ELDERLY DRIVERS!!! venting my anger

[cameron boyle]

stop worrying about the "hoons" and clamp down on the senile. today i was driving to work and i pulled up to a set of lights as the arrow went orange so the lady in front stopped (fair enough). so i waited for a set of lights then came our turn and she didnt go, i waited for 5 seconds then gave her a gentle toot, nothing, so i tooted again and she stalled it. so then came the next set of lights and when the arrow went green she sat there so i waited then tooted her again (fighting the urge for a power slide hook turn around her) she slowly took off and i just made it round on orange. then as i drove past her having been so patient she put her window down and started mumbling some rubbish out the window at me. FOR WHAT, i was so patient, now the stupid old bat is gonna whinge to all her old friends about P platers and i will probably be in "thumbs up" "thumbs down" this week. Every day i see elderly drivers doing somthing rediculous, the statistics show P platers are in more accidents but you have to wonder how many are caused by elderly people doing stupid and dangerous things, i dont mind them going slow but dont dare run a stop sign or dont give way because if my little girl gets hurt with her third party insurance and it is legaly (but not actually) my fault there will be hell to pay. i am not askign for anything out of the ordinary, just focus equal attention on the elderly as you do on the young and bring them back to BAC 0.00 cause i work in a restaurant and i have seen them driving after a couple of glasses of wine, apparantley all roads are one way according to them.

Vent your anger, post some stories about elderly drivers stupidity

[rattattack1313]

wow...I agree totally....those sorta people should hand thier licences in.......glad you kept your cool..........

[Bax]

Well I agree with you, definately elderly need to me moderated just as much as the younger drivers.

But I think you've picked the wrong points to pick at. I've seen elderly drivers driving slowly, nearly causing accidents and nearly change lanes into people.

But I've never seen an old lady sitting at the lights behind an l plater thats getting lessons and stalling it sitting there going 'Damn I should power slide around this idiot kid'

[cameron boyle]

No im sure they dont think that, but i have been in the car with my gran in similiar situations and they say things like "why cant the learn to drive in the backstreets" or "its not that hard", the changing lanes without indicating or looking is a big big big issue, i have almost been side swiped so many times, i nearly took my front bumper of mounting a curb to protect my little girl from an attempted side swipe.

[Bomn]

Just wait, you will be old and stupid one day too.

[cameron boyle]

according to "today tonight" i wont live long enough to be old and stupid haha with my wreckless driving and all haha

[SYM35]

i hate old drivers they should have to redo the licence or something like that because when they got there licence all you had do do is start the car compared to what we had to go through to get our licence its bullshit an **** todaytonight i hate that show lol

[VS Omega]

Not just the extreme ends of the scales though, there's no-skilled/ignorant/dangerous/arrogent drivers in every age bracket.. every age bracket, focusing on the oldies is no different than everybody else focusing on us young people..

[vlv8vic]

i think blinkers is a major old person problem. I live in a city with more roundabouts than you could imagine for its size, and so many times i actually have to look out and make exceptions for old people. I know thats defensive adn safe driving but you shouldnt have to be waiting for them to screw up.
- they sometimes dont indicate they are turning
-change lanes without indication or cant choose to sit in both, or start merging with me next to them!
- when they do use the indicator they seem to be unable to disengage it. our roundabouts require some 'manual cancellation' due to their size, these people leave them on and dont care that others need to know what they are doing.

another common one, at an intersection near me. it is a crossroad with giveway signs, to get to town i go striaght accross, to leave town other drivers have to turn right, crossing my lane. now by going straight i have right of way, so when a gap in the traffic opens up i am allowed to boot accross. BUT they dont seem to understand and repeatedly pull accross in front of me. MY picture of this:

[Stretchomatic]

actually the main prob i've had is from both ends of the scale (i'm an L plater) one day while driving into leeton a P plater in a magna overtook as i was going into a 60 zone and i was doing 65 so i dont know how quick he was going (i wasnt surprised at the dent in the rear bumper), later on that day as i was leaving my footy game a woman in a tarago full of under 16's whipped around in front of me without looking (lucky it was still in the footy grounds, so i was going slow) but then when she leaves she doesnt indicate, no big deal really, but what example is she setting for me and all the other 16 y/o's in her car, thats my 2 cents anyway,

P.S. i've got nothing against P platers as i will be one shortly, i have something against P platers in magnas though.

[Garth]

i tell ya what, when you are old, ill sit behind you and toot my horn,

[beckrey]

everyone under 25 & over 60

should be banned from driving at any time of the day or night

[Fekason]

I too have noticed old drivers making careless mistakes. And middle aged ones. And young ones.

However, I would still say that 'P' platers are still the ones that most often come to my attention due to their driving.

I think that it would be best not to categorise all drivers by age.

IMHO, it is not a valid defence to "shift" the attention to another group. If we all faced up to our part in the equation, the roads would be better.

