Forum Discussion
62 Replies
- That's sad, having been in a wrong way driver accident that killed 3 people. My best friend, his fiancé, and the wrong way driver, poof dead....
Working road construction, I see more than jus the news. This happens regularly, I'd hazard, weekly or more often just in one city.
As mentioned, it's many factors. Age, alcohol, drugs, following bad gps directions, missing a "do not enter" sign at head to head freeway on and off ramps, or just generally being at the bottom of the IQ chart.
While I personally find it to be an almost impossible mistake to make, especially for any distance, we've all turned the wrong way on a one way street or similar, but not being able to recognize the error quickly and take action to correct it is what I don't understand.
99, yeah chalk it up to old age. For the rest of society, it's just a snapshot of human behavior on the lowest end.
I for one would not have issue with more intensive driving test requirements and while I'd bitsch and complain about having to spend the $ myself, I think it would help weed out "some" of the idiots on the road.
Seattle seems to have an unusually high % of sub par skill level drivers and I've seen that cause accidents. Believe me, it's not just old people that shouldn't be driving, they are a very small % of the bad driver equation. azdryheat wrote:
We have automatic headlights in our cars. Why do we not have that feature in our motorhomes?
My Itasca has auto headlights.
But 99 yr old still allowed to drive? Unbelievable :S .- one factor that isn't mentioned are the road markings and lighting. A few years ago my garmin said turn left and I did at a totally unlit intersection in the rain at 4;30am. I was on the wrong of a divided highway. Luckily it became a 2 lane in just a 100 yards. My bad, but with help from poorly designed intersection and my lack of knowledge of the area. One trys to put everyone in the same box but there are plenty of other factors.
- 99, or 29, makes no difference if you add alcohol and mix well. Though I do agree that as drivers age perhaps re-testing may be indicated. I've seen far too many cases of Senile Dementia and in one case.. Well I held her power of attorney. My Wife, Daughter and I conspired to keep her out of the driver's seat so long the battery on her car was flat, not just dead but flat, would not even take a charge. now that's one way to render them "Safe".
- Easy solution but not one that would go over well-no license issued after a certain age, period.
gbopp wrote:
ksg5000 wrote:
States need to step up and do a better job of testing.
Yes they do, and they should start with student drivers.
How is that going to help the older drivers?- The motor home was 32 years old and they knew they were having electrical problems and still decided to drive from Melbourne FL to Naples FL after dark killing 2 beautiful young ladies.
- a dear friend of mine was 91 when a state office pulled him over. he was one mad guy when I went to get him. claimed the cop had no reason to take his car keys away from him. well, he did and probably saved his life. but I didn't argue with him. I think my friend was way past his prime for driving
GordonThree wrote:
I'd be fine with the govt hard wiring headlights direct to the ignition.
Not me. There are plenty of times having the motor on without the headlights on makes sense. Parking while keeping warm, for example, or when maneuvering into a campsite when it’s late without lighting up the neighbors. I always turn them off or to marker lights when backing up using mirrors. Try it sometime and see how much better you can see without the bright windshield in front of you.
Most good ideas on paper have consequences, just like the no tail lights with DRL’s on.
I agree with you and do like the auto headlights in our truck and Yukon though, so long as i have the option to turn them off. I still turn them on in the fog or heavy rain. Automatic headlights or at least a chime would be nice. Most vehicles warn you when you leave them ON when you get out.romore wrote:
Driver education and proper screening are the only ways to reduce the number of such tragedies. DRL's have been mandatory on new vehicles sold in Canada since 1989 but they are not fool proof. Too many people rely on them for night driving forgetting that the tail lights are not on. We have drivers who resent government interference disabling them by pulling the fuse. Every time something is made idiot proof a better idiot comes along.
I really liked the headlight control on a 2006 Impala I owned. It was the familiar knob type control, but it was spring loaded momentary instead of a off / auto / on type selector. You could temporarily select off or on, but the next time you powered up the car, it was back to auto and there was no way around it.
Lots of folks protesting the government in my home town, driving around with no headlights at dusk, dark and in heavy rain/snow. Very worrying.
I'd be fine with the govt hard wiring headlights direct to the ignition.
