Are elderly drivers more dangerous than drunk drivers?

Question

I seriously think they are. On a daily basis, I see elderly people running stop signs & red lights, & pulling out of side streets onto main streets without looking first. I have 'almost' been in hundreds of accidents due to senile drivers... and that's no joke.

They drive SO slowly, which is not only annoying (hell-O! Some of us have to get to WORK!), but also really dangerous.
If some 80 yr. old is doing 25 in a 50 zone (they often do) & you're going around a corner, not expecting any fool could possibly be driving THAT slowly... boom!

My mother recently got into an accident... just driving down the street, and all of a sudden an elderly man backs out of the driveway into her... without looking! And that leathery goon has the nerve to act like it's HER fault!

AND I hate to say it, but last year my grandmother drove into a TOLL BOOTH! Fortunately no one was hurt, but she created hellish traffic. It was during rush hour. I love you, Gram, but you have no business driving!

Answer 1

Elderly drivers are not more dangerous than drunk drivers.
All drunk drivers are dangerous, but many elderly are safe drivers. If your observations were true 100% of the time the insurance companies would use that as an excuse to raise their rates much the same as they raise the rates on younger, new drivers. Those between 16-25 have the highest accident rate of all so don't be too hard on the elderly.
Here in Wisconsin I have had more close calls with drivers between the ages of 21-40 than I have with those older than 70.
I do agree that requiring testing for elderly fitness to drive would be a good idea just to make sure they can still safely drive but of course some group will step up and claim age discrimination.

Answer 2

When someone is going slowly in front of you, it's annoying. When someone drunk is going fast behind you, and your car is older and slower than theirs...

Yes, elderly people ARE a danger on the roads. But they need to get around, and maybe they can't walk to the bus stop or the bus doesn't stop at where they want to go. So if they have no young friends, they HAVE to drive. Do drunk people have to drive? No.

Besides, some old people ARE good drivers. Think about it. They've had years of driving experience. A drunk person, even with years of driving experience, loses it all when they are drunk.

So they go a little slower than usual.
To say ALL of them drive hazardously is a generalization, especially since you only have 2 examples.

It sounds like the two people you mentioned have sight problems. Agreed, elderly folk with sight problems should not be driving. But neither should drunk people.

Conclusion: Elderly folk WITH SIGHT PROBLEMS and SLIGHTLY drunk drivers have about the SAME danger.

Answer 3

I think the elderly drivers should have to pass a yearly physical as well as a mental alertness test. They should have to display good driving skills and the ability to still make quick, accurate decisions.

Answer 4

There both the same , dangerous any way you look at it.

My grandmother ,all she Had to do was go for-word to get out of the drive way,
for some reson want back words and knocked my brothers truck thou the fence and in to the back Yard.
Happy to say she is no longer driving.

Answer 5

Yes old ladies are so small they can't see where they are going. (it was in a movie)

Answer 6

yes,