Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
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A reporter would like to speak with you about your experience; please reach out to PR@Edmunds.com by 7/25 for details.
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http://www.komotv.com/stories/29831.htm
No, it's not. There is no young people lobby. There IS an old people's lobby. Mandatory testing ideas have been batted about before. The senior citizen's lobby would never stand for it. They won't let anybody take away their mobility, or do anything that could in any way eventually lead to taking away their mobility, regardless of whether they enganger other drivers by keeping it. They hit the polls, they let the politicians know how they feel, and because of it they don't get bothered.
It's really a very selfish way to think, and yet all I've read on this issue indicates this is exactly how the senior citizen's lobby expresses their point, and they make no bones and seem to feel no shame about it. "So what if we're a road hazzard. We still want our freedom. So leave us alone and go bother those dangerous younger people with their baseball caps on backwards again."
"Maybe young drivers in a certain age group should face much stiffer penalties if they're cited or involved in an accident"
I looked at my grandmother's insurance bill last week and I looked at mine, and I can tell you without a doubt we most certainly already are. In fact we're faced with stiffer penalties BEFORE we even get involved in accidents. We drive more, we drive farther, therefore we are involved in more accidents. If the older age groups were involved in commuting 45 miles to work each way every single day instead of using their vehicles twice per week to go to church and the grocery store, they would probably be causing tons more accidents than they do right now.
I even see examples just in my apartment complex. Some prime parking spots are always off limits because certain vehicles never, ever move except for maybe 3-4 times per month, and when they finally do, it's a retiree behind the driver's seat. Now let's see, Im commuting to work every day, driving 30 miles to my parents' house over the weekends, driving to other places just for recreational purposes. Do you think maybe I stand a higher chance of getting into an accident than someone who drives so infrequently that they've been on the same tank of gas for 3 months on their 1989 CAdillac Sedan with 40 thousand miles on it? And on the rare occasions when they do venture out on the roads, they're driving so far below the average speed of traffic that everyone else is trying to avoid them?
"Like I said, it would be a much more difficult problem to solve with the younger drivers."
Nope, not at all. IF we could enforce the laws we already have on the books about wreckless driving, problem would be solved. As it is, localities are more concerned with stationing one lone cop by the side of the road to collect ticket revenues from speeders. So the times when actual wreckless, dangerous drivers, such as tailgaters and street racers, get caught is normally by accident while the cop was in the process of fishing for people doing 68 in a 55.
Stiffer penalties are not the answer. Enforcing the laws we already have is, but that doesn't provide as big of a return on investment as pure simple speed enforcement.
" My point was that old drivers aren't bad intentionally, young drivers are, and because of this, these situations should be delt with differently."
I don't think so. Bad is bad, old or young. A young driver can concievably be convinced to calm down and be more careful. Once he does, he's got the reflexes to keep him safe. An senile older driver will always be senile and confused no matter what you do. But their putting lives in danger just like everybody else. Treat them with kid gloves in other situations, not in this one.
In effect, that is what a drunk driver does on the streets! They FRY folks who more often than not are "innocent". Why is that FAIR?! It would be a self leveling or self elimating problem if only the folks that died due to DUI were the ones who were driving drunk!??
To get some kind of perspective on this: fully 40% or upwards of 17k/42k yearly deaths involve DUI. When you combine that with folks who die due to seat belt non use (in a crash) we are talking a total of 59%!!!!
With younger drivers, maybe just enforcing the current laws would work, but how do you get state, county, and city authorities to address this issue? That's the hard part.
I still disagree that bad is bad, no matter how you look at it. Old people can't help the fact that they lose their ability to drive. That doesn't mean they should be ignored, just that they should be delt with differently. Young drivers who have the ability to drive safely, but choose not to, should be treated as malicious criminals, because that's what they are. Both problems need to be delt with, but differently.
Do you think FL is going to do anything to restrict older drivers ? I doubt it.
I doubt many FL seniors are going very far on any trip, though.
I have to agree that seniors driving can be a menace. My father -in-law drove into his late 70's.
He was totally oblivious to other traffic. He would wander over lanes, looking at people as he talked to them. His eyesight was failing and his hearing was almost non existent. He could not hear all the horns being blown at him. Riding with him was absolutely scary.
He quit driving a few years ago, and now lives in an assisted living retirement home with my MIL.
Anyway, we had our Irish Creme ice cream with brownie and caramel mix-ins (yummm...) and stopped at the playland to let our munchkin run around for a while. As we got out to the car, I heard squealing tires AGAIN! That same truck, stopped at a crosswalk. As I watched, the truck took off, getting up some speed until the driver saw more people crossing the parking lot and did the same thing - slammed on the brakes to lock them up.
It finally dawned on me that these kids were getting their jollies by scaring the crap out of people walking across the parking lot! My wife had to talk me out of chasing them down with a tire iron. Unbe-freaking-lievable.
