About a third of the drivers here on St. Simons Island are over the age of one hundred.
No, really, it just seems that way. Maybe they are younger than one hundred years old, but we do have a lot of senior citizens living here that really should not be driving.
Our neighbor, Dr. Jim, is a little guy in his mid eighties that is a menace on the highway. He drives a big old Lincoln Towncar and all you see when he drives by is the top of his head and his white knuckles on the steering wheel. A few months ago he pulled out into traffic on the island causeway and was t-boned by another car and we all thought that Dr. Jim’s driving days were over with. He wasn’t injured in the accident, but it took weeks to fix the Lincoln and he borrowed a car and kept right on terrorizing his fellow coastal Georgia drivers.
I know that mobility is important to everyone and access to things like the drug store and the grocery store is a necessity, but I believe that drivers of all ages should have to take a competency test—every five years let’s say—to ensure that their auto operating skills and abilities are up to snuff.
Take a look at this story about a woman who hits her husband, a car salesman, a tree, a wall, and another car—all in one wreck--DURING A TEST DRIVE.
I wonder why she needed a new car in the first place? An accident perhaps?
I rest my case your honor…
Update: 3:19 PM
Sorry about the HTML coding problems...they're repaired.
1 comment:
It happens everywhere, V. The solution is to get the rest of the family involved (out of concern, of course). Once the family's att'n has been garnered, it's an easy matter to call for an intervention.
We (our wrecker service) does interventions, aka: non-consent towing.
Without using real names, I'll call last months example "Emmett". Emmett is 89 yrs old and had refused to give up his driving independence, much to his family's consternation. Something was gonna happen -everybody knew it- but Emmett would brook no resistance to his age & privilege.
"It" happened last month. While pulling up to a stop light at a 6 lane intersection, Emmett side-swiped a police cruiser with his Buick. Nobody hurt, just a light hit. The two cars just traded a little paint, that's all.
The cop didn't arrest Emmett, nor give him a ticket. What would be the friggin' point? Both cars were driveable, but Emmett was shook up emotionally. So the cop called Emmett's daughter-in-law to come fetch both him & his car.
Emmett had been making some bad decisions of late, so he granted his son power of att'y. Upon hearing of what had happened, the son executed his power. He called us:
"Please tow my Dad's car away from his driveway. I want you to lock it in the impound yard and under no circumstances are you to return it to him. Clear? I'll dispose of it within 30 days."
The son then called all the local new car dealers, instructing them not to sell his father a new car. Turns out this was wholly unecessary.
Emmett finally got a clue. He decided to quit driving but respectfully asked for assistance getting around (gawd, this hurt him to ask). No problem, Emmett. If you can't get a ride just call us. One of us guys will pick you up, or have our wives do it, or have somebody from the Congregation to your door PDQ. We'll send a wrecker for you, if need be. Just don't drive anymore. OK?
Emmett stopped by the shop yesterday. Reading between the lines a bit, he said he was relieved that we took his car away from him. He sleeps better now, and everybody is there for him more than ever.
That's how it's supposed to work. I/we have made it happen.
So can you.
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