Raise the Hammer

We need to be a lot stricter with the elderly and their licences.

/s/the elderly/everyone

We don't know the details here, but the obvious question to ask is if this is a case of D.W.D (Driver With Dementia).

About 5% of 79 year old North Americans have some form of Dementia diagnosis. By the time they reach 89 years old that rises to about 38%.

A rough crunching of the numbers would suggest something like 200,000 additional DWD's on Canadian roads over the next 15 years, a prospect I find frightening.

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RATH: I'm yet not sure if you are as big an idiot as you claim I am. You can help me answer that question by explaining in detail how my prior post is a case of negative stereotyping.

Have a happy and productive day!

This is a very important point , it also worth knowing that if there is anything on your medical file regarding this the insurance company can ( and will) revoke your insurance retroactively, leaving you to cover your 3rd party liability.

My parents perspective on this issue changed pretty fast when i showed them this

I'd be careful to point the finger at the elderly in general. Whatever the facts of this case, and issues regarding ageing and driving, this part of the mountain, like most, would still be a nightmarish place for a child to ride a bike even if there were no drivers over 30.

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actually, Limeridge Rd was narrowed to one lane and made a 'bike friendly' route even with bike route signs across it's length back when the Linc opened. Limeridge might be the safest street to ride a bike on the Mountain. My church is at this corner and I saw all the police activity last night when I left. I didn't realize what had happened. Really sad.

While I agree that it's not the best place for a child to be biking,

The woman stopped after witnesses alerted her to what had happened.

she didn't even realise she hit the kid. This indicates to me she probably shouldn't be driving.

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I was trying to be careful, while at the same time saying something about the story, maybe that did not come across.

But since you bring it up "No drivers over 30" would also likely mean higher collision rates than we see now. The "sweet spot" for safe driving is the 25 to 50 year age range

Now that e-bikes are becoming more common, I hope we'll see some more vehicles designed for certain seniors that shouldn't be behind the wheel of a multi-tonne potentially-lethal machine. An e-trike would be limited to a safer speed and would mean that the person in the most danger is the driver instead of innocent bystanders.

With more vehicles like that on the road, taking somebody's license away (due to dementia or whatever) wouldn't be the prison-sentence it is right now in car-centric suburbia.

Comment edited by Pxtl on 2011-06-29 14:12:18

With very few exceptions, any senior who shouldn't be behind the wheel of a car because of dementia or mental/physical impairment that poses a safety risk to themselves or others has no business on the roads (or sidewalks) in any kind of powered vehicle.

Comment edited by SpaceMonkey on 2011-06-30 18:58:45

Last weekend at one of the big box stores I saw an elderly gentleman pull up on a 3 wheeled electric bike. The front was like any other e-bike but behind the seat was a box, almost like a miniature pickup. A wheel on either side made this a stable looking vehicle. We talked for a few minutes and he told me how fond he was of his new bike.

Done and done. My car is a bicycle.

So, ready to give up your car?

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Cricial or critical condition --your headline--before the trolls come out of holes and complain?

Very sad, I feel for the poor boy and his family. I witnessed first hand an elderly man being literally coaxed through his written/oral test so he would pass. He couldn't remember anything but the woman at the drivers centre prompted him along and passed him. I complained but was told it happens all the time and what are they supposed to do? Shocking.

Comment edited by Woody10 on 2011-06-30 00:17:03

Agree with you Woody, I have an elderly friend who has been through the mandatory seniors driver retesting a few times. He says that there is always fairly extensive coaching of the students by the examiner to help them get the correct answers.

And if you have spent much time as a passenger with an elderly driver you know that the issues that come up are not the sort of things that cannot be evaluated with a written test i.e. attention, reaction time, coping with distractions, ability to multi-task etc.

Seems to me the retesting should include a session on a driving simulator to evaluate these factors, that would probably be more use than the written test.

Typo. in my last post. This:
...issues that come up are not the sort of things...
should be this:
...issues that come up are the sort of things...

Sorry.

Even a simple reaction-time test and alertness test would do wonders, but yes, we've had the technology to create simulation-based automated renewal driving tests for decades.

Does it bother anybody else that the police officer quoted in the Spec article emphasized the importance of kids wearing helmets on their bikes, rather than the importance of PAYING ENOUGH ATTENTION TO THE ROAD THAT YOU DON'T HIT PEOPLE? I find this deeply disturbing. Are we so hopelessly engrained in our car culture, that when somebody does something illegal and reckless that seriously injures someone - that we blame the victim because they weren't taking the required safety precautions for trying to navigate our city in any way other than behind the wheel of a car? Grrrr.

Comment edited by JasonAAllen on 2011-06-30 08:42:54

Are we so hopelessly engrained in our car culture, that when somebody does something illegal and reckless that seriously injures someone - that we blame the victim because they weren't taking the required safety precautions for trying to navigate our city in any way other than behind the wheel of a car?

Yes. We are.

And this is why there's so much latitude provided seniors and most other drivers. (Though manslaughter-via-driving sentences have gotten much harsher, the status quo is still 'To take away someone's license is a last resort'.)

I've experienced first-hand just how attached people are to their driving...and this is magnified enormously with the elderly, who see it all the more in terms of a threat to their independence. When a license is taken away...especially when it's permanent...the fallout is complicated...and not pretty at all.

We need a paradigm shift...but I don't believe it's going to happen as some might wish.

Does it bother anybody else that the police officer quoted in the Spec article emphasized the importance of kids wearing helmets on their bikes, rather than the importance of PAYING ENOUGH ATTENTION TO THE ROAD THAT YOU DON'T HIT PEOPLE?

Well, I, for one, am bothered immensely.

And it's more than bothersome ... I believe that the attitude makes the world a more dangerous place.

Comment edited by moylek on 2011-06-30 10:20:27

That article refers to a totally different accident where the young cyclist blew through a stop sign and t-boned a van. It is not that the officer was disregarding someone else's culpability like this accident where the driver was obviously at fault. I think the officer was making a valid point. Parents should try there best to make sure there kids wear helmets at all times while cycling.

Parents should try there best to make sure there kids wear helmets at all times while cycling.

I don't think anyone would disagree with that...

Speaking as a parent, though, I give that direction and ensure that the kids are wearing theirs, but it's with the knowledge that a helmet isn't going to do much to protect if someone drags my child under his or her vehicle.

I teach them all the Elmer the Safety Elephant rules for crossing the street, too, but those aren't going to save them from drivers who are determined to break the law in the most dangerous ways possible.

I agree. As parents we can only do so much. One of the things I tried to instill in my kids was to be safe. That is a lot more than following the rules of the road. It means things like paying attention to what others are doing and trying to do. Sometimes it is far better to forego one's right of way to someone else (especially if the someone else is driving and you are a pedestrian) and be safe then to be right and hurt or dead.

I do not believe that drivers are determined to break the rules of the road in the most dangerous way possible. They do in fact manage to accomplish it with inattentiveness, ignorance, bad habits and hurrying.

A lot of safety is just common sense. (which is not very common)

The issues at hand is an old one: bicylces and cars do not mix. It is basic common sense. Helmets protect you, but less then airbags. If your vehicle doesn't have all the safety equipment under the MTO then you do no deserve to be on the road.

Also, the ageism shown toward seniors is wrong. They make up a tiny portion of drivers and a tiny portion of accidents are caused by them.

bicylces and cars do not mix.

I take it you support bike lanes then?

@ z jones: Yes I do support bike lanes. Ones that keep bikes and cars segregated.