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The ACLU would sue because of age discrimination.

I believe at some age there should be mandatory driving and vision tests given, but at what age?

I would think by age 70 retesting should be instituted nation wide and done every two or four years.

barry: right on! i'm only 39, but due to changes in my health (RSDS, a form of neuropathy or nerve damage), i've already noticed corresponding changes in my ability to drive. used to be, driving a cruiser from midnight-0800, my night vision was excellent. not so anymore, and as a result i voluntarily don't drive after the sun goes down.

same with my feet getting numb and/or the electric-feeling "jolts" in my legs. i'm not going to drive on a day when i can't even feel the pedals or i have waves of jolts that might cause me to suddenly nail the excelerator and cause a crash.

thing is, i'm also hyper aware of health/driving issues; my mom at age 69 and LEGALLY BLIND was reissued her driver's license. the very next day she was driving and killed a pedestrian. she wasn't charged; witnesses said the man walked out in front of her. even so, who knows -- with faster reflexes and better vision, my mom might have been able to avoid hitting him; he might be alive today.

even with that happening, the lic. bureau STILL LET HER keep her license! it came down to her feeling so guilty about it that made her surrender her license and give me all sets of her keys.

bottom line: if we can't depend on individuals to "do the right thing" when the time comes, something else is going to have to happen -- or we'll end up with a lot more corpses due to accident-prone drivers.

"Personally I think that there should be an extensive drivers test given to all drivers every 2-4 years. Anyone, no matter what age could have deteriorating health and motor response. The fees for licences should be increased to offset the costs. This is actually a case where more government would be a good thing."

And you think the lines are long at the DMV now?

RDC

i think if retesting started at 65, there would be less resistance by "elderly" drivers. maybe even start at 50.

many of my clients that started with me 30 years ago are getting to that age of dangerous driving skills.

one month i took three claims for exactly the same incident, two people backing out a parking spot at a market and backing into each other. "it was his/her fault" no it was both of your faults.

i installed a back up bell in both of my cars to help prevent this back up problem and found no one paid any attention except me. the back up bell is to warn ME that some idiot is letting her kids run loose in the parking lot and i must be very cautious.

in toby's new scion, the back up bell is an ahuga horn repro made for 12 volts. it is loud as hell. now we all pay attention.

LOL -- that's great, rick!!

so what happens? does the scion do the "beep... beep... beep" thing like a garbage truck backing up? or is it something different?

i HATE it when i'm backing out of a space and some dufus (or said dufus' kids) just walk right out in my path. i drive a '91 pathfinder (my economical prelude and sara's toyota are both dead dead dead; we got this one cheap), and while it offers me decent visual area, it IS hard to see a short person 2-3 feet away from my rear bumper.

i'd love to back out of a space and "aaahhhhOOOOOOOOgggggaaaaaaaaah!" the mud right out of a clueless pedestrian's shorts! lol

anyway, re: seniors and insurance -- you're a definitive expert on that. so what's the dealio on how it breaks down? after 25 (or what not), it's all one rate, or ? i think i got my decent (i.e. "non-teen"-type) rate cut at age 28.

This is going to be a long post because I have lots of thoughts but here goes
1. Absolutely I feel that drivers should be continually retested no matter what age. I also think that we should have to send in proof of insurance on a bi monthly basis (if you have ever been in an accident with someone who does not have it you'll know why I feel this way). My grandfather drove way too long after he lost his sight. We would pull up to stoplights and he would have to ask me if it was red or not, or at stop signs he would ask me when it was his turn to drive. Thankfully he has decided to give up driving before anyone was hurt, but it could have been very bad if he hadn't.
2. Rick...Mercury Rocks, I've been a loyal customer since I was sixteen
3. Since we were also discussing slow old drivers with their lights flashing, I have a story to relate...My wife and I were driving home from vacation last week and we got stuck behind this lady doing 25 in a fifty for like 30 miles. I never pass on a two lane highway and even if I did there wasn't many chances to pass since it was a windy road. The minute it turned into a four lane freeway, I jetted out to pass her. I am usually very forginving and patient with people, but considering it took us and hour and fifteen minutes to drive thirty miles and I just wanted to get home fom vacation...I flipped the ninety year old lady off. My wife got really angry with me and said "you're the one who is always talking about Karma and the like and how we should be kind to every one, and this is going to come back on you. When we finally got home, there was a message on the machine from the IRS Collections department saying they needed me to call urgently. After being on hold for an hour and a half and getting rerouted like a hundred times, the told me that they were looking for someone with my exact name and that I wasn't the one they needed. I guess sitting in my air conditioned car listening to the radio while a lady drove slow in front of me, wasn't nearly as bad as sitting in my house, sweating like a whore in church for two hours waiting for the IRS to tell me why they were collecting from me. I got my Karmic repayment in full that day.