-Jason
But back to the topic at hand...I had the back to back inconsiderate driver experience today. Coming out of a shopping center parking lot that has sort of its own access road that comes to a T intersection with a "real street". I'm going to make a right turn, so I pull up to the stop sign and stop (what a concept!) Two vehicles coming from my left, the second one has their right turn signal on. So I'm going to wait for the first car to pass and then be ready to go. Well the first car does NOT cross in front of me, but makes the right turn into the shopping center. Just about the time I finish saying "Thanks for the signal meathead!!" the second vehicle, right turn signal on and cell phone glued to the ear, zips straight through WITHOUT making the turn they were signalling for. Normally I consider the horn to be used for emergency purposes only, but I have to admit that I did enjoy blasting her one and waking her up to the world outside her car and phone.
Don't forget tonight's member-to-member chat -- Our topic tonight is "Best New Sports Cars of 2004 - GTO, Mustang, "?""
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PF Flyer
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http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/02/18/older.drivers.ap/index.html
Where was your cell phone? I would've been calling the cops over that incident.
pfflyer
Imagine that, a women yacking on a cell phone instead of paying attention to her driving. That's a site seldom seen!
Answering, he heard his wife's voice urgently warning him, "Herman, I
just
heard on the news that there's a car going the wrong way on
Interstate
77.
Please be careful!" "Hell," said Herman, "It's not just one car. It's
hundreds of them!"
"Drivers in their late 50s and early 60s are among the safest on the roads, but motorists who reach retirement age are much more apt to get into an accident, a AAA study finds.
Drivers over 85 were nearly four times as likely to die in a crash as middle-aged drivers. "
I am among the safest drivers on the road. Glad they got that right. ;-)
Aside from retirement age being 85, instead of early 60's(my plans ), I wonder if degraded driving ability is gradual or occurs rather suddenly, with the onset of a medical condition, like a minor stroke.
Later in the article I found it very interesting that for drivers 80 or over, FL requires a vision test for license renewal. My state (MD) requires that with every license renewal. no matter what age.
For instance, my 89 year old grandfather is still driving. I haven't ridden with him in years, because whenever we go anywhere, either my Dad or I do the driving. Dad says that Granddad scares the crap out of him when he drives though, although he's ALWAYS been that way! So there's really no degradation going on there! Back over the summer, I followed him to the garage so he could drop his car off to have some work done on it, and he seemed to be driving just fine.
But OTOH, my grandmother, on my Mom's side, is going to turn 80 on Feb 28. She pretty much gave up driving 5 years ago. She has macular degeneration, and it slowly reduced her vision and driving ability. At first, the changes were subtle. She and her cousin would do their grocery shopping together, and take turns driving, but it got to the point that her cousin drove more often. Then, one time I needed to drop my car off at the repair shop, and she didn't want to follow me down there. She did, but then had me drive back.
The end came about 5 years ago when it was time to renew her license, and she couldn't pass the vision test. By that time though, she wasn't driving at all, and was prepared for it.
Then, there was my great-uncle's mother. She had a 1953 DeSoto Firedome that she was still driving in the early 70's. Had a stroke while driving it, and smacked into a parked car. The DeSoto went into storage, and she never drove again. She passed away around 1977-78.
So it's just going to depend on the person, in general, as to how their driving ability is going to degrade.
I have seen this so regularly for 35 years that I almost think some folks think this is the "proper" way to signal.
Or to be more clear: guy/gal ahead of you at a red light doesn't turn on their signal until the light turns green. It's like they purposely wait until light turns so as not to confuse anyone.
I have a sheepish look when I get into my lowered lightly modded....race car. Hee.
PS: I do know the difference between KMPH and MPH though.
So what are you doing on public roadways with a race car? Go to a race track.
I notice a vehicle coming up from behind us at MORE than the posted speed. Not flying, but definitely going to give me a chance to observe the LLC battle up close...
As he approaches, he moves into the RIGHT lane on MY bumper and starts flicking his lights and gesturing, then pulls up beside ME and shows me how his fingers work. I give him the international sign for WHAT??? and ease off the gas as he darts between me and the LLC who I THOUGHT was going to be getting this treatment.
Can ANYONE explain this one to me???
PF Flyer
Host
Pickups & News & Views Message Boards
I'm just as stumped as you are...
But from a distance when the guy was coming up behind you probably looked like you had a little life in you, unlike that LLC stiff. He was probably expecting you to pass the LLC on the
right, and instead you turned the situation into a rolling roadblock.
Sure he *should* have been mad at the LLC, but from you he seemed to expect competence. Who expects that from an LLC?
At the toll plaza there are something like 6 lanes in my direction. I used the rightmost toll lane, and stayed to the right. After the plaza the road narrows to 3 lanes, 2 lanes on the right going in my direction. I'm perfectly lined up to cruise along into the rightmost one.
