Another OLD lady cannot navigate E milw st. Come out of medical center into oncoming traffic. Luckily I was in the right lane and not the left lane or she woudl have run into me. IF a car is coming at you and you see white lanes best not to pull into that lane!!! Look for a YELLOW line and stay right of that.UGH!!!!

Great editorial, Mr. Peck!

May I also add that Keeping Us Safe is a national organization that provides practical, real-life solutions to older drivers and their families. "Beyond Driving with Dignity; The workbook for older drivers and their families" serves as the foundation of our family-centered "Beyond Driving with Dignity" program.

For families that might benefit from third-party, impartial intervention in resolving this very delicate and sensitive issue, we offer you our Certified "Beyond Driving with Dignity" professionals. These individuals have been specially trained and certified in the "Enhanced Self-Assessment Program" for older drivers.

Our “Beyond Driving with Dignity” Professionals are deployed throughout the United States and Canada.

Keeping Us Safe and the “Beyond Driving with Dignity” program have been recognized by the NY Times, the Kiplinger Retirement Report, the Canadian Medical Association Journal, The Huffington Post, and the National Institute on Aging’s Alzheimer’s Disease Education and Referral Center.

Keeping Us Safe was organized in 2008 by a retired Ohio State Trooper that still has a passion for preventing highway fatalities. The "Beyond Driving with Dignity" program is designed to help older drivers with diminishing driving skills make a smooth transition from the driver's seat to the passenger seat without deterioration to their dignity, personal pride or independence.

Our programs are designed to save lives while simultaneously helping to ease the burden of the family as they find themselves faced with this very challenging issue.

For more information, visit Keeping Us Safe at http://www.keepingussafe.org or call us toll free at 877-907-8841.

Spot on J-villian!

Ultimately this is a knock-on effect of a culture that builds exclusively for automobile transport. If we were to have better transit options and build our communities so that they are walk and bike-friendly, with convenient access to businesses, then our older citizens could "age in place" without needing a car to handle the basic amenities of life.
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As it is, our elderly drivers are right when they say they need a car to get around, to buy groceries, to visit the doctor -- because that's the way we have built the world around us. Then when we have to take the car away it's a horribly imprisoning option.

bagcub- latest one. I was waiting for traffic to cross onto hwy 14. I had a stop sign. Older lady waiting for oncoming traffic on 14 so she could turn. She tries to way by onto 14 when she cuold have turned onto the road off of 14. Traffic is coming behind her so she wouldn't turn when she could so traffic behind her was coming up. If she went when she was supposed to, when she could, instead of waving into traffic when it is HER turn I could have gone. But the traffic came close then I couldn't go. Did she do this stupid stuff when she was young- it is possible she has always been an idiot. That is why test ALL people!!

Unfortunately, I suspect that if seniors knew their ability to drive safely was being judged during their annual wellness visit, any number of them just wouldn't go to the doctor. Then they might be out driving while having a stroke or heart attack or low blood sugar episode. Darned no matter which way you turn.

JoyM - Threatening? Absolutely not!
I will, however defend myself if necessary in a legal manner.
FYI, I am living my life pretty much as you wish to live when you retire. I run my errands usually mid-afternoons, keep up with traffic, and and enjoy the heck out of the freedon my automobile affords me.
And, I agree that 8 year renewals are too long. I think the medical profession needs to get involved in this discussion, as the first person who could determine the physical and mental ability of an elderly person to drive would be their doctor.
Maybe there should be a way of assessing a persons abilities during the Medicare Annual Wellness Visit.

Emmo46. And Oldtimer...LMAO, regrettably , it's not a laughing matter. I think mandatory road testing should be done yearly for drivers over a certain age, not sure what that age should be,65,70 ? Done at no charge ? A lot to take into consideration.

Emmo46. And Oldtimer...LMAO, regrettably , it's not a laughing matter. I think mandatory road testing should be done yearly for drivers over a certain age, not sure what that age should be,65,70 ? Done at no charge ? A lot to take into consideration.

