can't believe this hasnt been posted here yet.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/West/07/1...ash/index.html
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can't believe this hasnt been posted here yet.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/West/07/1...ash/index.html
I know driving keeps the elderly from feeling useless, but d@mn! Sometimes the just shouldn't drive!:mad:
On another note: This one is kinda sad and scarry, too.
This is one of those times where age-discrimination is completely appropriate.
My solution to these kinds of problems?
- No more drivers licenses. Licenses to reproduce would be far more benefitial.
- Driving tests will be replaced by driving audits. This means that at some point during every five-year period, someone will follow you around for a week and watch how you drive, with you, the driver, totally unaware.
- Heart monitors hooked directly into the braking system of the vehicle for all motorists over 40 years of age...at least in the US.
Feel free to add to this list or send campaign contributions.
Argh I lived on Florida for 4 months... darned Q-Tips got in wrecks every frikkin day... always traffic!! AHHH!
I think that after age 55 or so there should be a required annual drivers liscence test.
Also imagine if he had a stroke while driving.:eek:
i think that people should have a new driving-test when they reach a certain age, and then re-take the test more times afterwards, with a few years between. If they are unable to drive properly, and have certain physical/mental problems of the kind you may get when you're aged, then the license to drive should be taken from you.
edit: now I see that Shaolin-Do said nearly the same thing, oh, well..:rolleyes:
"Nine people were killed, including a 3-year-old girl, authorities said. The more than 54 hurt include 14 people with critical injuries, they said. Two of those critically injured are under the age of 2."
:( :( :( :( :(
i just heard it on the news coz i was sleeping :(
dawpod
Time for more gun control eh?
I've said it again and again and I'm saying it again now. Fewer cars+better public transit+more pedestrian friendly city planning=better quality of life. If this guy didn't think he needed to drive a car to live his life, those nine people would still be alive.
CSN, unfortunately, as a roadway designer, and planner, I'd have to give an overall thumbs up to your statement, I agree with SD too (who would have thunk it). 52 people, that is a lot of people to hit, have dive out of the way... that would be one of those things in a movie where you are, "Yeah, right."
He's unquestionably right. My dad is approaching 65, and his night vision is almost gone. I've been in the car when he's run red lights because he's not aware of them. He's an excellent driver in the daytime, but I have to wonder how long that will last.
my buddy said this one time when following an eldery driver going 30 or so in a 55 and i completely agree with him. if your reaction time is so terrible that you simply can not drive anywhere near the speed limit, it's the same da mn thing as being drunk and you shouldnt be behind the wheel.
this is just case in point.
motherfu cker hid a loaded gun inside a teddy bear and gave it to a kid?????
jesus fu cking christ. this sh it wouldnt happen if i ruled the world. i guaran-fu cking-tee it.
MAY BE SOME NEGLIGENCE? The old fuc#er KILLLED 9 PEOPLE.Quote:
"Right now it looks as though there may be some negligence as far as his capacity to drive safely," Butts said. There was no indication that Weller intended to injure any pedestrians.
i really really hate reporters
I don't agree with less cars but I do agree with better public transportation options and education and much more accurate requirements for the eldery to get and keep their license.
But more than that I agree with more responsibility for old *******s like that. Meaning jail time for some form of manslaughter.
Wow. Apparently only 7416 elderly people have visited CNN.com since midnight.
My grandfather, back when he was alive, once hit the gas pedal instead of the brake too. When that happens, one tends to panic and hit what they think is the brake, harder. This caused him to fly across the street coming out of our driveway, he hit a bump on the sidewalk and the car halfway jumped a wall!! Ending up with the rear end dangling over the wall. He and others were uninjured, actually. But it goes to show you, alot of elderly people should NOT be driving. Fu(k the AARP, get people retested yearly after 55 years old - and this test should include a LOT more than the regular drivers test, it should include a reaction timing test too.
"after 55 years old"
umm.... that's a tad too early.... i say yearly over 70
lol @ the "time for more gun control" smack.
And I have to agree with GDA that the teddy bear incident wouldn't have happened either if I were in charge of this milk-gutted sh*thole we call a world. Teddy bears would be outlawed under my terribly repressive regime. No teddy bears, no guns hidden inside them. Simple solution deftly executed.
Bow to your cruel master, unwashed thralls, and weep for the golden age when teddy bears were legal...
Ive seen some very incompetent 50+ drivers around....
Albeit, there are still several good drivers even at age 65, 70, but the majority are more dangerous than a 16 yr old. Soccer moms on cell phones driving 20 under the speed limit are a hazard too however...
soccer moms on the cell phone driving 20 over are even worse.
and i don't think anyone's saying old people can't drive. just test them every now and then. it's not a difficult thing, and it's not like there'll be any difference at the DOL (takes forever if two people are in line or 20 -- no matter).
if the last time a 70-year-old was tested for his or her license was when they first got it back when they were 16, that's more than fifty years since some licensing authority actually approved them. considering how much cars, the driving enviroment and driving laws have changed in the past 50 years, a simple test is more than justified.
People driving high are worse than the soccer moms.
Don't try to argue this SD. Seeds pop out at very inconvenient times.
I got a question, it's probably bit hard to grasp, but understandable that instead of brake, the old man got nervous and 'confused' and hit the accelerator, ok, and he kept accelerating it as long as he did, also may be ok, but how can you not notice when you're going around on the asphalt over 3 blocks and hitting over 50 people, thumping them all over? Even if the guy was 86 years old.... Ive seen elderly people a lot more in control and intelligent than that. Forget the law, how can his family members let him drive at that kind of state? And he's mentally sound? Yeah right!
EW: Disagree about driving high, but agree that driving while actually smoking up is extremely dangerous. Especially when the thing keeps going out and stuff. I gave that up for good a few years ago, and wish I never had done that.
3 blocks is a long time. Even confused, how do you go 3 blocks hammering on a pedal an not realise your accellerating instead of brakeing? Really, even if your scared, you should realise to pull your foot off the pedal, and notice it slows.
No No, I still gave the old man credit of that because of his age, but running over 52 people and not notice it, and come out with a confused look on his face? I seriously think it was something else, I dont think he was mentally "sane."
Down with qing, restore the ming.... oh wait, I've been watching too many kung fu movies.Quote:
Originally posted by Budokan
lol @ the "time for more gun control" smack.
And I have to agree with GDA that the teddy bear incident wouldn't have happened either if I were in charge of this milk-gutted sh*thole we call a world. Teddy bears would be outlawed under my terribly repressive regime. No teddy bears, no guns hidden inside them. Simple solution deftly executed.
Bow to your cruel master, unwashed thralls, and weep for the golden age when teddy bears were legal...
That's not the reporter's fault. If he had said "There was negligence here", and the court case later finds the guy innocent of negligence (in a legal sense) he can sue the newspaper for libel.Quote:
Originally posted by The Willow Sword
MAY BE SOME NEGLIGENCE? The old fuc#er KILLLED 9 PEOPLE.
i really really hate reporters
The reporter's just covering his ass (and by extension, his employers.)
Personally, I think that everyone should have to retake their driver's test every five years. Driving is a fine motor skill that deteriorates through lack of practice and is strongly affected by age and other physical factors, and should be treated as such.
Well, at the very least this problem will be short lived once all the elderly die off.
what kinda car did he have? Coz i guarantee that if he had one of THESE no bad stuff would happen ;)
dawood