Driving Restrictions for the Elderly?

Totally bizarre.I was headed home today and making my way through the university circle where there is a divided route with two lanes on each side, clearly marked and delineated by a large grassy island. This is a 50 mph route and I noticed the car in front of me slammed on the breaks and started acting funny, then suddenly darted to the right. I was suddenly presented with a Cadillac coming at me head-on. I hit the breaks and the caddy slowed to about 5 mph but kept coming. I noticed a handicap sign on the mirror and saw an elderly man hunched over the steering wheels with his eyes barely making it over the dash.He started waving for me to move and wouldn't stop. I barely made it out of the way of the traffic in the right lane. I stopped and was about to get out to flag the guy to a stop when I saw him take out a white van as he tried to swerve. The guy kept hitting the gas and was slowly driving the van up onto the island. Unreal.The police came and the guy didn't know he was on the wrong side of the road. The police took his license and towed his car and took him to the station to call relatives to pick him up. I can tolerate the slow and cautious driving of some elderly, but this is ridiculous. It's not the first time I have seen elderly driving on the wrong side of the road.What can we do? Mandatory retirement from driving at a certain age? License tests every year? What's the best way to ensure the rights of the elderly while making it safe for everyone else?

Being on the verge (or worse) of "elderly" I am incensed by this slander!!To be a safer driver I bought a fast V8 powered semi-sports car! This way I get there faster and am a danger on the road for a shorter period of time.I think the fair thing to do is move to much, much tougher licensing standards and do a real, thorough retest regularly and more frequently with age.I have read that in Germany it can cost more than 1500 $ to take a driver's exam and that many fail it the first time.A very thorough (and presumably expensive test) conducted regularly would remove a lot of less than capable drivers from the road. Elderly or younger.My Dad is an example, a scary example. He is getting close to 90, has one eye and not perfect attention. He has to have another medical but passed the last one when I didn't think he would. What he doesn't have to do is pass a driver's test again. (And without Mum riding shotgun and doing all the driving except turning the wheel and stepping on peddles). I think that we should all be retested often and carry the cost as another fair and real cost of driving.

I think my story has yours beat.A couple years ago, while I was just walking on the sidewalk minding my own business when I suddenly felt something large and hard hitting me from behind. After I flew up into the air, landed on the car's hood, and roled several times on the ground, I tried to stand up (with an angry face of course) and tried to make out who the son of a bitch that just ran me over. Surprise surprise it was an elderly man who wanted to turn right at the next intersection but decided to turn the wheel a bit too early. I'm still glad he wasn't driving at like 50mph.That said, I have no opinion on driving policies regarding old people. Scratch that, my opinion is everyone ought to go through a little more rigorous testing before being able to renew his license.

---

I'm trying to see things your way, but I can't put my head that far up my ass.

For those people who have broadband, and time to waste.http://www.southparkzone.com/episodes/710/Grey-Dawn.html