Seniors, Do You Drive? Take the poll!

Do you drive?

  • Total voters
    65
I like to drive and be independent but I don't drive long distances because the traffic is much heavier than a few years ago.
I drive myself for appointments, errands, groceries and visiting friends. I hope my health permits me to drive for quite a few more years.
 

I am still driving and hopefully for a many more years. I do not like driving at night or in snow and ice. I will give up driving when I feel like i should.
 
I drive all the time. And when I'm not in the driver's seat, I'm "driving" by telling my wife what she's doing wrong. (she won't take that for long)

While we're on the subject of driving, my car insurance company offered us a way to try to reduce our car insurance. They gave us a device to install in our cars known as “a vehicle telematics tracker”. I thought it may be a good way to show the company what a good driver I am. It's part of a trend called usage-based insurance.
The technology consists of a device that attaches to the diagnostics port in your car and measures everything from acceleration, speed and braking to the time you're behind the wheel.

Long story short, I’ve done terrible at it. They say I have had 8 “instances” where it has recorded that I have driven badly and dangerously. I have denied it to my wife, and told her that she must have been driving my car.

I’m calling the car insurance company and telling them that the device is not working properly.
 

I still drive whenever I need/want to and I'm in early 70s. I guess I drive about as much as I used to, if you subtract the time/miles spent getting back and forth to work and going work related places.

Driving, itself, has never been particularly pleasurable to me, except in the honeymoon phase right after I got my first license at 16. I've always hated heavy traffic and parking hassles. Right now, my city, in its infinite wisdom, has dug up our main drag, as well as the alternate east/west routes at the same time and getting anywhere in town and dodging orange cones, detour signs and blinking lights has made it a major project and a major headache to get from point A to point B, and at night it is a nightmare.

It has certainly increased my use of the more colorful words in my vocabulary.
 
I drive a couple of ranch trucks and my wife drives her Subaru Forester. Oh yeah...a couple of BMW road bikes and a Honda dirt bike, not to mention our bass boat. My wife and I are 72 and life is great. By the way, Ike, that is a GREAT looking Z71 Silverado!
 
One thing I've noticed as I've aged. The accumulation of years and it's effect on our abilities is far different than the younger years. From let's say, 30 to 60 I felt little difference in my abilities or reaction times. But from 60 to 85 become like two completely different people. The downward spiral of our abilities, or at least mine, is far more pronounced - -more like falling off the cliff rather than walking down an incline.


Like some others, at 84 I have stopped my night-time driving except for emergencies. During the day, I drive regularly and just returned from Maine, a drive of 200+ miles passing directly through Boston and the usual traffic nightmare. It's more tiring now than at 60 - 70, but not troublesome - - -yet. It does require more concentration as your reactions have to be slower, whether one realizes it or not. Unfortunately, my car isn't equipped with all of the literally "hands-off" features so I can only count on myself to do it safely. LOL


So far-so good but my time will shortly arrive when I'll have to "pack it in" as far as driving is concerned.
 
I drive. I have to. I used to enjoy it more but there's a lot of construction and rebuilding of unsafe bridges where I live which is tying up traffic terribly. But I can't imagine life without a car and hope to always be well enough to drive. :eek:
 
I'm in the minority here,I never felt comfortable behind the wheel,I took driving lessons and couple of road tests. I wasn't upset when I didn't pass. I think my parents were concerned how I would get along without 'wheels'. .I'm very independent,I walk everywhere.If I need to go to a 'big box' store e.g. Target,Kohls,or when I go to the movies by myself, I'll take the bus. If a friend offers to take me somewhere,then I'll accept I just think of all the money I've saved by not having a car. These days with the way people drive,I'm taking my life my life into my own hands whenever I cross the street. I can't tell you how many times I've almost been hit by these very,distracted drivers on their******* cellphones. Sue
 
The responses and the poll in this thread have really surprised me. I thought that everyone wished to keep driving, both for the freedom it brings as well as for the simple enjoyment of it. I am positively astounded that over 5% have never driven. I would have thought that it would be way under 1%.

