Just want to share my saddest moments in the westside:

What a terrible tragedy, 8 people kills, 40 injured. I hate when people behind the wheel do not know how to stop or slow down!

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/West/07/16/farmers.market.crash/index.html
http://www.msnbc.com/news/939947.asp

The damaged car appeared to have several shoes on its roof

This is just crazy! :mad:

its not his fault he's old and had a stroke/heart attack behind the wheel... he deserves to have his drivers license until the day he dies, and for the next five years after that...

when will the the legislature learn that old people (age 65+) deteriorate (sp?) every year and should be re-tested on vision and diving with an instructor

yeah, they should definatly not be allowed to drive unless tested in reflexes, mental capacity vision and hearing, all of which should be on par with what it takes to drive a vehicle, and should be tested this way every year

many people are fine, but those who arent should not be controlling a vehicle that weighs 3000lbs, and can go 120 miles an hour
________
Ipad Accessories (http://accesoriesipad.com/)

Originally posted by lucke
its not his fault he's old and had a stroke/heart attack behind the wheel... he deserves to have his drivers license until the day he dies, and for the next five years after that...
when will the the legislature learn that old people (age 65+) deteriorate (sp?) every year and should be re-tested on vision and diving with an instructor
Problem is not only old people, idiots and drunks and drunk idiots don't help much either. As much as a pain in the ass it would be I think there should be re-testing for everyone every so often. At least eye and reactions and maybe a few questions. Something to weed out the undesireables.

Yeah, and the only people with disproportionately higher accident rates than old people are youngsters with less than three years behind the wheel. So we shouldn't let anyone below say 21 drive either. That would really make our roads safer.

no, youre completely wrong lol
thats based on driving expierience so it would happen at any age the driving starts. true, hormones and stupididty of young people also has something to do with it, maybe even more than inexpirience, but this is easily prevented by people that are responsible, yeah, a lot of kids do stupid things like speed/race, but there are also those that dont do any of that stupid crap

the problem with a lot of older people is that they are physically unable to drive an automobile in a safe manner
________
VAPORIZER WHOLESALER (http://vaporizerwholesaler.com)

This is why there should be mandatory driving tests for people over a certain age on say a bi-yearly basis. Sure it sucks, because some day I'll be old and will have to go through it. But think about the guilt this guy is going to have to live with! It's very unfortunate, but a fact of life that people can lose their capacities with age. Maybe make the test a simple reflex and congnisance test ... if you pass, fine ... but if you fail then you have to take an actual driving test.

And hell, the Govt should love it because it would be another revenue generator. Another way for them to get in our pockets, charging for more driving tests.

But it would be a disgrace for this guy to charged with a criminal offense because of this. Feel compassion for what has happened instead of trying to punish, but learn from the mistake.

Here is how I look at it, if people walk with a cane they shouldn't be driving! If they need to drive, they should drive specialized car built to your spec. Likewise, no one should be driving if they failed to locate the brake pedal or not understand what a closed/blocked off road is!

There should be a law to limit the type of vehicle they could drive, say a scooter like these http://www.motorlandsports.com/pimages/RoadsterMobilityLG.jpg http://www.motorlandsports.com/personalscooters.shtml

And for our young friends that didn't know how to drive, they should only allow to drive any of these: http://www.motorlandsports.com/ http://www.motorlandsports.com/pimages/busterbf3LG.jpg

Maybe there ought to be a law to prevent those people that could not drive from buy the RX8! Or they can only drive car that can only go up to 65 MPH to comply with the speed limit :D :)

All we can do is be more aware and avoid in contact with those people as much as possible. Like today while I was driving home from work, there was this guy in his mid twenties driving erratically, swirling left to right. When I passed him, I notice he literally driving with half of his eyes close and you can tell he is really tired and sleepy! :eek: Now that is one dangerous & irresponsible driver.

On a side note, I'm sure people will loose their driving skill when they run across the RX8 due to their attention is focused on the RX8 passing by, or perhaps many of us staying up late waiting for our RX8 without sleeping! :D

All those ideas sound great.. The problem is that old people vote and that sort of legislation will bring them out of the wood work in droves.

A large percentage of the population in FL is over 65. How come it's soooo easy to keep your license here?

Driving is the last thing people ever want to give up. My Dad had a massive stroke (not while driving) and his main focus during recovery was whether or not he'd be able to drive (he's half paralyzed). Over time we managed to convince him not to take the test even though his doctor had cleared him... Amazing.

RotaryStalker

Originally posted by RotaryStalker
All those ideas sound great.. The problem is that old people vote and that sort of legislation will bring them out of the wood work in droves.

I agree that it's a problem, but shouldn't be aimed at older people exclusively. There are younger people that are impaired in some way and shouldn't be driving. There's no easy answer, because it's a complex problem. Universal periodic testing of reflexes, etc. might be a solution, but it would be expensive. Perhaps health care professionals should be required to notify DMV of disabled patients regardless of age.

.... a 62 year-old RX-8 owner

You're right.. young drivers scare me just as much.

England has very tough tests to get your driver's license. We should have tests that are just as difficult and then possibly younger people would appreciate their license more rather than take it for granted.

