My grandpa is going to be 90 soon and he's still driving. He's been in a lot of accidents lately. What would be the best way to keep him from driving. He had to go in to get his license renewed and the stupid asses renewed him! Rather than just straight out taking away his car, is there some way to get his license taken away. my grandma is in the nursing home so if we just tell him he can't drive n e more he can't visit her and will be miserable. His driving is dangerous and i am afraid for his and others' lives. probably will just hire a driver for him or somthing... what are your thoughts...

 

Public transportation or perhaps family members taking him places, ect.

Ya, old people driving at 15 mph are far more dangerous than a 25-35 year old doing 110 mph. Seriously.

The damn thing is, I bet I pay much more for insurance (I'm 26 with no accidents ever) than your grandfather does with all his accidents. I pay about $2500/yr which is total BS.




Hey look! 1000th post!!!

 

what are his feelings towards driving? is he cool with having someone take him places or does he really, really want to drive? see what he thinks

 

By physically taking away his license and his car you're basically taking away his independence & freedom and that can have a major impact on a man his age. He may go into deep depression thinking he has no reason to live (worse case scenario). But what's worse though, having him feel trapped by depending on others to help him do what he feels he can surely do on his own in terms of his daily chores or risk his life and others letting him drive.

You're going to have to all sit down together as a family and have a heart to heart talk with him and hopefully he'll understand that his driving has become too dangerous. You don't want to end up getting a 911 call having to respond to a traffic accident/hospital where your worse dream comes true.

Does he live alone or does he reside with your folks? If you can afford it you should hire him a personal driver if no family member can do it.

Good luck!

 

It's very sad to see an elderly person reach the point that they are a hazard to themselves and particularly to others behind the wheel. In our society, we are so dependent on the freedom that an automobile offers it is always difficult to give up that freedom to advancing age.

Sooner or later we will all come to that crossroads. My parents reached that point - my Dad after several fender-benders (always with fixed objects, usually his own - house, garage, mailbox, etc.) was wise enough to stop driving on his own, my step-mother was another matter. I simply bought her a stick-shift car she couldn't figure out. Before she reached the point of trying to drive it anyway I simply left it in her driveway but took the keys. She was unhappy and frustrated, but this tactic probably saved lives. I know it cost the local body shop a ton.

Although we don't like to think about it, you and I will eventually come to that point ourselves, too. When that time comes, I hope I can face it with the courage and grace that my father did.

 

Unfortunately, you have to wait for him to make that decision.

 

NO...this is wrong. A car going 110 MPH is only not much easier to lose control of but will have tremendously more impact damage than a car doing 15.

Depends of what type of car you drive and where you live, but since you have no chargeble accidents, even at your age, I agree with you.......$2500 does sound a little steep. But if you have a record of DWI's, speeding / reckless driving, or red-light running, ( you didn't say if you do or not ) that can bump your rates way up even with no accidents simply because of the risk factor.

If your driving record is clean, I'd look for another insurance company if I was you. If it isn't, then just learn from your mistakes and don't repeat them.

 

Statistically, the safest drivers are generally aged 45-60. GEICO, for instance, gives its lowest rates to the age 49-64 category. The very young.....under 18.....and the very old.....over 75 generally have the worst records. ...but for different reasons. Young people have good reflexes, eyesight, and hearing, and are good at multi-tasking, but often lack good judgement, are impulsive, and have a cocksure "It can't happen to me" attitude.

Older people have good judgement and maturity but may have trouble with concentration, reflexes, eyesight, and hearing. They generally are not cocky and arrogant but can't think and react as quickly behind the wheel either....and they have trouble multitasking and with complex controls (like Chris Bangle's I-Drive, for instance)

 

I realize that 110 mph is potentially far more dangerous than 15 mph. I was just saying that with a younger persons sharper skills, they can actually pocess more control at much greater speeds than a very elderly person had very slow speeds. I've seen the elderly do the craziest things and they were barely moving. They'll often come very close to causing an accident but the other person will prevent it and the old driver is oblivious to what just happened even very slow parking lot situations.

What's safer? A pro race car driver doing 190 mph or a 90 year old doing 75 mph? My vote goes to the race car driver.

 

Unfortunately this is so true, my Dad is approaching 82 and rarely uses his directional, floats lanes, drives slow, blocks traffic, crosses 3 lanes to make turns he misses, etc. But having me try to talk to him is useless since he sees me as driving too fast and sometimes he won't get in the car with me, even though I have rarely done more than 10 miles over the limit with him in the car (if you have ever driven Chicago highways, this is almost mandatory). He also thinks that if you are close enough to the car in front of you in order to keep people from cutting in that you are too close.

I just hope and pray for the day that he realizes that he is a danger to others on the road and comes to this conclusion on his own since he won't even listen to my mom, he uses the old logic of I haven't had any accidents in years. I must be a good driver....Oh brother!

At least my mom (at 78) realizes her limited ability and tries to stay close to home and drives as little as possible. Some minor fender benders help her to realize this. But she had to come to this conclusion on her own, now if my Dad will only be so lucky and soon.