http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2013/12/08/nhtsa-senior-drivers/3901567/ (http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2013/12/08/nhtsa-senior-drivers/3901567/)
Marketing, nothing more. Prepare for a veritable blizzard of this kind of crap as the population ages. Everything from diapers to coffins.
Costco has both of those!
Who are you including in that "US" business Lin?? I'm 72 and am not "older" yet.>>>Dan
According to the article, they are including everyone over 65. Although, I would not expect anything to come of this real soon, it would seem that the implication is for the gov't to look into ways to re-qualify or restrict this particular age group. Despite the relatively low accident rate for seniors, some well meaning person seems to have decided that the group needs this form of "help". It is also interesting that, in a time of budgetary issues, money is being spent here.
Be afraid, very very afraid, when the government says it wants to "protect" any of us ! Protect from whom or what, anyway? (Maybe from the government, or the NSA? Oh, wait, never mind.)
I think that many tons of bus is protection enough from the slings and arrows of most misfortune. However, I still assume everyone else on the road is a complete idiot, because some actually are.
John (just a whippersnapper)
An article I read yesterday said we old farts have a higher rate as we get older - makes sense to me.
I'm probably the oldest one here and I'm not too worried about it.
I'm still flying airplanes and there is no age rule for that!!
Quote from: Iceni John on December 09, 2013, 12:10:29 PM
Be afraid, very very afraid, when the government says it wants to "protect" any of us ! Protect from whom or what, anyway? (Maybe from the government, or the NSA? Oh, wait, never mind.)
John (just a whippersnapper)
Quoted for truth!
Gus, the interesting thing is that it would seem to make intuitive sense, but the charts I looked at say differently. The highest accident rates are in the 25-64 age group with over 55 being substantially lower than under 55. Plus, the rate for 65-74 is half of that for 55-64. The rate for over 75 is even lower.
Brought to us by the same power base that rammed mandated auto insurance down our throats. The insurance industry has a very powerful lobby. Money changed hands and here we have it. Very sad indeed. We are loosing our freedom of liberty.
Yep....more fascist involvement designed and intended to maximize $corporate profits$ which in theory would not be so bad. Just buy stock in that company. My problem here is that we do not have any choice in the matter. My read. HB of CJ (old coot) :(
Are the accident rates expressed in number of accidents per million miles driven or similar? That is the only way to compare between groups as a lot of older folks tend to drive less than younger age groups. I happen to know a number of folks 80+ that have been in auto accidents when they were driving. Now, I don't know that it was the driver's fault, but most 80 years don't have as good of reflexes to avoid accidents either.
Plenty of people are okay driving well into their 80s, but plenty aren't either. My grandfather gave up his car around age 85 or so as he realized he should no longer drive anymore. My father is in his late 60s and drives fine, but he is starting to leave the turn signal on, or forgetting to signal altogether.
Here in AZ and it has been for years you buy divers license at 18 for a one time fee they are good till you are 65 then after 65 you renew every 5 years
It is scary I saw a guy in a wheel chair with real thick glasses when getting mine renewed @ the DMV he pitched a fit because the clerk told him he failed the test me personally I would not want to on the same highway with guy
Since I am now in my 70th decade I guess I should be upset there might be some hurdles I have to jump to have my license renewed. But I am not. Members of this forum have to recognize some people just should not be behind the wheel or at the controls of a plane or running machinery.
I think some people are incapable of driving no matter what their age. We all have seen them try to get their rigs into a campsite. We see the dents and scrapes on their rigs. It might be humorous talking about some old coot who keeps scraping his sides on guardrails, but the reality is he could be doing the same to a school bus full of kids. So the simple solution is to require retesting. I don't care if the retesting is done by the local DMV or is an AAA program. And the retesting should be at the highest level vehicle the person intends to drive. If you drive a bus, you need to be tested in the bus. If you drive a pickup with a 5th wheel trailer you need to be tested in that rig.
Pilots need to prove their skills so why not require everyone to prove their driving skills? And if we are going to set up such retesting programs, lets make sure they are meaningful so we weed out those that do not need to share our roads. I know a person who drives, has no tickets (ever) or accidents, but cannot even pull into the garage or back out of the garage. Does that person belong on the roads?
I agree with you Jon when I was in business all my equipment operators had to be certified by OSHA standards a friend and competitor said to hell with he wasn't going to compile,then he had a operator back over a labor and kill him he paid the price he lost everything that it took him 25 years to build the lawyers and OSHA ate him alive
I useta tell the Yankees "When I get old, I'm gonna move to where you live and drive slow!" I just turned 65 last month -- what do I do now????? :)
I can spit in the Mason Dixon line and it don't make a difference in the drivers--- :o was born about 1/2 mile north of it. As far as what you do now. pretty cold and slick here rite now ;D happy bussin Bob The Ohio River here..
Quote from: Oonrahnjay on December 10, 2013, 06:04:03 AM
....what do I do now????? :)
What we all do ...... redefine "old".
....Since I am now in my 70th DECADE I guess I should be upset there might be some hurdles I have to jump to have my license renewed. But I am not. ......
