ELDERLY DRIVERS MUST DEFEND THEIR RIGHTS

Because the driver who hit Sophie Delezio is elderly, there are now calls for drivers over 75 to be tested annually as to their suitability to drive.
My greatest fear on the roads is from young female provisional licence drivers in small cars. If they ever knew the rules of the road, they have either forgotten them or believe that they don't apply to them.
That two horrendous recent road accidents have involved elderly drivers does make a case for reviewing the driving skills of those aged 75 and above. One of these accidents occured on a pedestrian crossing where more than 20 accidents have been reported in the past two years, so it would be rash to pass judgement on the strength of such minimal evidence, It would be more to the point comparing the percentage of driving offences by the elderly with those by drivers in different age categories and the host of differing situations and circumstances, such as,Ages,Sex, Alcohol?, social background, time and degree of seriousness.
The road traffic authority have these stats.
What happened (Twice) to Sohie Delezio was tragic but it is time everyone took some responsibility for their actions. All drivers make mistakes, yet every day you see people blindly forcing their right of way. people don't even break their stride or look at the oncoming vehicle. The same applies to other drivers. How often do you see a vehicle slow down if another vehicle appears at an intersection on their Left.Or the Right (If you drive on the right side eg; USA)
The main causes for crashes are two drivers; one making a mistake and the other enforcing his or her right of way, My message is drive carefully and survive, Vest.

Comments

Vest, in America, I heard the statistics are that teenagers are the worst group of drivers, followed by the elderly. Although, in CA, it seems that the "A**hole in the SUV" category is suspiciously absent from the poll. :-/
My greatest fear on the roads is from young female provisional licence drivers in small cars.

Are you kidding? It's SUV drivers for me.
Vest said…
Notta and Z S: Thanks for your comment.
I am a gold member of the National Roads and Motorists Association, the N R M A. Through the organisation I am frequently fed a bellyful of stats relating to the state of our roads and the drivers and misc vehicles that use them. This does not make me a person of expertise in deciding which vehicles are at fault, however, SUVs or FWDs( Four Wheel Drive Vehicles) as your SUVs are referred to as in STRAYER, are close to the leaders in producing carnage on our roads, my own calcs are that the SUV alias FW Drive vehicles populate the shopping centre car parks at aprox 3 out of ten privately owned non commercial mommy shopping getters.
I drive a 4ltre or 250cub/inch 6 cyl engine Ford Falcon, gas guzzler = 22miles perU/S gal. my reasons for owning such a vehicle are simply that it has to tow a boat its own weight, and it has a lot of crunch stopper up front, also it is clean and comfortable, and I aways have that feeling it could see me out. Henry, that deserves a huge discount from my next Ford, If I am to continue onward.
Vest said…
Zom S. Thanks for the p/c, Did you get to sample any of that plonk. I bought a few Chilean clean skins from my boozertorium; red pink and white , yet to taste them, Aus $3-99 per 750ml bot, Ill, get back to you soon after I try the White tonight.
Hopefully.
Vest said…
Strange as it may seem, my May/June copy of 'OPEN ROAD' the NRMA bimonthly publication has just been delivered and the banner headline reads, ROAD TOLL CRISIS,and a pic of a cellphone(Mobile) stating,
"Running late c u soo--------

So sad.
Jeannie said…
I know I have been annoyed at elderly drivers for driving 30 in a 60 - and succumbing to road rage would probably lead to an accident but my own mom drove until she was 80 and she was fine. She gave it up in a move to the city - she didn't think her reaction time was fast enough for the extra traffic in an unfamiliar environment. I find it's the light runners that cause the most serious accidents around here and they seem to be anyone and everyone. Speed demons are pretty bad too. Of course I myself am the stereotypical female (so is my daughter). We like our run-ins to be at slow speed in parking lots. Really bad depth perception.
Vest said…
Sounds like 'Cheat your way to the future', quite legal so it seems; providing each qualification is followed by (F)
Vest said…
Jeannie: In the heat of the moment the aged person at fault got whacked with the big stick, people of all age groups are open to mistakes, and I am certain that very few people drive with the known intent of killing other road users, the younger driver may have learned the rules but is impressionable and most follow the the attitude of their peers by driving recklessly. Insurance stats confirm this. Unfortunately wisdom comes from experience it cannot be taught. Thank you for calling.

Zom S: Surprisingly the white was quite good, if you are a quaffer like me, slight diffs in taste are preferable to huge diffs in price.
incidently it was not Chilean but Argentinian, but close; Patagonian?
Anonymous said…
I refer to the pedestrian crossing accident and the little girl, the time 3pm, the Sun tracking low shining into drivers face who was unfamiliar to the area. 20 or more accidents there over 2 years, not surprised at all, it is now being addressed by the Road traffic authority.
I really feel sorry for that driver.
Anonymous said…
Zed my mate got his licence takenand three months in the slammer--for running a Red and was pissed as well and hes a 24 year old prick
Vest - Of course. The wine's usually free because they know that some people will buy entire cases of wine if they like it.
Vest said…
May 12 in Northern NSW Ausralia a Child of 7 was killed and several children injured leaving their school bus which had stopped near a bend in the road. It was reported that, you could not see any oncoming traffic but you can hear it.
I say it is hardly likely to hear anything above the noise of a dozen excited school kids pleased to be going home.
HOW SAD.

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