On My Mind

Beatty,

Shotguns don’t have hallways either. It’s one room right behind each other with a center door.

They were built on narrow lots. Some are single residences. Others are doubles. Some people have converted the doubles into one larger single.

My daughter is in a double so she has a neighbor on the other side of the house.

$1000 is cheap . My daughter was paying $1800 almost half hour outside of Philadephia.

Beatty,

New Orleans is unique. Interesting history, a melting pot of people. Each neighborhood has its own vibe.

Great people, hospitality, food and music. We do have our share of crime just like many other cities.

Way,

How many bedrooms? Two bedrooms are at least $2000 here. My daughter only has one bedroom and one bathroom.

Way and Beatty,

Our kids are paying so much more for everything than we ever did at their age.

Need,
One bedroom , one bath . She moved out a year ago and moved in her fiancés condo . He charges her much cheaper rent . Lol.

I agree about prices and how hard it is for our kids these days! My DD bought her first condo several years ago and now has gotten a townhouse. She rents her 2 Br/Bath condo out for almost 2000.. it is handicapped assessable so the rooms and hallways are larger. So she is at least making the mortgage and HO fees and can afford her new TH. I remember when we bought our first house for 63,000 our family thought we were going to go broke! She is a realtor selling starter THs for over 400,000 Its crazy these days!

It is interesting how neighborhoods change throughout the years. We have a neighborhood, the bywater that historically was considered to be a ‘working class’ area. It has been revitalized and is now a trendy area with really good restaurants and bars. Real estate has gone up tremendously in this area from what it was years ago.

Way,

You mentioned Philly area. I have to ask you what is your favorite place to get a Philly cheesesteak sandwich? Every place has their own special sandwich. Ours is a poboy or a muffaletta.

Pam,

I agree that it’s crazy! Real estate has skyrocketed. So has the price of cars!

Way,

Wow! Your daughter did have really high rent!

Need,
I don’t like cheese steaks . Lol

Way,

I haven’t been to Philly to try them. People rave about them though.

Mmmm... Philly cheesesteak sandwich... Yes please! 😋

Ana,

I saw a recipe for Philly cheese steak stuffed potatoes that I might try.

My 85 year old neighbor got a three wheel adult bicycle to ride for exercise. He and his wife used to walk daily. I don’t see her walking at all anymore.

He still recognizes my face and stops to say hello when I am out walking. He doesn’t remember my name or my husband’s name anymore. He’s aware that he has become forgetful.

My neighbor has always been a sweet guy. I wonder if he is dealing with dementia.

So far he has been able to navigate fairly well on his adult tricycle. He says that he wants to be able to get outside and exercise as long as he can. He still drives his truck. I see him coming and going.

I wish there was a cap on how long an older person could maintain their license. It seems like once a person reaches a certain age, they should take required driving tests annually.

I recently renewed my license and I see a lot of elderly people getting their license renewed.

My province requires people to do a written test and a vision test at 80 as well as a do an abbreviated mini mental test (drawing a clock). People who have had accidents may be asked to take a road test.
I think we should consider graduated licensing for the senior crowd, someone who is fine driving to the neighbourhood grocery store may not be as capable of driving on a freeway or after dark.

cw,

I agree. When my uncle became older he started missing getting off exits on busy highways. He ended up driving way out of his way, sometimes getting lost in the process.

One time he was stopped by a policeman for driving too slow on a highway. He lived in a busy area of New Jersey. He also had trouble when there was construction and routes had changed.

Fortunately, my uncle decided on his own to stop driving. My cousins didn’t have any problems trying to get him to stop driving.

Where I live a license is renewed for years! Once we hit a certain age I don’t think this is good. I certainly wouldn’t mind taking additional driving tests when I hit a certain age.

You’re right about driving at night too. It’s harder to see in the evening hours.

You guys know that statistically the drivers with unrestricted (except for glasses) as a ratio of the number of accidents to the number of licensed drivers show 18-19 as the most dangerous followed by 20-29, 40-49, 30-39, then a large drop at 50-59, 60-69, another large drop at 70-79 and another at 80-89. The 90+ numbers are not statistically significant because there are too few people with licenses. These stats hold pretty well if we only look at moving violations or accidents resulting in death.

I think the older screening needs to be based on cognitive abilities, not driving abilities, cause I think the two are related.

