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Pippi
Supporter
Username: Pippi
Post Number: 2359
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Friday, June 16, 2006 - 10:58 am: | 
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This article furthers our previous discussions about elderly people driving when they should not be.
If only elderly drivers were all like this gentleman...
He doesn't think driving is a "lifeling right" and "He finds it troubling that Connecticut extended his license for six years without an assessment of his fitness to drive"
(in general this guy is awesome and inspiration to us all as we contemplate aging)
discuss amongst yourselves
from NYTimes.com
Driving Into the Sunset Years, and Keeping Going
By ALISON LEIGH COWAN
DANBURY, Conn., June 13 — Morton Morrison only recently gave up trying to learn to play the violin. "Starting at age 60 was too late," he said. He is 94.
He now lets someone else do his taxes, even though he is a trained accountant. And he has quit going to the movies and instead borrows DVD's from the library because the closed captioning works whether or not his hearing aids do.
But one concession he has not made to age is driving. Living in the suburbs, he cannot get anywhere easily without a car and a license. Fortunately, he has both.
"People say, 'How do you last so long?' " he said. "It's easy. Frequent naps. Frequent naps prevent old age, especially when driving." He was speaking to a group at the Danbury Senior Center, where as a driving coach for the AARP, he teaches a course to the elderly on how to continue driving into their old age — and when to consider hanging up the keys.
Mr. Morrison, who has lived through 17 American presidents, does not believe that driving is a lifelong right. In interviews, he spoke frankly about what some see as a quiet menace — abetted by permissive laws, embarrassment over failing skills and necessity: many of the elderly are driving when they should not be.
"Every person has to decide for himself when it's time to give up," he said. "There are people who will not admit they are not capable. And they're a menace to themselves and others."
He finds it troubling that Connecticut extended his license for six years without an assessment of his fitness to drive. As he tells it, he visited the Department of Motor Vehicles office here, had his picture taken, and paid the fee. He was handed a new license that expires on his 100th birthday, April 15, 2012. He described the process as "just give us the money and you can have the license."
Mr. Morrison pointed out that he drives well, is in good shape and needs glasses only for tasks like reading stock-market quotes in the paper. But as public policy, he said, automatic renewals — the norm in half the country — make no sense. His 92-year-old wife, Sylvia, for instance, voluntarily gave up her license six years ago, when she was battling illnesses that affected her eyesight and agility. "I knew it was time," she said. But what if she had not?
Connecticut, along with New York and New Jersey, is among 25 states that have no additional requirements on renewals for older drivers, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Asked about the license renewal policy, a spokesman for the Connecticut D.M.V. said his agency was only responsible for enforcing existing laws, not making them.
In Connecticut, Mr. Morrison is one of roughly 51,000 residents 85 or older who are licensed. State records show that there at least 2,435 licensed drivers older than he is, including at least 81 who are over 100. (The very oldest was born in 1900.)
Mr. Morrison does not find that figure so remarkable. "I don't drive like I did 30 years ago," he said. "I drive better." He said teaching the AARP refresher course roughly 40 times over the last six years and a full range of other pursuits from photography to music have kept him sharp.
His memories are just as keen. He was born in Wengrow, in present-day Poland, on the day the Titanic sank in 1912. His father, a cap maker, had already moved to the United States, and persuaded his mother to bring up the rear when Morton was 1. Mr. Morrison can describe with brio how lamplighters lighted the streets at night, horses pulled the fire trucks and milkshakes were still called malteds.
After attending public schools in Brooklyn, he enrolled at Baruch College in 1929 to study business, weeks before the stock market crash. He nonetheless earned a business degree, was licensed as a certified public accountant but turned to teaching, a seemingly more stable career.
He met Sylvia when she sold him a used statistics book for a class. A few years later, she taught him to drive. They married in 1938. "He lived around the corner. He was available," Mrs. Morrison said.
These days, the couple live in a gated community called Lake Waubeeka. While the place has retained its rural charm, it also has a lot of features that typically chase older Americans out of the Northeast for sunnier climes: among them, steep hills and hairpin turns. Mr. Morrison says he is up to the challenge. On a recent day, he confidently eased himself into his red L.L. Bean edition Subaru Outback — outfitted, he noted, with "all-wheel, not four-wheel, drive" — and tooled around Danbury, showing the finesse that comes with knowing just how much one can flout the posted speed limit.
