Another Drive-thru

[Urban Cowboy]

How many young people do you read about driving through store fronts in the Okanagan?

whats the ratio of young drivers to older texting and driving or drinking and driving.

Who cares it has nothing to do with the topic!

[ferri]

[GordonH]

The moment that person is admitted to hospital with epilepsy after having a seizure, if they have a D/L. Department of Superintendent of Motor Vehicles suspend the person D/L for 1 year, at end of which has to be medical cleared to drive. Then every year after that for 5 years, if missed the D/L is suspended until medical cleared.

The reason I brought this up, is if the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles can do this for those with epilepsy. How about for seniors when they hit 70 years old mandatory retesting with medical clearance, & every few years after that.

[OldIslander]

Topic check: recently a 71 year old woman drove her car into a building. There were serious injuries. The OP opined that something needs to be done about old drivers. Pretty broad topic. I seem to be the only one arguing -- and have provided proof -- that generally, older drivers are safer drivers than young drivers.

I also believe that these building collisions happen everywhere -- in all cities -- but are usually not serious and therefore, not widely reported. It is not a phenomenon unique to the OK. That has been conceded here, too.

I've also seen stories of building collisions with young and middle-aged people driving. It's not always old timers. An island drivers' testing station has concrete barriers all around because there were so many teenagers driving their cars into the building.

Old Techie told a terrible story about an old driver. I could tell one an order of magnitude worse, with a teenaged driver, the bad guy. Statistics prove that young drivers cause more deadly accidents than old people. The huge difference -- young folks tend to drive faster, have less experience, and have a sense of immortality.

Others say we need testing for old folks. There already is -- every driver who turns 80 must visit a doctor for assessment and submit a medical to the MVB, proving they are fit to drive. This is repeated every two years. Often based on this, the driver is called in for an exam and/or road test. Should that age be lowered? Maybe.

Some say it's difficult to get bad older drivers off the road. Not true. If you know their family Doctor, they will likely do it quickly and efficently and not bat an eye. They may be saving lives. A call to the RCMP will do it, too. If you know of a bad elderly driver and don't do anything about it, and they cause a serious accident, now it's on you, too.

Many building collisions identify women drivers as the culprits. Others are visually identifiable descendents of other nations. Anybody want to go after those demographics, and tar them with the same brush as you're using with older drivers?

I get a little tired of this witch hunt, every time a senior has an accident.

Edit: I'm 65 with 52 years driving experience. (The first 3 before I turned 16, on the gravel backroads of the north Okanagan.) I have never had an accident. (Knock on wood!)

[kgcayenne]

It will only take one accident, and any one of us will be painted with whatever bias fits our demographic.

[Jflem1983]

Being that I will some day be old . I don't want to see a big change in current laws. Too many bs laws now . No need to f over seniors .

[GordonH]

Being that I will some day be old . I don't want to see a big change in current laws. Too many years bs laws now . No need to f over seniors .

Wonder how much ICBC pays out for this type of accident Province wide.

[Jflem1983]

It's got to be a staggering number . Maybe a front camera with a gas override. That won't let people launch forward into walls from park needs to be developed.

[Urban Cowboy]

It's got to be a staggering number . Maybe a front camera with a gas override. That won't let people launch forward into walls from park needs to be developed.

There is a device that prevents people from launching forward into brick walls, it's called a bus.

[WalterWhite]

Being that I will some day be old . I don't want to see a big change in current laws. Too many years bs laws now . No need to f over seniors .

Wonder how much ICBC pays out for this type of accident Province wide.

This, for those that aren't aware of it, is a media release statistics document that ICBC puts out annually:

http://www.icbc.com/about-icbc/newsroom ... istics.pdf

Some interesting information - but nothing definitive regarding accidents vs. age comparisons. Most dangerous intersections is in there - no surprises for our area.

[Urban Cowboy]

That is interesting.

What is most notable is that our area has about one third of the amount of vehicles that the lower mainland has, yet we are equal or higher in most of the statistics.

That's not something to be proud of.

It also confirms that we have good grounds to be concerned.

[lightspeed]

Topic check: recently a 71 year old woman drove her car into a building. There were serious injuries. The OP opined that something needs to be done about old drivers. Pretty broad topic. I seem to be the only one arguing -- and have provided proof -- that generally, older drivers are safer drivers than young drivers.

I also believe that these building collisions happen everywhere -- in all cities -- but are usually not serious and therefore, not widely reported. It is not a phenomenon unique to the OK. That has been conceded here, too.

I've also seen stories of building collisions with young and middle-aged people driving. It's not always old timers. An island drivers' testing station has concrete barriers all around because there were so many teenagers driving their cars into the building.

Old Techie told a terrible story about an old driver. I could tell one an order of magnitude worse, with a teenaged driver, the bad guy. Statistics prove that young drivers cause more deadly accidents than old people. The huge difference -- young folks tend to drive faster, have less experience, and have a sense of immortality.

Others say we need testing for old folks. There already is -- every driver who turns 80 must visit a doctor for assessment and submit a medical to the MVB, proving they are fit to drive. This is repeated every two years. Often based on this, the driver is called in for an exam and/or road test. Should that age be lowered? Maybe.

Some say it's difficult to get bad older drivers off the road. Not true. If you know their family Doctor, they will likely do it quickly and efficently and not bat an eye. They may be saving lives. A call to the RCMP will do it, too. If you know of a bad elderly driver and don't do anything about it, and they cause a serious accident, now it's on you, too.

Many building collisions identify women drivers as the culprits. Others are visually identifiable descendents of other nations. Anybody want to go after those demographics, and tar them with the same brush as you're using with older drivers?

I get a little tired of this witch hunt, every time a senior has an accident.

Edit: I'm 65 with 52 years driving experience. (The first 3 before I turned 16, on the gravel backroads of the north Okanagan.) I have never had an accident. (Knock on wood!)

Old drivers drive less frequently and for shorter periods. BUT are much more likely to cause or be involved in an accident. Check the stats - they're out there. The research has been done.

Difference causes for different demographics.

Generally, Kelowna/The Okanagan has appalling drivers of every demographic.

[zzontar]

Old drivers drive less frequently and for shorter periods. BUT are much more likely to cause or be involved in an accident. Check the stats - they're out there. The research has been done.

Difference causes for different demographics.

Generally, Kelowna/The Okanagan has appalling drivers of every demographic.

I agree. If teens decided to just drive to the store a couple of times a week, avoided driving downtown, never drove at night, and only took familiar routes, then you could compare the two. The second most likely to mistake the gas and brake are new drivers as it's not habit, yet even then you see few new drivers going through buildings as compared to seniors.

[GordonH]

I suspect as the older vehicles (those without brake warning/assist) slowly are replaced by newer version. With warning & brake assist etc.... etc these events involving mistaken the gas petal for brakes, may very well be thing of the past.
It will just be matter of time

Added later: being aware of your surroundings is being replaced by a computer chip, in some ways that is sad.... technology to rescue.

[Piecemaker]

All the driver testing in the world isn't going to determine who is going to have their foot slide off the brake petal and hit the gas pedal in error.
I'd say it happens sometimes due to a change of footwear. Some footwear is smooth, some is lightweight, some has thick rubber soles, etc. All of them affect driver's agility and control of vehicle pedals.
Also there are some people who experience nerve damage and pain in their feet. I'm wondering if they are as aware as other drivers as to exactly where their feet are and how much pressure they are exerting.