My father with vascular dementia did not believe he lost any driving skills as he grew older. I considered him unsafe in his early 70s. My mother on the other hand became more conservative in her driving: driving in daylight to places she knew (for years she often asked me drive her to a new place for a social meeting beforehand so she could see the route), using selected roads with redlights for left turns, ect. I believe she was a safe driver well into her 80s. When I asked her to stop driving because of her MCI recent memory problems - she did.

A friend of Mom's drove at 95 to the grocery and doctor's appointments - only in mid-morning, after everybody got to work and when she would be home before lunch. She had someone pick her and her husband up for church and social activities (my mom drove her to demonstration club).

Statistics and some personal knowledge suggests MOST older people exercise due care as they age, often driving less and with more care. The ones that don't seem to have a cognitive impairment that prevents them from recognizing or admitting there could be a problem.

I've KNOWN several people over 90, multiple people in my extended family lived to 93-99 as well as a few neighbors. I lived beside a man with dementia in my childhood and "helped" his wife keep up with him when he "esacaped" the house.

I reject the aged based discrimination. Although almost 40% of elders will develop some form of dementia or cognitive impairment, that means over 60% will not. I see too many posts on this site self diagnosing dementia anytime a senior pushes back on what a younger person has "decided" is the "right" thing to do - often about driving or where to live. Too many people want to TAKE control without a doctor's diagnosis or a legal right to do so. My libertarian roots tell me you don't (or at least shouldn't) lose your legal rights and protections just because you are a survivor.

The "mini" cognitive test has become a normal feature of many annual physicals - why not require the mini at age 50 (so there are baselines before problems) and make it a physician responsibility to report subpar results. That would help on licenses, POA activations and conservatorships with a legal/medical basis and not straight up age discrimination.

Techie,

I agree with an older person has the right to drive as long as they are capable of driving safely.

I have been involved in accidents where older drivers were not good drivers and plowed right into my vehicle.

It is a tricky situation to deal with and you are correct, cognitive ability plays a huge role in determining whether a person should drive or not drive.

You’re also correct that people of all ages can and do have accidents.

NHWM, I know you say now you wouldn't mind taking an annual test when you reach a certain age. I ask you to consider the stress you put an elder under to take a "test" annually with so much riding on the result. If you live in a rural area where driving is truly required to live unless you have someone assisting you, your ability to get groceries, go to the doctor, pick up medications, possibly attend church and take care of your spouse are on the line. You may be frazzled when you arrive for testing because you have been required to drive through major roads and traffic to get there at a time not neccesarily of your chosing. Many older people take some form of diuretic and "manage" their out and about time around their medication. Did you know Nazis once kept older adults in an interrogation room without any bathroom breaks until they identified 2 jewish families?

My older brother was a good student who graduated summma cum laude, yet had difficulty with make or break tests. He needed to past a certification test to get a job he wanted. He studied for the test and we were are surprised he failed, only correctly answering 68% of the questions. He got another job (which he came to view as better), didn't even pick up the study guide and passed the certification test with a 97% six months later. He just didn't "test" well under pressure. He's 70 now, with no cognitive or physical problems at all. I ask myself if he would have problems on an annual driving test?

A few years back we had a head-on collision involving a couple in their 80s and a couple of teenagers on a road in front of a grocery store. Everyone jumped to the conclusion that the 86 year driver MUST have caused the wreak. The highway patrol investigation showed the teenagers had run into the elders car at more than 70 miles an hour and crossed into the wrong lane. The elder's car was estimated to be traveling about 30 in the rightmost lane (a correct lane for their direction of travel) - they just had the bad luck to buy their groceries at 10:00am on a Wednesday when the kids wanted to pick up some supplies for the lakeside picnic they planned to attend.

The last few months I have had the privilege of supervising two young men during their learning permit driving periods. We have mostly driven to school and school events - with all the "crazy" driving you might expect. I can firmly state I do not expect my boys to be the instigator in any crazy accidents. They are both too "responsible", not wanting to dent their autos or hurt any of their passengers. They even called me one night to come pick them (and their girlfriends) up after a dance when some fog rolled in.

And yet, those boys are the ones (statistically) at the most risk ever time they get behind the wheel. They are the ones I worry about. Not myself or my older brother or my nephews who often drive when (in my opinion) they are too tired. I am more careful driving around the high school, as I used to be when I lived close to a college. Maybe it's a rural thing, but I'm more afraid of younger drivers who are careless or stoned than the older ones I mostly see on sunny days.

Techie,

We do have to be cautious about who receives a driver’s license because all of our lives are at stake when we are sharing the same road.