RotaryStalker

Originally posted by RotaryStalker
England has very tough tests to get your driver's license. We should have tests that are just as difficult and then possibly younger people would appreciate their license more rather than take it for granted.Indeed, the licensing system here is a joke - a 5-minute one-time "test" followed by automatic rubber-stamp renewals every 5 years. I firmly believe that there should be some sort of revalidation required at renewal.

Perhaps a computer-readable one-page pick-a-box questionnaire on road laws and driving techniques would help without adding too much complexity to the existing renewal system - get more than a couple wrong and you get to come in for a full retest before you get another five years

Originally posted by RotaryStalker
England has very tough tests to get your driver's license.

Off topic a little:

Maybe that's true, but they allow anyone with a valid U.S. license to drive. The first time I rented a car in England (downtown London) I was overwhelmed by the traffic, roundabout rules, and learning to drive on the left side all at once. I was surprised they let something like that happen.

9 died. 3 men, 5 women, and a 3 year-old girl.
:(

Pics (http://html.nbc4.tv/sh/slideshow/_auto/sh26818s1.html).

My sympathy to all connected with this terrible event including the poor gentleman driving the car, he's as much a victim as those who died.

I do believe that the US driving test should be stricter. As has been mentioned, here in the UK we have a two part test:

1. a multiple choice exam (computer and video driven) testing road sense, hazard awareness, signs, vehicle maintenance etc. No one can take the practical (driving on the road) test until this has been passed.

2. A fierce practical test. The driver can make a limited number of small errors in the 30 minute test (such as forgetting to look in their mirrors before a turn) but no major errors (dangerous errors like cutting up another car). The test includes: 70mph driving, parallel parking, 3-point turn, reverse parking, inner city driving and is VERY unpleasant. Many people claim it is the most stressful event of their life. Such is the demand that a booking often takes several months so even a couple of fails can lose the candidate the best part of a year (and they're not cheap either).

Even after passing the test it's not over. Here we have a points system for motoring offences: for example a speeding offence would be 3 to 6 points. 12 points means a driving ban for a while but if the driver is within the first 2 years after passing their test and gets 6 points then they lose their licence totally AND the theory test certificate and have to start all over again. NASTY!!!

My father is 73 years old and when he got to 70 he was worried that he might not be fit to drive. He had no reason to think this but he was 70 and it worried him. We have a voluntary 'advanced' driving test here which is recognised by the British Institute of Motoring and which is routinely taken by our Police drivers etc. A pass gets an insurance discount so it is worth doing. My father decided that if he could manage to pass this quite difficult test then he'd be good for at least another 5 years. He passed first time. We were very proud.

We have 2 road tests in Ontario now for new drivers. The first is 20 minutes, drive parallel park etc. The second is double that, do everything twice plus go on the highway.

Plus you must have your "learners" for at least 8 months before you can get your license. And then 12 months again before you can take the second test and get your full license!

When this came into affect they said it would lower insurance rates, NEVER happened! Actually rates have gone up!

I went through this it was fine. I suspect it would difficult for a new driver in a large city like Montreal or Toronto. I went to a nice little town with no traffic. i did it in the dead of winter, during a blizzard! So I had no problems.

The highway was EMPTY! The tester asked me to "pretend" to pass someone LOL.

ah good stuff.

Regardless of how licenses are granted there is a responsibility with the individual as well. My Grandmother chose to stop driving on her own at 80.

It's also the responsibility of friends and relatives as well to suggest to their elders that maybe it's time to quit driving. The government is only able to legislate things so far. We'll never have a perfect system which is able to catch and prevent people like this from driving. Being part of a society means that sometimes you have to evaluate your situation and how it may affect others. Certainly this man knew he should not be driving, that he was unsafe. Either that or he's so senile that he had no clue, therefore his relatives should have prevented this horror story.

So take some responsibility ourselves. If you know someone who should not be driving approach them and discuss it. Remember also that for some seniors it's very difficult to give up wanting to drive.

RotaryStalker

This is a huge problem in Florida. I heard today that there are something like 250,000 over the age of 85 in our state.

Another 80 something year old guy hit his wife and killed her today.

It's up to 10 dead now....2 died from their injuries since...

Originally posted by 8_wannabe
Yeah, and the only people with disproportionately higher accident rates than old people are youngsters with less than three years behind the wheel. So we shouldn't let anyone below say 21 drive either. That would really make our roads safer.

Its all relative b/c then the 21 year olds would end up with the "less then three years" of experience consequently causing "disproportionately higher accident rates then the other groups among 21-24 year olds

Originally posted by bassik277
Its all relative b/c then the 21 year olds would end up with the "less then three years" of experience consequently causing "disproportionately higher accident rates then the other groups among 21-24 year olds

Haha, you picked up on my irony. And 99% of elderly drivers don't kill anyone. So how does one distinguish who should drive and who shouldn't if we consider ourselves to live in a relatively free and open society? How can you predict which kiddies are gonna go nuts and kill someone behind the wheel? You probably could with some statistical accuracy if you tried hard enough, likewise with older drivers. The question is, in our society, do we want to bear the cost of that prediction? It would be costly. If not, do we want to discriminate against entire classes of drivers for our convenience? I've heard lower income drivers driving old beaters are more inclined to fatal accidents. So, let's say that low-income drivers can only drive a car 3 years old or less. Problem solved. Where do you draw the line?