[cameron boyle]

its very easy to notice P platers doing somthing wrong and to notice it more often because they have a dirty big red P in the corner of there windscreen. I know there are shocking drivers across all the ages though i seem to notice a lot mor in the elderly bracket. test everyone every 3 years i reckon, it may be an inconvenience, but it is a hell of a lot more of an inconvenience to have no mode of transport to get to work when some idiot rights my car off (whether it is there fault or not my car would still be off the road for quite some time)

[AussieMarc]

The younger drivers need to learn one way or another. That is why they are on restricted licences - No alochol consumption, 4 points (according to QLD rules). Older drivers have no real excuse apart from their physical abilities.. They have been driving for a long time and should have some decent experience behind them. It is bizzare when someone who has been driving for 50 years isn't any better then someone driving for 3. I will agree though, as a P plater I have problems with the older driviers. The speed doesn't worry me, it is a case of the good ol' "move, indicate then look" rule. Classic example of how much the system is improiving on people getting their licence.

[luvmycommodore]

I think a big problem for older drivers is they are just not learning the new rules. If a driver is 70 s/he may have got their licence in 1952... do you think their were traffic lights and roundabouts back then?

I am not defending older drivers who obviously don't drive well just offering up a possible explanation.

Maybe Nana only drives to the shops once a week and is a bit nervous in the car - for God's sake in this day and age she probably thought the lunatic P plater behind was going to come and drag her out of her car and thump her.

The media shows a story almost everyday on road rage, you probably nearly gave Nana a heart attack. All you did was make life worse for yourself and other P platers. She will tell her friends about the hoon who tooted at her. And they in turn will say to their friends "did poor Betty tell you about that awful youngster who scared her half to death?" Old people gossip, it's what they do. And hey she probably is someone's Nana - how would you feel if she was YOUR Nana?

If you had tooted ME at the lights i probably would have turned my engine off and just sat their a while. Cut other people some slack and maybe they will do it for you too.

That being said - i think 85 is WAY too old before beginning yearly driving tests. 70 or 75 would be better. My grandfather had to be forcibly taken down to the RTA to hand his licence in at 77 because he would go driving and forget how to get home, but still claimed to be a great driver... now that's scary.

[Shivaga]

Well i just get sick off sh*t-house drivers. like, i may thrash my car drift around a few corners, but when im being sensible (which is becoming more and more often ) i just cant stand it. like...i know i'm doing stupid stuff except these people dont and you just wanna tell them to wake up or somthing!
Like when you see another driver who is about to cause an accident, and you do somthing which prevents it. when you couldnt have done it THEY would be paying for your new bumper.

[rattattack1313]

wow........................was just chatting to me old Mum on the phone.....she was just saying how a friend(elderly) of hers went for a Licence Renewal etc, (in NSW).....and the fella behind the counter told her to come back when there was less traffic, so it would be easier for her to do her Re-drive..... ....I couldn't believe that....I know the Lady in question...I didn't even know she drove, let alone had a Licence...... I don't think she should have one....she is dangerous enough with a shopping trolley.......

[gregshuge]

i think that elderly drivers are usually just not understanding of today's road rules because they got their licence so long ago...

having said that, there should be a regular testing procedure because once we get older, our reflexes and our minds aren't quite as sharp as they used to be.

also, on two occasions, i have been waiting to enter a roundabout and have had elderly drivers (who are on the roundabout) stop and give way to ME!! i thought it was so strange (and scary).

[rattattack1313]

.....also, on two occasions, i have been waiting to enter a roundabout and have had elderly drivers (who are on the roundabout) stop and give way to ME!! i thought it was so strange (and scary).

......try living in Brisbane mate.....they are all ex-Joe Bjorkie fans...and there is THOUSANDS of roundabouts here.........(sorry mate...just re-read your thread....you DO live in Bris!!!!!!!!!!!!!) sorry !!!!!!!!!

[Infus10n]

lmao, elderly need transport too but yes when they do make mistakes like trying to merge into you etc they dont know they did it, they think we are in the wrong. P Platers know when they are doing somehtign wrong thats hwy they target us. Our reaction time is better then the oldies so i still think we are safer. We as being P Platers...

But saying this P Platers are going 65 in a 60 zone compared to nana going 40 in a 60 zone so braking distance is still the same

[gregshuge]

haha yeah mate i do live in brissie. its bloody terrible....

[Shivaga]

haha yeah mate i do live in brissie. its bloody terrible....

you got my vote too boys!

[rattattack1313]

haha yeah mate i do live in brissie. its bloody terrible....

...re-read your thread....lol...where abouts??? I'm in Tarragindi....

[Phreddy]

Like several others, I think the whole thing boils down to regular re-testing - and NOT this "... come back when the traffic is a bit quieter, Grandma". But I don't believe re-testing should only be for the older folks. I think that we ALL should re-test every five years or so. We all pick up bad habits over the years, and as mentioned, several rules and conditions have changed.

I mean, how's this? I work with computers - let's say for example that I was depending on skills I had learned and mastered 5 years ago...

I wouldn't be able to find a bloody job! And if I did, I wouldn't be able to do it.

Education, and re-assessment. (I think a lesson or two in basic physics as part of licence training might be beneficial too - like for example, inertia and momentum...)

Anyways, my two-bob's worth.

Cheerz!