Except that someone else who passed through the tolls at about the same time as me but way to the left, started to drift over toward me. At first I thought, it's fine even if he's going my way the ramp is 2 lanes wide there's room for everybody. Problem is, he kept coming over. And coming over. When he finally entered my lane (we were side by side), I leaned on my horn. He kept coming. But what made it *really* special, is that he popped on his brights and honked back, while still coming further into my lane.
Time for evasive maneuvers. Just flooring it or braking wouldn't have been enough (someone would have lost some paint, a side mirror and possibly a bumper) so I had to drive on the shoulder for a bit. I was very slightly ahead, so I floored it instead of braking.
He followed me around the curve onto the Turnpike with his brights still on, honking. I did my best to quickly lose him in traffic on the Turnpike. (Yes there's traffic at 5am).
My friend and I could only shake our heads at someone who pushed me off the road, honking and shining his brights at *me* while he did it.
I've learned not to give people an opening. I won't cut anyone off or gesture to anybody, but I'll be darned if someone is going to cut in front of me and then slam on the brakes. I don't give 'em the opening. That's the Jersey way.
People such as you describe should be reported to the police.
But most folks, when they hear a car horn honking from the space they wanted to move to and suddenly realize that "hey! there's a car there!" will abort the lane change and move back. This guy was abreast of me, drifted over into the space I was occupying and when he heard the horn it just seemed to annoy him. It sure didn't stop him.
Aroudn here what happens when you honk is they flip you the bird like you're the one who did something wrong, then they continue cutting you off.
Once I was driving on the Belt Parkway in Brooklyn, and some kid looked to be about 12 or so was driving next to me in a brand, shiny new Maxima. He smoothly and skillfully began a lane change into my passenger side door. The *look* on his face when I leaned on my horn... I only got to see his initial shock, I was driving after all. But my friend in the passenger seat said she thought he might have soiled himself.
In my observation most drivers out there who do stupid things aren't malicious (even in NY/NJ/CT, where roadway malice is a way of life) but just not very good.
I do agree with you about not ever driving near anyone if I can help it. If given a choice, I *never* drive abreast (even with an open lane in between) of anyone.
BTW, road tripping with a passenger who is also a good driver, who is willing to be a spotter/copilot is one of life's unsung pleasures.
When I do drive I might get a few speeding tickets. Sorry but that is how it is. That's as agressive as I might get and I won't go over 90mph. I am not a daredevil.
The light wasn't even CLOSE to turning green (the cross traffic pedestrian signs haven't started the flash the hand yet) and this guy just keeps rolling and rolling into the intersection. His front tire is probably 5-10 feet past the stop line (around 3 feet past the furthest pedestrian crossing line) before he realizes the light isn't going to turn green any time soon.
When the light turns green, he takes a full three seconds to realize what just happened. By this time, I'm already across the intersection on my bicycle.
He blows past me, only to reach another intersection one block down. I pull up beside him, and there we go again: The creeping continues.
I wasn't blocking his line of sight at all (I usually hang back a little to let them turn right if they want to...) so why he keeps rollin' is beyond me...
Nah. They drink it before they throw it out... grin.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
1. Turn signals will give away your next move. A real Connecticut driver never uses them.
2. Under no circumstance should you leave a safe distance between you and the car in front of you, or the space will be filled in by somebody else, putting you in an even more dangerous situation.
3. The faster you drive through a red light, the smaller the chance you have of getting hit.
4. Never, ever come to a complete stop at a stop sign. No one expects it and it will result in you being rear-ended.
5. Never get in the way of an older car that needs extensive bodywork. Connecticut is a no-fault insurance state and the other guy doesn't have anything to lose.
6. Braking is to be done as hard and late as possible to ensure that your ABS kicks in, giving a nice, relaxing foot massage as the brake pedal pulsates. For those of you without ABS, it's a chance to stretch your legs
7. Never pass on the left when you can pass on the right. It's a good way to scare people entering the highway.
8. Speed limits are arbitrary figures, given only as a suggestion and are apparently not enforceable in Connecticut during rush hour.
9. Just because you're in the left lane and have no room to speed up or move over doesn't mean that a Connecticut driver flashing his high beams behind you doesn't think he can go faster in your spot.
10. Always slow down and rubberneck when you see an accident or even someone changing a tire.
11. Learn to swerve abruptly. Connecticut is the home of the high-speed slalom driving thanks to the State Highway Department, which puts pot-holes in key locations to test drivers' reflexes and keep them on their toes.
12. It is traditional in Connecticut to honk your horn at cars that don't move the instant the light turns green.
13. Remember that the goal of every Connecticut driver is to get there first by whatever means necessary.
14. In the Connecticut area, 'flipping someone the bird' is considered a polite Connecticut salute. This gesture should always be returned.