As boomers age, 1 in 5 drivers will be oldsters

[marmar]

As boomers age, 1 in 5 drivers will be oldsters

BY JOAN LOWY
Associated Press


Remember "The Little Old Lady from Pasadena"? Baby boomers who first danced to that 1964 pop hit about a granny burning up the road in her hot rod will begin turning 65 in January. Experts say keeping those drivers safe and mobile is a challenge with profound implications.

The National Transportation Safety Board is holding two-day forum beginning today to better understand the safety risks that older drivers face.

Within 15 years more than one in five licensed drivers will be 65 or older, the safety board said. Their number will nearly double, from 30 million today to about 57 million in 2030, according to the Government Accountability Office.

Smarter cars and better designed roads may help keep them stay behind the wheel longer.

But eventually most people will outlive their driving ability — men by an average of six years and women by an average of 10 years. And since fewer Americans relocate when they retire, many of them probably will continue to live in suburban homes. ........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.freep.com/article/20101109/FEATURES01/101109024/1322/As-boomers-age-1-in-5-drivers-will-be-oldsters#ixzz14nP7diMB

[ixion]

1. *shudder*

:hide:

[peace13]

2. To funny!

If we invested in mass transit and gave a da*m, we wouldn't have the crazy young ones or the oldsters on the road. Go figure!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

3. That is why we need public transit systems and enhanced bus and van service sooner rather than later

When I go to Japan (the country with the world's oldest population) I see some really frail-looking old people getting out and getting around, thanks to their superb and well-integrated public transit system.

In Tokyo, the surface trains form the backbone of the system, and they are interlaced with subway lines. If you need to go somewhere away from a subway line, there's always a bus. On my last trip, I saw that at least one of the wards of Tokyo has instituted a free shuttle service for older people who aren't even close enough to one of the bus lines.

In this and other respects, Japan is adjusting to and preparing for the aging of its society, judging from translations I have done about neighborhood services for the elderly and cities retrofitting their public buildings and sidewalks to be elder-friendly.

Us? We're just pretending that things will always be as they are now.

Sometimes we're really stupid as a nation.

[marmar]

11. Yep. And I disagree with the author's assertion that public transit......

isn't a practical option for the infirm. I see the elderly & infirm get on and off those kneeling buses all the time, with little trouble.

[treestar]

4. Need more van services

Jobs for the youth. My grandmother used to use one. It was reasonably priced.

More buses. Get old people to walk more.

[hayu_lol]

5. A really good article on senior driving/other problems...

About a year ago, I renewed my driver's license for the last time. Expected, because of my age(74 then), at least a driving test to insure that I remembered what the double white lines in the middle of the road were for( :^) ). But, no, there was no driving test and the license was renewed for 8 years. No doubt the license will last longer than I shall.

Don't get me wrong, am still a good driver, but have pretty much given up on driving except in an emergency. From contacts on the net, have found many seniors who have voluntarily given up driving. From what I've seen, as a passenger, there are seniors out there driving who should not be. That also applies to teens and middle agers in some cases, but just not in the same numbers.

Age is funny. What worked yesterday doesn't work today. The world actually shrinks when you give up some of your mobility.

Many seniors do voluntarily either quit driving or curtail their on the road existence. Some can go on for years yet without any problems. Some decide the risk isn't worth the effort. In some cases, there are no good alternatives available so that they have to continue driving.

Marmar...thanks for catching this article.

[razorman]

6. Oh, Lord. The highways are going to look like "Mad Max".

[SheilaT]

7. When I lived in Kansas you had to pass the

written test every time you renewed your license. Then I moved to New Mexico two years ago and without needing to take any test, except that minimal eye exam, they gave me a license good for eight years. I was already 60, and I was quite disturbed by that.

I drive a stick shift, and aside from preferring it for the better control I have over the car, I've decided that when I can no longer drive a stick it'll be time to give up driving.

Maybe a little sooner.

[crikkett]

8. precisely why we need affordable, comprehensive public transit systems

it's for our own protection n/t

[brewens]

9. I caught hell from a 60 something guy for talking to a bartender

about a guy in his 80's, who should not have been driving. I was telling her his son was worried about it. 60 dude says authoritatively, "that has to be his choice!" He's an aging drunk that fears the day people have some sense and require older drivers to be tested.
Just a couple of weeks later the guy we were talking about could have killed someone. Leaving the same bar he accidentally hit the gas in reverse and crossed 4 lanes of traffic, jumped a curb and knocked a hole in the wall of a restaurant. He wasn't drunk. He always has just one drink. It's not a real busy street usually but it was still really lucky he missed any other cars.
This guy drove himself to the bar and back every day and continued to do so for about another year. That was actually the only driving he did. He was aware that anything but the route he was used to was a problem and got rides or people to run errands for him.
The crackdowns on DUI's are supposedly because impaired drivers are dangerous. Still, they refuse to do anything about age impaired drivers.

[Edweird]

10. As a South Florida resident, I am used to this.

[RaleighNCDUer]

12. Reminds me of the old joke -

When I go I want to go peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather, not screaming in terror like his passengers.

[girleypearl]

13. This article is ageist

The title of the article is already making a judgment about the elderly and elderly drivers and I think it is ageism. What is means to be 65, 75, 85 today is different from what it meant in the past. We should be seeing people as individuals who age and should be looking at their strengths and weaknesses and help them, as individuals. You can't lump people into one age category and then send out an alarm.

If we care about driver safety then we have to deal with drinking and doing drugs with driving, texting and talking while driving, inexperienced drivers, people driving with out a license, people driving too aggressively, people driving tired, people driving and not paying attention. There are lots of reasons to be afraid out on the highway. Just the other day I saw a 30 something woman driving a SUV, not paying attention, and almost running over a pedestrian who was in the cross walk. I don't see an article being written about the dangers of 30 something women out on the highway.

Karen

[Little Star]

14. +1

[Lydia Leftcoast]

15. While there are individual differences, I've seen three different elderly relatives

become scary to ride with. The cause can be early dementia, loss of vision, or whatever. Others voluntarily give up driving because they no longer trust their vision or reflexes.

But think about this: Lack of public transit disenfranchises the young (requires them to wait for rides everywhere) and places a financial burden on the poor (who have to either own a car or bum rides from people).

I know a family who went to live in Japan for a year. When it came time to return to the States, the 10- and 12-year-old children didn't want to leave. They preferred the freedom of public transit and walkable cities to being out in the burbs waiting to be chauffeured everwhere.

[Ikonoklast]

16. You would be wrong.

It has been proven that declining physical and mental acuity, *at any age*, impacts the ability of the operator of an automobile.


It has also been proven that growing older also means declining physical and mental abilities, as a matter of averages. Very few people improve physically or mentally past a certain age.

Some will be in better shape, some less so, but overall, a statistical decline of abilities that increases as drivers get older.

The aggregate is that there will be be a much larger number of drivers with a declining ability to operate a motor vehicle.

Calling it 'Ageism' doesn't trump reality.

Yes, there are drivers with bad habits at every age, but that argument also includes older drivers that have the very same bad habits...on top of declining abilities.

[TexasObserver]

17. When we first drove - no seatbelts, no air bags, no crash worthiness.

The cars all had monster engines.

If we made it through that, we'll make it through this.

The most dangerous drivers on the road are always, always, always, the youngest.