Needs questions answered

It is called protecting autonomy. There are laws and remedies available for individual cases when they need to be protected from themselves.
 
My neighbor, age 94, still drives, although he prefers not to at night.
 
What to do

posts from hell said:
Chill, botts. We do have a lot of resources here. At least he could ask and see if anyone had information.
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I am very familiar with PF. I think the best approach is thru Depart. of Ageing. and getting him assigned a social worker who can work with the intire family to answer questions and even perhaps, start looking at the problems differently. I would be afraid to refer them to Adult Protective services, because i feel they have much more rigid steps that must be followed and Dept. of Ageing would have an Adult Needs referral base. Probably an assesment needs to be done by someone who is looking at the entire family dynamic. For all you know your father may feel, as most seniors do, driving is their last freedom. who knows get him hooked up with someone who will look at all aspects of the family, with him as the focus and check out dad for possible developing problems, he must be allowed to be involved in this process....Midnight♥♥♥ Peace to you and all involved when, parents and children begin that change of places, it is difficult for everyone..
 
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Reba said:
We just found out tonight that MIL will be able to renew her driver's license this year and the next four years by mail! No vision or driving test required. Sigh....
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Can you contact your DMV? In Virginia, I know there is some sort of program where if someone informs the DMV that a person should not be driving, then the individual has to appear in person and be evaluated. Not sure of details of how it works, but I'd hope there must be something in SC (is that where MIL is?) that is similar.
 
Beach girl said:
Can you contact your DMV? In Virginia, I know there is some sort of program where if someone informs the DMV that a person should not be driving, then the individual has to appear in person and be evaluated. Not sure of details of how it works, but I'd hope there must be something in SC (is that where MIL is?) that is similar.
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We live in SC but MIL lives in MI.
 
I just checked the Michigan DMV site. I didn't see anything at first glance that pertained to elderly drivers, but surely there must be some action people can take to report a situation like your MIL's.
 
Beach girl said:
I just checked the Michigan DMV site. I didn't see anything at first glance that pertained to elderly drivers, but surely there must be some action people can take to report a situation like your MIL's.
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I had checked it, too. :) Also, Hubby's sister, who does live near MIL, checked into it. (Sister worked at DMV until she retired.)

There doesn't seem to be any procedure there about elderly drivers.
 
jillio said:
It is called protecting autonomy. There are laws and remedies available for individual cases when they need to be protected from themselves.
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That's why I support regular re-testing process, starting immediately after you've received your license, every 5 or 10 years. It's not merely about protecting elderly drivers from themselves (and everyone else from them), but merely about protecting everyone on the road from those who learned how to drive once when they were 15 and have developed all sorts of bad habits since then.

And while having autonomy is a good thing, the entire purpose of licenses is to prove that you are capable of safely handling a very dangerous vehicle safely.
 
Reba said:
Interesting link about elderly drivers licenses by state:

U.S. older driver licensing procedures
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Reba, that link is fascinating! In the footnotes, it says that in North Carolina, drivers age 60 and over are not required to parallel park when taking the road test for renewal.

Say what??? Drivers over 60 have the magical ability to never need a parallel parking space?? What a bizarre accommodation to age.
 
Beach girl said:
Reba, that link is fascinating! In the footnotes, it says that in North Carolina, drivers age 60 and over are not required to parallel park when taking the road test for renewal.

Say what??? Drivers over 60 have the magical ability to never need a parallel parking space?? What a bizarre accommodation to age.
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:lol:

Truthfully, I think I've parallel parked about four times since I got my license in 1974. :giggle: That has never been my strong point, even when I was young. Since there's very little parallel parking available here, it hasn't been a problem. When I go downtown, I use the parking garage.
 
Really? If I may brag on myself, I will say I have excellent parallel parking skills. WAY, way, better than my husband. I had an excellent driver's ed instructor back when I was 16.

(The secret: pull up so your dash is equal to the dash of the car in front of you, as reasonably close to that car as you can get. Turn wheels, back up until you are at a 45-degree angle. Turn wheels the other way, drop right into the slot. Maybe pull forward a bit if you need to. Shouldn't take more than those 3 steps.)

I parallel-park all the time, both in Alexandria and here in N.C. when we go into Manteo.

