This man is driving!

[d962831]

Alright, I got a short one, that really isn't so much suck as it is scary. Seriously, I'm afraid to get in my car anymore.

I was working yesterday and I had an old guy come in and buy a few things. I did the normal opening, how are you doing speil, to which he replies, "What?" So I said it again, MUCH louder. He grumbled about hardly being able to hear me.

Alright, there's strike one. You're hard of hearing, that's okay. but, you're hard of hearing, you refuse to admit it and are not using any form of hearing aid. If you can't hear me nearly yelling, how are you supposed to hear the ambulance or police siren, or the honking of a horn as you just keep going, not even noticing the stop sign.

So I finish up his order, and tell him his total. Before he does anything else, he leans far over the counter to get a close look at the screen that shows the total and then he still asks what the price is.

Strike two. This guy is wearing huge freakin glasses, I mean his eyes looked massive through them. He leaned over to within 6 inches of the screen, which displays everything in giant print, seriously, the smallest size is about like THIS He then asks what the price of an item is?!?! He can't see for $*&%, which is going to come in real handy when he can't see the stop sign and someone honks the horn but he does nothing because he can't hear.

And finally, we have strike three, which is the part that makes him a bit sucky. Everything's done, and because I know he can hardly hear I say, very loudly and while enunciating, "Have a good day." His response was, you guessed it, "What?" And then before I get a chance to say it again, he turnes to the bagger and says, "He really needs to speak up so people can hear him or he's gonna loss his job, that's terrible service." The entire time the girl he said this too was having such a hard time trying not to laugh.

And currently the roads are bad, so I'm doubly worried about being on the roads with this guy driving around. So, if I for some reason never show up here again, you'd be safe to put your money on the fact I met this guy at an intersection.

[bainsidhe]

Hmm, I wonder, if you were to call the police and alert them about this guy, would they take your call seriously and come for a looksie or would they laugh you off the phone. Not trying to discount the good work the boys/girls in blue do, just wondering what happens when someone makes a call like that.

[karma_gypsy]

And I bet he probably drives a very large car ....

[GolfCart34]

We have one old guy who comes to the bank that should not be driving. Not only is he stone deaf but he doesn't seem to understand the difference between the gas and the brake. He has been at the drive up several times and not realized that he kept his foot on the gas, so his engine revs way up. He also steps on the gas when he tries to shift his car out of park. Thank god for the safety lockout on that car. I'm just waiting to read about this guy driving into the lobby of the bank or the post office one of these days.

[Javarod]

What amazes me is that AARP and other senior citizens groups throw a fit when someone suggests testing senior citizens driving ability, as if its unfair to them some how.

[Sylvia727]

My great-grandmother refused to surrender her car keys until she was 88. She passed the driving tests fine, but her daughter was worried since she routinely went 25 mph under the limit and had to squint at stop signs. The reason she wouldn't give up the car? No other transportation. Once her retirement home started a free shuttle service, she gave up the keys. The drivers are great. They help her up the stairs and make sure she gets in the door of wherever.

[rerant]

I had a friend who was completely deaf and drove (legally, as he was born deaf and didn't just lose his hearing after getting his license) just fine.
I used to be wary of whether or not he would be able to hear sirens as well, but there were several times when we were in the car together and he would pull over to the side to let emergency vehicles through before I even knew they were behind us. But then again, in spite of the fact that I have my hearing I have no sense of where sound is coming from.
He was just very aware all the time, obviously making up for the fact that he's unable to hear what's going on around him.

[blas]

GolfCart, I've already witnessed an elderly person smash into a building. Well, smash as in dramatically smash, but I was out to eat with my father at a local family restaurant and an old lady in a gigantic old land yacht of a boat went up and over the curb and hit the brick building next to the restaurant.

You still see her driving around downtown. The last time I had to go to the clinic and was driving back, I saw her sitting at a green light, all you could see were two little hands and a nose over the steering wheel.

[GolfCart34]

GolfCart, I've already witnessed an elderly person smash into a building. Well, smash as in dramatically smash, but I was out to eat with my father at a local family restaurant and an old lady in a gigantic old land yacht of a boat went up and over the curb and hit the brick building next to the restaurant.

You still see her driving around downtown. The last time I had to go to the clinic and was driving back, I saw her sitting at a green light, all you could see were two little hands and a nose over the steering wheel.

I've read about elderly drivers crashing into buildings so many times down by my hometown in New Hampshire. It's scary. I think you have to take an on road test every time you get your license renewed in NH once you hit a certain age. Surprisingly, my grandfather is 86 years old and he's one of the best drivers I know of. Most people his age, however, are not. He certainly doesn't think it's unfair that he has to take a driver's test every three years, just a bit of a minor annoyance. The guy who is bound to hit a building somewhere down the line is licensed in Vermont where they don't test after a certain age as of yet. We have so many scary old drivers up here in Vermont that it's not even funny. Don't even get me started on the old people who drive 30 in a 50 on the road I take to the interstate everyday.

[blas]

I don't think this is the right place to discuss politics and testing seniors.......but you're free to start a topic on Fratching.com if there isn't already one.

Although I will agree that it's a scary thing to witness, an old person crashing into a building or structure, and then being allowed to keep driving as normal, as if nothing had ever happened. At the same time, though, there are a lot of people of all ages on the road, a lot of them already on suspended or revoked licenses, continuing to be a danger to themselves and everyone else.

One of my friends was rear-ended by a 16 year old girl who had just gotten her license. I bet her Daddy wasn't very happy that his little Princess ruined the brand new Vibe he'd just bought for her.

[mattm04]

We had one old guy back out of his parking space without even looking and back into the car behind it. The old guy tried to drive off but a customer called the police. Lucky they were less than 1/10 of a mine form our slog and arrived in seconds. They ended up towing the old guys car, since his license expired two years before they accident.

Statistically young and old drivers are the most dangerous. If we can restrict young drivers for lack of experience than the same should apply or others, including older people who may not be able to drive at night, etc.

[marasbaras]

My mom stopped driving at night because her night vision was so bad. She was under 60 when she did that.

I was at a local Wal-Mart and there was a women with thick, thick glasses and a service dog. I'm right behind her going out the exit and I think she's going to get into the van service waiting at the entrance.

Nope, HER van was parked in a disabled spot (just fine, she was) ... but SHE was driving. Holy crap!

[Javarod]

One of my friends was rear-ended by a 16 year old girl who had just gotten her license. I bet her Daddy wasn't very happy that his little Princess ruined the brand new Vibe he'd just bought for her.

Actually this is why I believe in graduated testing that they were talking about in the news at one time, basically at both ends of the age spectrum you'd get tested more often, and less in the middle when you're at your prime and less likely to be physically or mentally impaired in areas that'd impact driving. What's scary in AZ is that they give you your license until you're 67, I came from a state where you had to renew your license (no test) every 4 years.

[It shouldn't]

I used to work breakfast shift at a family type restaurant.
Every morning for a month and a half we had a lady that came in with heavily tinted glasses and a service dog.
That first day we read the menu to her and she ordered the same thing every time after that.

One morning our backdoor was broken, so the bread delivery guy had to bring everything in the front doors. As he came in with his last load, he said:

"You know that lady with the dark glases and the seeing-eye-dog, that just left? She just got in a car parked around the building and drove off! I sure hope the dog was driving!"

[RecoveringKinkoid]

If deafness were truly a big enough hazzard for drivers, they wouldn't install radios in cars, they wouldn' insulate cars against outside sound and road noise, and they would be more serious about keeping people from driving while yakking on their cell phones.

They dont' test for hearing at the DMV.

However, his blindness is another story.