EMMO46 Take your Sunday drives on Wednesdays around 10 a.m., and then you won't annoy the rest of us who actually have places to be until we get to retire. My post-retirement list includes not having to get up to an alarm (unless there is someplace I WANT to go) and not having to drive in traffic and shop in crowds, even if that means going to Woodman's at midnight to avoid both. When you don't drive the limit on a clear, dry day, you are just as dangerous as someone speeding and weaving in and out of traffic and passing aggressively...and you probably cause some of that. And in some cases, the reason that horn-blowing and bird-flipping doesn't work is because the offending driver can't hear or see the demonstration of annoyance. Finally, really, are you actually threatening people on-line? Because that is the second forbidden bullet right above where you typed that into the form.

EMM 046 you said it all, thank you. Mr Peck how about taking a ride with me before your editorial? Iam 86

EMM 046 you said it all, thank you. Mr Peck how about taking a ride with me before your editorial? Iam 86

My brother and I took our mom's keys away and my brother bought her car from her. This was after each of us went on a ride with her on separate days. She ran stop signs, put the car in drive instead of reverse in a parking lot, got lost 3 blocks from my brother's house, and couldn't find her keys in her purse after looking for 15 minutes when they were right in the "key" compartment where she always placed them. It was hard and she still wants to buy a new car. She doesn't remember ever having the car she sold to my brother. Dementia is a horrible disease.

I just came across this in the Wausau Daily Herald:
A man with a concealed carry permit held two people at gunpoint Tuesday after the duo rammed him on Highway 29 and then began beating him in a road rage incident, according to police.
http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article...

Bravo.

Don't mess with old people, we are smart, cunning, shrewd, and will not take any crap. We earned the privilege of driving by fighting wars, raising families, paying taxes, and working hard.
If I'm not going fast enough for you...too bad.
We still remember what a treat it is to "take a ride" and can enjoy our time behind the wheel without some hyper race to get to the fast food joint or mall or beat the other car to the stoplight.
One more thing: a number of "old timers" have concealed carry permits...it would not be wise to physically try to take out your road rage on us. And, "bird-flipping" and horn-blowing doesn't bother us either...we were doing that long before you were born.

My 82 year old father told me the other day that he just got his licence renewed and it was good for another 8 years. I couldn't believe that someone that age could go that long before renewing.

Yes, older people may be "safer" but their health certainly changes more in 8 years than someone in their 30s.

Common sense tells me that the law should be changed and older drivers should be either tested or at least have to show up in person more often than someone half their age.

baegucb -- I have a word for you...patience. Going 5 mph under the speed limit in town is a problem? Not turning right on red is a problem?

I actually had a car hit twice in a parking lot, by an elderly woman. The first time, she mistook the gas pedal for the brake. After the second time, I "advised" her to put it into drive. Three cars damaged since she pushed our car into another.
Driving around Janesville during the day time, seems like there are a lot of clueless elderly people. 5 mph under the limit? Annoying.
Grey haired lady sitting at a green light near Menard's today for minutes? Needs her license yanked.
Same intersection a week ago? Grey haired guy in an expensive pickup refused to make a right turn with no traffic.
I'd love to report a license plate and have DOT re-license the driver.

If there are no children/grandchildren to take the keys away
they are taken away by a government-appointed "death panel".

Eagle1: My editorial will provide an answer to that, courtesy of NBC's "Today" show.
Greg Peck

honestly are they statistically any worse than the 16-20 year olds on the road?

All I could think of some years ago when I thought I would have to have the keys taken away from my dad was: I have two young children. Whose grandchildren might he injure or kill? And that is what I would have said to him as a grandfather, if there hadn't been an abrupt change of health for the worse that precluded him from ever driving again. Driving is a privilege and not a right. Maybe if impaired drivers of any age don't care about other people, they might care about their own money, because if you injure or kill someone, chances are extremely high that you will get sued and you will lose everything down to the shirt off your back. Is that the emotional and financial legacy you planned to leave your own family? Just remember there might be some significant costs to your insistence on your "independence".

So, what is to stop the old people from driving if they don't have a lic.? Drunks have their lic. revoked and suspended and it hasn't stopped them from driving. And, what do you do about the old folks who don't have any children/grand-children around to take the keys from the old person? Who decides then?