Possumblog

Do ya' think!

It's stories like that raise the issue of testing older drivers after a certain age.

While I know most that age would complain that they're perfectly decent drivers (if they could just figure out how to turn off that pesky left turn signal that's been on since the Carter Adminstration), the case could be made that someone involved in an incident like this should be tested every couple of years instead of just paying a fine.

Actually, a friend and I coined the term "Stupid Move" (coined it for us, anyway) while witnessing just such an event. Guy in a 70's era Firebird or similar type making a Yoouey in the middle of I-4 near Orlando. Happily he was on the large grass median at the time, not the actual roadway.

I wonder if you folks would suggest he was DWB - Driving While Bubba?

I don't see why anyone would object to more rigorous testing, other than from a simple bureaucratic logistical problem.

It already takes all day to take a driver's test when you first get your license (or rather, it does here in Jefferson County, AL. YMMV), and adding a (growing) cohort of older drivers having to go through mandatory retesting would only add to that problem.

Here's a pretty good 2004 article from Newsday on the subject.

(And it contains a reference to the employer of SOMEone who occasionally drops in to comment around here.)

Oh, and here's another gummint type report about the topic of retesting, and because it includes a handy chart, it's much easier to read.

And Dan, around here, hanging a turn in the median is illegal and potentially very dangerous. I believe this explains why it seems to be so common.

I'm not suggesting we test all drivers, just those who's history (and subsequent citation) has demonstrated a reason to question their ability to operate a vehicle.

While it is time consuming to get a license, it's not as if these folks are going to miss time from work.

I think I read that in some of those links that California is like that--they test you if you mess up and hit someone or something.

As for time-consumption, I was thinking more about the time wasted by people who DO have something better to do. My wife and I combined probably lost two entire workdays getting Oldest her learner's permit and subsequently her actual license. 16 man-hours (our two combined 8 hour workdays) spent going through a bureacratic process that in total took about an hour.

There are ways to make it simpler, but they require someone in charge who actually cares.