:D Jon, I hope to be driving when I am half your age!!!!!!!!!! ;D :D ;)
Jon is a old sucker at 70 decades ;D
Lin,
I didn't put that very well. The article actually said the accident rate for us OFs was increasing, not that it was the worst. The youngsters will always be the worst since we all knew everything when young and were invincible!!
So now it is fascists that are to blame? I guess communists and Obama have taken a back seat ;D
I'm thankful every day for compulsory auto insurance, otherwise my cost would be out of sight and it would be like a demolition derby on the highways.
That was a great law Gus in the 70's in Texas I was paying $140.00 a year full coverage on 3 vehicles with 50 dollar deductible since the mandatory insurance for all states I am now paying over 900 bucks a year with a 500.00 deductible yes sir a great law indeed
Not all people carry insurance if they do about 50% just carry the minimum that will cover you a couple of days in the hospital if you don't see a doctor
One of the many English definitions of the word fascist is a cosy/amoral relationship between big business and big government. Not the Nazi kind...which is another definition.
Like in the poor science fiction movie, eventually at some point in the future when we reach a certain age....we will be just taken out behind the chemical building... HB of CJ (old coot) :(
Quote from: gus on December 10, 2013, 12:17:48 PM
I'm thankful every day for compulsory auto insurance, otherwise my cost would be out of sight and it would be like a demolition derby on the highways.
Len, where do you get stuff like that? Just like what was supposed to happen back in 1975 during the Albuquerque police strike? Everybody said there would be blood running in the streets, and it would be pandemonium. What happened? Crime went down ;D Seriously.
The government (and sadly others) think they have to legislate things to "improve" them. One couldn't be more wrong.
Rant over
Sure accidents with injuries are going up. Seniors don't have those big Cadillacs, Mercurys, and Buicks anymore to use. Now they are driving smaller Toyotas and Hondas......
Quote from: pabusnut on December 10, 2013, 11:42:46 AM
....Since I am now in my 70th DECADE I guess I should be upset there might be some hurdles I have to jump to have my license renewed. But I am not. ......
:D Jon, I hope to be driving when I am half your age!!!!!!!!!! ;D :D ;)
No wonder I ache so much. See what happens when you get old and senile?
Quote from: chessie4905 on December 10, 2013, 03:11:37 PM
Sure accidents with injuries are going up. Seniors don't have those big Cadillacs, Mercurys, and Buicks anymore to use. Now they are driving smaller Toyotas and Hondas......
I'm going in the wrong direction then. An H2 Hummer, a Dodge 2500 pickup with the Cummins, a Z06 Corvette and let's not forget my Prevost or my Freighliner dump truck.
QuoteThat was a great law Gus in the 70's in Texas I was paying $140.00 a year full coverage on 3 vehicles with 50 dollar deductible since the mandatory insurance for all states I am now paying over 900 bucks a year with a 500.00 deductible yes sir a great law indeed
Actually you're paying about the same as you did in the 70's - inflation corrected.
Crack down on the bimbos and punks first and leave us alone. What good does it do to have mandatory insurance when there are no consequences? Nobody ever asks me when I renew my license if I have insurance. I'll wager that 50% of the car drivers on the road either don't have insurance or are driving impaired by drugs or alchohol, or both. Those of us who are personally responsible have to pay for those who are not. Sound familiar?
When we moved to Maui in 88 we found out that they were a no fault state and it was mandatory to have insurance. You had to have an insurance card and a safety sticker to get your yearly plate tabs. Had to buy insurance for me, for under insured drivers, and for uninsured drivers. ??? When i asked why, i was told that 40% of the drivers had no insurance! Turns out that there was a black market for fake insurance cards and safety stickers. My premium for my truck in Wa. was $450 for the highest coverage you could get......in Hi. the same company wanted $2400 for the same coverage!!!!!! A few years later i was looking for insurance for 3 cars, one company told me it would be $1000 per car, every 6 months for minimum coverage.....$6000 a year. :o I told this to another agent and he asked if we had wrecks/dui/ tickets, etc. on our record? Nope, both of us had clean records......asked him why they quoted me that high a rate and he said that because it was mandatory to have it they would just throw out any amount that they wanted and if you were desperate you would take it. No fault sounds good on paper but sucks in real life. In Wa. if you got hit by somebody else, their insurance company would pay for the damages to your car and it would not affect your insurance. With no fault, somebody hits you and your insurance company pays to fix your car.....and then raises your rates. Doesn't matter if you are driving it or it is parked along the street or in a parking lot.....your rates are going up. Whatever happened to taking responsibility for your actions??? If i damage something i fully expect to make it right with the person.......
My $900 premium is for six months not a year as posted the RV is a yearly policy same insurance co same policy limits as it has been for years just cost more now
Here you can buy plates for 5 years at time the dead beats pay down on a policy then let it lapse and keep on trucking with their 5 year plates legal or not going down the road texting ,talking on a cell phone and trying to roll their own all while driving
It is just not the younger generation I see the older farts puffing away on the MJ now but they call it medical marijuana bs dope is dope
Either texting or drugs while driving--definitely not both!