"Nobody goes 25 miles per hour," he explained. "Right now, I'm doing 29, maybe 30. This is the prevailing speed."
He had recently appeared at a center for the elderly, giving a dozen retirees, aged 64 to 87, a refresher course so they would qualify for discounts on their car insurance. The eight-hour course, which takes place entirely in the classroom, includes a self-assessment to determine if certain skills have become impaired.
"Some of us have trouble with our eyesight at night," he said. "Ever drive along and you don't know where you're going? It happens."
He asked one student, Catherine Filipowicz, 64, who has worked as an insurance adjustor, if she had any thoughts on how to avoid getting into a crash. "Walk? Take the bus?" she suggested.
Another student, Eleanor Potter, 83, confessed to being too aggressive. She starts each day with an early-morning dash to her pool. When drivers around her are too timid, she told the class, she feels "like wringing their neck."
"I like to go," she said, blushing.
Mr. Morrison agreed to drive around Danbury with this reporter, who is less than half his age, to see if he could help improve her driving. The car mostly stayed in the right lane, at 55 miles an hour. Cars passed constantly. Trucks were tailgating.
On the first try, Mr. Morrison wisely chose the back seat. He made a suggestion about the driver's position: "Try moving back a little."
Told the new position was uncomfortable, he said, "You'll get used to it." On the second trip, on Interstate 84, Mr. Morrison gave recommendations on the proper way to change lanes.
As the car traveled 50 m.p.h., he gave another suggestion: "Speed up a little."
"See what you can do. Be a hot rod."
Easy for him to say.
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las
Citizen
Username: Las
Post Number: 1873
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, June 16, 2006 - 11:13 am: |
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This was in the NYTimes/AP on 6/8:
Man, 100, Survives Car Plunge Into Canal 6:49 a.m. ET
KENNEWICK, Wash. (AP) -- A 100-year-old man lost control of his vehicle and went plummeting into a canal, where a rescuer held his head above water until emergency crews arrived.
Due to his somewhat advanced age, I don't feel the need to opine on his driving. |
sk8mom
Citizen
Username: Sk8mom
Post Number: 451
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Friday, June 16, 2006 - 11:16 am: |
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Within the last couple of weeks, someone I know through work lost his 17 year old granddaughter. She was a pedestrian, and was killed by a 90 year old woman who ran a red light. |
Pippi
Supporter
Username: Pippi
Post Number: 2360
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Friday, June 16, 2006 - 11:31 am: |
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sk8mom
that's really sad. I really believe the elderly need to retested and be made to take courses such as the AARP refresher course mentioned in the article
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Brett
Citizen
Username: Bmalibashksa
Post Number: 2462
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Friday, June 16, 2006 - 12:42 pm: |
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Ah but that will never happen. What politician would slit there throat by trying to pass that law? The elderly are lined up 2 days before an actual election to vote.
