parallel park my 4-wheel drive truck and 4-horse trailer, if I have to; my 4-wheel drive truck with a clutch:)

What tisses me off more than anything, when we hit 70 our auto insurance rates automatically go up, regardless of driving record. They put us right back in the category of a 16 year old that doesn't have a lick of common sense or street smarts. Yet another reason I would like to see the physical test enacted:eek:nthego:
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I don't think those over 70 should take any kind of additional test, just an eye test like usual. :drive: All we ever had were manual trasmissions, until I got an automatic Dodge Nitro in 2007...but it stays in the garage a lot, and I drive my manual Jeep Cherokee daily. All our vehicles are 4 wheel drive, our manual Dodge Cummins diesel is what we take on vacations with the camper on it. I don't like the elderly being treated like anything but what we are, adults. We paid our dues, now leave us alone. :) I know of a couple of 20 and 30 years olds who had vision problems and crashed into other people, doesn't have to be age-related problems, those things happen all the time. Funny though how when it's a 70 year old, that it makes the news. :mad:
 
You make a good point, SeaBreeze, but perhaps you are healthier than average. I live/work in an area with many elderly drivers and after talking with them for a few minutes you wonder how they ever arrived at all. Although, I know my car seems to know the way home if I'm tired :) !
 
R. Zimm said:
It is a problem in that many elderly people in my area actually do not even have a Florida driver's license but one from another state. ...
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I'm pretty sure that if you're a full-time resident you have to surrender your old license and apply / convert it to your new state's license. I think there's a time limit, but not sure what it is - probably different for each state. I know that in PA if they catch you driving with an out-of-state license when you actually live in PA you're in pretty deep trouble - fines at the least, revocation at the worst.
 
I think it varies for a lot of folks. Not only age, health, medications, drinking and recreational drug use. Here in Las Vegas there are so many accidents. Most the folks on the roads are under the influence of something.
At my work I see the elderly who can barely walk, can see, shake like a vibrator of turbo and get into the car and drive away. It's NUTS, you really gotta drive defensive here.
 
pchinvegas said:
Holy Crap Maynard ! They are CRAZY !
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Right?

I mean, I've lived in NYC and LA, and even THOSE nuts weren't as nutty as THESE nuts! It's as if they learned to drive by practicing on the bumper cars at the fair. Probably fueled by vodka, too. :playful:

Another hint is the music that's playing in the cars - most of the time it's the stuff that kids listen to, so I'm pretty sure most of these accidents were from the youngsters.
 
pchinvegas said:
Oh, don't be judgin by the music I was just jammin to Black Eyed Peas, Macalmore, Kanye and Rianna, am I in trouble? LOL
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Well, I'm a firm believer in NON-multi-tasking. Anything that draws your attention away from the potentially fatal activity known as "driving" is something to be avoided in my book. That being said, listening to Bach's "Air on a G-String" is much less likely to draw your attention away than Kanye's "Jesus Walks" - it's in the energy of the music, the TYPE of energy of the music that you listen to, that in part will determine how you drive. Classical music such as Bach is relaxing and passive; Kanye is energizing and aggressive.

You'll drive the way the music moves you.
 
I do live in Vegas, SifuPhil , it is a whole nuther world here. We march to the beat of a different drummer. As much as I miss the laid back life I had in Georgia, or the blues of New Orleans, I find in order to coexist I must "go with the flow" and the flow here is energizing and aggressive or you'll get left behind.
Damn, I do love Bocelli, that would be sweet!
 
I have to disagree with Trevor. I bet he's in his fifties, unless he has some serious physical difficulties. I don't have any seeing or hearing problems. I go to an old folks boot camp for workouts and yoga. This keeps me fit, so I don't have a balance problem as of yet. I hope I don't have a wreck to know to quit driving. Right now, I drive to midtown Atlanta on I-85/75. No one blows their horn or shake fists, that I see. I am not a pokey driver, but I try to drive below 80 when traffic on the interstate allows. I set my cruise control on 79. I drive with the traffic flow most of the time. Never the leader or the last.
 
charlotta said:
I have to disagree with Trevor. I bet he's in his fifties, unless he has some serious physical difficulties. I don't have any seeing or hearing problems. I go to an old folks boot camp for workouts and yoga. This keeps me fit, so I don't have a balance problem as of yet. I hope I don't have a wreck to know to quit driving. Right now, I drive to midtown Atlanta on I-85/75. No one blows their horn or shake fists, that I see. I am not a pokey driver, but I try to drive below 80 when traffic on the interstate allows. I set my cruise control on 79. I drive with the traffic flow most of the time. Never the leader or the last.
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Charlotta, I just realized that this thread is from 2012. It took me awhile, so maybe I should not be driving this computer.:) I personally do not use cruise control, and think 79 MPH is high....but that's me. With the speeds and high traffic volume on today's Interstates, I think everyone's re-actions are slow. Things just "go sour" fast! As far as eye-sight, I think one's eye-doctor should be involved in the decision early on. Independence, Age, Driving are all hot-button issues and raise the heat! I would suggest you re-think your speed on cruise control, as you journey.:) Good luck! Jim
 
Why put an age limit on it....like 70 ? Makes no sense. Is this YOUR advice?

I know people below the age 70 who shouldn't ever be driving and people 80 and above who are excellent
drivers! 70? PPFFFT !
 

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