I don’t think my neighbor will be able to drive his truck much longer. He seems to be losing some cognitive function.

I would not mind being tested annually for a driving test.

We go for our doctor appointments twice a year as a way to stay on track. I feel the same way about testing for a driver’s license.

TNtechie:
Living in a rural area cannot be the excuse to be driving unsafely.

My brother, who suspected he was having problems, ignored them because he lived alone in Palm Springs where it is crucial to be able to drive. He was in a dreadful accident that changed his life forever, and he was correct in suspecting he has a "problem". That problem was Lewy's Dementia.

He spent his last years thankful he didn't hurt or kill anyone. Luckily he drove his pickup back and forth repetitively from a Palm Tree to a huge garbage recepticle, not two people. Only he was badly hurt with his head smashing through first the front window, then the back, then the front again, and etc.

I am for testing. As to nervousness, we are ALL anxious and nervous when we get testing. That's no excuse to be unsafe on the roads.

Alva,

I wholeheartedly agree. Everyone deserves to be safe on our streets.

I personally feel that so many accidents could be prevented if testing would be done more often.

I am lucky that my parents did not fight with their doctors or us about no longer being able to drive.

Mom was having seizures and had Parkinson’s disease. My dad had heart issues and had a stroke. Both were told by their doctors to no longer drive.

This video put out by the MTO includes statistics that do show an increase risk of at fault accidents in older drivers 🤷🏻‍♀️

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWJFDUg-CkY

I think that doctors are not willing to step up and do their duty in reporting at risk drivers, in my experience the only ones who routinely make reports are neurologists. My mom never had her license pulled when she lost her eyesight... you might think that would be something self evident but when my aunt was having laser treatment for macular degeneration she stubbornly got in the car anyway and she got a little way down the road before realizing she couldn't see - luckily she was able to get herself back home.

Okay then, how about pulling the driver's license of anyone convicted of using drugs (including marijuana because whether it's a legal intoxicant or not, it still impacts cognitive function)? They are definitely cognitively impaired for durations of time and may or may not have enough sense left to not get on the roads. Or requiring drug testing every 6/12 months until they pass all of them for 5 years? Same for drunking driving? How about people with mental disorders requiring medication to maintain normal function?

You realize the conditions or groups of people named above have MANY times the negative impact (accidents, crimes, and deaths) that older drivers do.

Sorry for going to the numbers guys, but after a lifetime working as a data analyst I can't help myself from using actual data in my responses - just like I read all the study papers that publish the info - and even dig into the actual numbers the studies are based on. The FBI (though they only correlate data submitted from the states) and insurance companies are two of my favorite sources...

Cwillie, physicians not reporting is where that REQUIRE statement comes into play. Report as the law requires or lose your license - not reviewable by any medical board.

cw,

Eyesight is a major component in accidents. Not being able to see at night causes issues too.

My godmother had macular degeneration. She didn’t have to be convinced not to drive because she never had a driver’s license. She did go blind in her later years and went into a nursing home.

My godfather drove and my godmother relied on him to drive everywhere. He died fairly young and she still didn’t learn how to drive. She walked or took public transportation.

Drunk drivers are held accountable for their actions. So are drug addicts.

Licenses are suspended. They must attend driver’s education classes.

They pay high fines and in some cases they also go to jail. Many are required to do community service.

Sometimes vehicles are modified with an ignition interlock system.

Their insurance company can deny coverage.

Love the video's "involved in" language; not at fault or moving violations but "involved" which can include their parked and empty car being hit by another driver, an elder driving into their own fence, etc. Older drivers tend to report even minor bumps to insurance companies and participate in more "incidents" not to be confused with accidents/wreaks with occupied autos.

Similarly, young drivers having collision insurance on their car loans and wanting their insurance to cover repairs for every scratch are also involved in a number of incidents involving a fence or a post or a garage door a single vehicle collided with. They also have more "incidents" with law enforcement where they pay a fine for speeding, tail lights not functioning, drunk driving, etc.

Ask for the numbers where a death results or there is a medical injury (cost) or 2 or more vehicles involved or a determination of fault and compare the age based numbers. You may be surprised. Insurance companies do not offer reduced rates for drivers in a higher risk group but politicians wanting to justify actions (including moneys from increased ticketing and testing) do. It's also possible the data is not comparing cost and age as insurance companies do.

I would be happy to see raw numbers which would show Canada has a differing experience with older drivers than most of the USA.