Here is yet another case of “I can’t believe this asshole is behind the wheel of a car”. This time it’s worse than usual.
As a motorcycle rider of many years I see these people in traffic all the time. It’s seems incomprehensible that the State of Florida, which is lousy with elderly drivers, doesn’t have a more proactive policy of dealing with this shit.
I don’t expect to find an answer to this here, I’ve just buried so many friends over the years this kinda crap really pisses me off
Yes, it’s tragic. But Florida is lousy with elderly drivers who vote. And who don’t want any curtailment of their right to drive.
BTW, “senile old man” is a far more likely diagnosis than “asshole”.
Definitely. I read another article last night that said he was known to be suffering from dementia.
A next-door neighbor said that, rather than being an asshole, he was a very nice man. Evidently, every time he bumped into you, he’d smile brightly while he made the effort to work out where he’d seen you before.
The traffic cop who’s been giving all the interviews said that at the time of the accident, his memory was so unreliable that he probably forgot that anything had happened moments after it happened, if he was aware at any time that he’d hit someone. He’d been told several times that he’d been involved in a car accident, but only seemed capable of holding on to that datum for a few minutes at a time.
Sad.
There are two assholes in this story. One’s dead, and that’s more punishment than he deserved for his transgression. The other one is the driver’s son (who is a senior citizen himself.) The son was aware that his father was suffering from lapses of lucidity, and also that he was still driving. He failed to bring this to anyone’s attention, which put his father and everyone he shared the road with in mortal danger. Asshole.
A family friend was recently deprived of her license by authorities who refused to renew it.
Its sad, because she was very independent, but to be honest, she was deaf as a post and blind as a bat, and had no business driving.
Doesn’t sound like this guy had much more business being behind the wheel.
Who the fuck are these senior citizens who keep insisting on their “right” :rolleyes: to drive? Did they never have kids?
Instead of Mr. Waltzing-Across-the-Freeway, the victim could have easily been a 6-year-old kid playing tag with her brother on the sidewalk when she accidentally jumped into traffic.
What the fuck, senior citizens? If you’re an increased hazard, you deserve to be scrutized more carefully. Teenagers behind the wheel are tested, and have restrictions put on them, because while they have the skills, they don’t have the emotional maturity to drive like normal people. Senior citizens are just the opposite - they have the maturity but not the reflexes. You’re as dangerous as teenagers, and making you do a driving test once every 5 years isn’t that big of a fucking deal.
I feel the same way. I sound like a broken record–it’s a privilege, not a right.
Then again, in most parts of the country (barring large cities)–one must have a car in order to get around. What to do?
IMO, monitor seniors over 70 more closely, and beef up safe public transport.
Being deaf has no bearing (or at least should have no bearing) on driving eligibility; however, the blindness certainly does.
Dude was so old and senile he hadn’t changed his Depends in 5 years! His turds was mummified!
Cop: “Excuse me, sir, there’s a deceased individual’s head lodged within your vehicle.”
Seasoned Citizen: “You mean he ain’t dead no more?”
I’m sorry, but it’s fuckin’ comical: Tiny gray prune driving a 1974 LTD just flying through intersections and scattering body parts. Just in time for Halloween…
Is there a particular reason why you’re calling the dead man an asshole? As far as I can tell from the linked article, the dead man’s “transgression” was trying to cross the street.
Larry Mudd and Mr. Roboto really hate jaywalkers.
I just found out my 80-year-old grandfather wants to start driving again. We took his truck away from him last year, because he had had quite a few mini strokes, too many seizures to count (he has epilepsy), and his reaction time sucks, he can hardly see or hear, etc.
My grandmother is very defensive about it. “Well, I don’t see why he can’t drive.” Worse-he totalled a brand new truck BEFORE the one we took away from him, and nobody in the family wants to tell him, no, you can’t drive.
sigh
Many of these points are the essence of my feelings. I think it is terrible that these people can’t/won’t take themselves out of the drivers seat. It is also hard on the family to be required to take away the vehicle. It should be required by the State for a person to PROVE thay can safely operate a car and not rely on someone whose judgement may be impaired to volunteer to stop driving, or their family to enforce this type of thing. And every five years seems like too much for many having seen older people decline fairly rapidly.
IIRC, there once was a phone number announced by the Florida Highway Patrol were you could call and report seeing an elderly driver operating erratically and they would be called in for a testing review. This was quite a few years back but it seems that in the age were people have phones in their cars it would be a very benefitial in cases like this one.
“Hello, Highway Patrol? I’m calling to report an elderly driver who’s operating erratically. What’s he doing? Well, he’s got a body on the roof of his car. No, I’m pretty sure it’s dead, it’s missing half a leg and the head’s inside the windshield and… No, I haven’t been drinking!”
In another article, a witness to the accident said that the guy ran diagonally across the road, into traffic. He was counting on the car that was heading toward him to brake, when the driver was faced with someone directly in his path.
This is assholish behaviour. He didn’t deserve to get killed, but it’s entirely possible that his actions could have led to other people being killed or injured.
I disagree…sort of.
You deserve to be scrutinized more carefully when you become a certain age. Since I am 62, I don’t mind setting the age at 60. That’s young enough to catch people before they are old enough to be easily offended and touchy about it.
We get privileges as senior citizens – cheaper theater tickets, discounts on meals, etc. Why not “pay” for those privileges by being screened for our licenses?
Now, which of you young’uns is going to make cigarette and tequilla runs for me? (Man cannot live by bread alone.)
Before he died, my Dad took himself off the road and out of the sky. Mom has done so also but she is cranky about it some days. (85) One of my Grandparents had to have his cars removed or he would drive anyway. ( very small town and when folks would see his car, they would scatter. ) He got a tourist one day ( fender bender thankfully ) and the Police Chief made the kids hide all his cars… He lived to be 99 and 340 days.
I disagree, being deaf has plenty of bearing on whether you should be allowed to drive or not. It affects your ability to hear warning signals - sirens, other car horns, bells and whistles at level crossings.
And before anyone starts, I’m of the opinion that stereos over a certain Db level should be banned as well for the same reason. Other vehicles have warning devices for a reason: Because you’re not always going to see them, but you will definitely look if you hear them.
So would you ban Cadillacs and other luxury sedans that completely insulate the driver from any outside noise?
Reminds me of the one “I want to go like my Grand Dad did; peacefully in his sleep. Not screamng and yelling like the other passengers in his car.”
The law disagrees with you - deaf people can drive, though they may be required to have additional mirrors on their car if I recall correctly. And Fear Itself has a good point - I recall at least one car commercial where the entire focus of the commercial was how even with loud traffic noises around the car, inside it was entirely quiet.