We need to renew our licenses every four years here, but we can do it by mail every other time. I have always gone in and brought a vision test with me because I figure that after four more years pass I might look like a mess which encourages them to require a medical certificate (their option). I don't trust them on vision tests.

My eldest aunt died at 97. She drove until the day she died. My 90 year old neighbor drives everyplace although he and his wife (they both drive) seem to fly if it's more than a few hundred miles.
 
I drive--lots. I'm the only driver in my household, and I also do chauffeuring of and for the kids and grand kids. I put about 20K miles a year on the car.
 
I am 81 years old and I don't like driving too much. I find the mechanics of driving is relatively easy but to apply those skills to all that is involved in driving is more than a challenging task to say the least. It seems there are way too many blind spots. I never know where my wheels exactly are which causes me to run over curbs, not knowing how far an object is either in front of me or in back or to the sides. As a result I back out only at 2 mph or less so if I do hit something I do either minimum or no damage. Then when you enter a highway it is a gamble to make it and this includes changing lanes. As a result I always choose the lane from which I will turn On top of that at night these halogen headlights blind you (I feel they should be banned). Another issue is road markings. Today's modern markings are sometimes confusing when you first come up on them. I also feel the entire side of the road should be marked, particularly at intersections which could be with broken lines. I have a terrible time with roads at night that do not have the entire side painted. I hope they will eventually go to reflectors which do not fade out as paint does.

As a result I wish I had the money to buy one of those dream cars soon to be put out that tells you where everything is and if you are too close will take the car over. I think that will improve everyone's driving and reduce many accidents.
 
Editorialist said:
...On top of that at night these halogen headlights blind you (I feel they should be banned)...

....I also feel the entire side of the road should be marked, particularly at intersections which could be with broken lines. I have a terrible time with roads at night that do not have the entire side painted. I hope they will eventually go to reflectors which do not fade out as paint does.
Click to expand...
Agree with both of those.

We have one traffic light right on a sharp curve here (that in itself should not be allowed, imo), and at night it is difficult to see where the road goes because there are no road markings within the intersection.
 
I'm not driving now while I'm waiting for cataract surgery. I don't feel it would be safe, especially at night because I tend to get some rather interesting special effects.

I chose my current home because it's within easy walking distance of many amenities and is half a block from a major bus route. For a $12/month bus pass, I can get to almost anywhere I need to go, including the public library, restaurants and grocery shopping. I bought a special lightweight backpack so I can bring my groceries home more easily.

I'll be back in the saddle as soon as I'm cleared. I don't intend to give up my independence until it's necessary.
 
I like to drive...but, I've given up on long drives to places like Denver or Las Vegas....when we go there, we fly...it's cheaper, and a lot less tiring. I used to have to drive about 25K/yr. when I was working, but in retirement we probably don't put more than 7 or 8 thousand/year on the car/truck. If it gets to the point where driving is a problem, that will be my clue to sell this nice country place, and move back to the Zoo (city).
 
I still drive ,I have my own car hubs has a Rodeo like a 4 wheel drive that’s mainly used to tow the caravan when we go on short trips ....I have a Toyota Corolla it’s getting old ...but so I’m I ...The car is a 2004 model but I’m way older than that a 1946 model
 
I still drive around my area, to the shopping centre, bank, Walmarts.
I like the independence of going when it suits me and not relying on our shuttle bus.
I have an eight year old Corolla with 20,000k on it. My grand daughter is waiting
patiently for me to give up driving and give the car to her.
 
I still drive but because I will have my 75th birthday in 2018 I now need to get a doctor's clearance. I will be seeing him on Wednesday. I do have early cataracts but so far I have had few problems apart from some transitory shimmering when moving from shadow to bright light. I may have to cease night driving later in 2018 until after I have the cataracts attended to.

Once I turn 80 I will need to have an annual driving test to maintain my full licence although if I accept a restricted licence I can avoid the tests.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top