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Glock 17
Citizen
Username: Glock17
Post Number: 1133
Registered: 7-2005
| | Posted on Friday, June 16, 2006 - 1:01 pm: |
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Yeah my roommate did his thesis on that. It's not that elderly people shouldn't be driving. It's that at a certain age a yearly test should begin to be administered testing things such as basic road knowledge, reaction time, vision, awareness etc etc |
jet
Citizen
Username: Jet
Post Number: 1138
Registered: 7-2001
| | Posted on Friday, June 16, 2006 - 1:19 pm: |
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As Brett says they vote. It's kind of rare to actualy see a auto accident, but not in Fla. . Last time I was golfing in the Naples area , we saw 3 all involving elderly drivers & this was in the span of a week. |
sk8mom
Citizen
Username: Sk8mom
Post Number: 452
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Friday, June 16, 2006 - 2:43 pm: |
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This is all true. Perhaps there should be some kind of education initiative? There are tons of programs in the high schools scaring kids to death about drinking and driving. What about an education program directed at the elderly addressing vision, rang of motion, reaction time; loss of independence issues; statistics and consequences. I can't address this from the perspective of an elderly person, but I believe I would rather reconfigure my notions about independence than spend my last days thinking about a child who died because of me. |
Joe
Citizen
Username: Gonets
Post Number: 1246
Registered: 2-2004
| | Posted on Friday, June 16, 2006 - 3:21 pm: |
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It would help if we didn’t design communities that require a car. I think more elderly people would give up driving if they could make due without a car. Unfortunately the stupid sprawl design is the rule in most areas of the country. Look at a place like Toms River. Lots of adult communities with nothing but apartments and perhaps a community center inside the walls. All the stores, restaurants, etc are outside the gates. These communities often have some sort of shuttle bus, but the schedule and routes are so limited that they’re not a practical alternative to a car. |
Lizziecat
Citizen
Username: Lizziecat
Post Number: 1278
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Friday, June 16, 2006 - 6:18 pm: |
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I think that everyone should be tested whenever their licenses come up for renewal. Vision, reflexes, and maybe a psychological profile to assess the applicant's potential for road rage, for failure to use proper restraints for children (see thread about killing them), and ignoring various traffic laws because one feels that laws just don't apply to oneself. Also, any history of drug or alcohol abuse should be taken into consideration.
It's not just the elderly who have accidents.
An elderly driver. |
Joanne G
Citizen
Username: Joanne
Post Number: 210
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Friday, June 16, 2006 - 7:29 pm: |
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slight thread drift: here in Australia and based on UK experience, cinemas actually show first-run movies (not all cinemas, and not all movies, all the time but enough of them) with captions so that people with hearing loss can actually go to the movies with their hearing friends. Also new to this social experience is audio-description by special receiver-headsets so that people with some vision loss may also accompany their friends to the movies.
Regardless of your age, you shouldn't have to live your live in social isolation because you no longer feel 'safe' doing the things you used to love and that helped define the person you thought you were. While driving is part of what older people love, it's also the ability to get out when they want and go where they want. So we are able to support them in that, preserve their dignity and their independence then it's easier to admit when you need a little more assistance.
OK - my rant over - I'm off to freeze in the garden (it's just above zero degrees at 9.28 am our time.) Landlords are coming, I have to rake leaves... |
CJH
Citizen
Username: Christel
Post Number: 52
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Friday, June 16, 2006 - 9:55 pm: |
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One of the best solutions I've seen to the issue of communities where you need to have a car is a pilot program a few areas have tested out where the elderly person surrenders their car, and in exchange they get a cash value of credits towards a special car service that's at their beck and call. The car service is usually driven by volunteers, and family members can bank extra credits by being drivers or by submitting money to the account. I wish I could remember the name of the program, it's been a real success where they've tried it because it lets people maintain a sense of independence since they're not waiting for jitneys or shuttles, and they also feel entitled to the ride since they've got that running account (versus having to call in a favor from a friend).
Other than that, mandatory testing is definitely the way to go. I've got a 92 year old grandfather in Texas who we're wrestling with over the car keys all the time. But he's independent in every other way and until there's a really feasible alternative for getting himself to the grocery store and church, we're all freaking out and he's just going to keep brushing us off. |
Joanne G
Citizen
Username: Joanne
Post Number: 212
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, June 17, 2006 - 7:24 am: |
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We have a system like that here that is called Community Transport - it's like a subsidised taxi or mini-bus service that uses volunteer drivers that are trained to industry standards. The fares are much lower than the usual taxi and charter-bus service services because of the subsidies. However in this immediate area, the service can't operate after-hours. What happens however is that regular customers who would be otherwise stranded are able to claim those subsidised fares on the regular taxi service if the Community Transport coordinator makes the arrangements. |
BGS
Supporter
Username: Bgs
Post Number: 1088
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, June 17, 2006 - 1:33 pm: |
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My 81 year old Mom just took a driver's refresher course at AAA (In Florham Park) and she is now going to get a reduction on her car insurance because she took this course. She had to pay for the course (I think $50).
I was surprised that she took it on her own without even mentioning it to me. When she did tell me about it and I asked her what made her take it she told me that she never wanted to be a senior who caused someone else pain.
I was impressed.
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