At the shopping malls of course it's all parking lots and pull-in parking. I guess in theory I could avoid parallel parking if I really hated to do it, but I never even think about it one way or the other.
 
Beach girl said:
...(The secret: pull up so your dash is equal to the dash of the car in front of you, as reasonably close to that car as you can get. Turn wheels, back up until you are at a 45-degree angle. Turn wheels the other way, drop right into the slot. Maybe pull forward a bit if you need to. Shouldn't take more than those 3 steps.)
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I know the steps. :lol:

Hubby is very skilled at parking his full-size commercial van, even downtown. When he does park on the street, he has to pull in his side mirrors after gets into position because the streets are so narrow. Otherwise, they get bumped by passing traffic. (Charleston's 18th Century streets and alleys aren't made for 21st Century traffic.) There are very few open spots, and they're all metered. It's easy to get booted in Charleston because there are so many parking restrictions. When Hubby has a downtown job to do, he has to go to the city the day before and pay for a meter cover and lock so he can reserve a space. What a pain! When he's done, he has to drop it off. One time, someone parked in his reserved (and paid for) space. He hated to do it but he had to request the police have the car towed so he could get his job done.
 
Funny thing for me. I can parallel park the big Expedition better than my car. Something about being higher off the ground I guess. In Missouri, I never had to parallel park, and here in Florida, you can downtown, or there are 7 parking garages to choose from. I use the parking garage and the only time I am downtown anymore is for the city library.
 
Reba said:
:lol:

Truthfully, I think I've parallel parked about four times since I got my license in 1974. :giggle: That has never been my strong point, even when I was young. Since there's very little parallel parking available here, it hasn't been a problem. When I go downtown, I use the parking garage.
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You sound like me. When I took my driver's road test, I simply told the instructor that I had not practiced at all, and that I would do anything in my power to avoid hitting the flags. I made a mildly amusing attempt; ended up about 4 feet from the curb.

When I need to park in a parallel parking situation, I drive around until I find a spot that I can avoid the actual parallel parking procedure. Keeps me in shape with the extra walking; that is what I tell my passengers anyway. :giggle:
 
Thanks for the link, Reba! :ty:

My state is so lenient that it's scary. I better be on the look out for big, ugly cars and blue hair. :Ohno:
 
Reba said:
I know the steps. :lol:

Hubby is very skilled at parking his full-size commercial van, even downtown. When he does park on the street, he has to pull in his side mirrors after gets into position because the streets are so narrow. Otherwise, they get bumped by passing traffic. (Charleston's 18th Century streets and alleys aren't made for 21st Century traffic.) There are very few open spots, and they're all metered. It's easy to get booted in Charleston because there are so many parking restrictions. When Hubby has a downtown job to do, he has to go to the city the day before and pay for a meter cover and lock so he can reserve a space. What a pain! When he's done, he has to drop it off. One time, someone parked in his reserved (and paid for) space. He hated to do it but he had to request the police have the car towed so he could get his job done.
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Boy, that would be annoying!

Sounds like you must have had the same drivers' ed instructor I did, with the same steps! :lol: Maybe that's the standardized American version.

My husband is an absolutely horrible parallel parker, which he will readily admit. In the U.K., he didn't have to take drivers' ed as such. His brother taught him, and when brother thought he was ready, he took the test and passed. As a result, some of his skills are not that great. He backs up, turns the wheel one way, then the other way, then back again. Ai-yi-yi. He wiggles into the space instead of just neatly dropping in smoothly. Drives me nuts.
 
Reba said:
If he won't listen to family or his doctor, there isn't much you can do about it. Maybe you can at least talk him into limiting his driving to daylight hours. Maybe family and friends can offer to take him places he needs to go so he doesn't need to be on the road as often. Does he know about other options, such as TeleRide services? Maybe he'd be more willing to stop driving if he knew he wouldn't be stuck.

I don't know what the laws are for your state. You can check with your DMV to find out if there are any laws in place regarding risky drivers.
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I have forgotten the name used here for the type of service bolded in the quote. BUT you have to call THE DAY BEFORE OR SOMETIMES EARLIER IF AROUND A HOLIDAY! Who can anticipate everywhere they want to go the day before?
 
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