Driving For Seniors By Brenda Williams At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

Recently, I was talking to one of my former professors when he told me that when he turned 65 years old, the state of North Carolina made him come in to take a driving test to make sure that he was still ok to drive safely on the roads of North Carolina. He laughed when he told me about it, but I couldn't help but think about it some more when I got home later that day.

It's kind of sad to grow older and not have things work as well or as quickly as they used to. In one sense, my professor was faced with this reality when he had to go in for a mandatory driving test to prove that he could still drive and obey the rules of the road. If you ask me, they should administer tests like this to everyone no matter what their ages are. I have certainly seen my share of bad drivers under the age of 65!

Driving as a senior can be dangerous not only for the senior but for other people around that senior. When I was in the police department, we were forced to watch a video on knowing the difference between a drunk driver versus a senior driver versus someone who was off of their medications OR all three. My boyfriend, who also used to be a police officer, told me the story of how when he was on training with another officer during a night shift, they noticed that the vehicle in front of them was swerving all over the road. Immediately, they saw signs that indicated the person behind the wheel had to be a drunk driver.

When they eventually pulled the car over to the side of the road, they got out of their patrol car and noticed that the driver was beginning to open the door. Given the circumstances- the fact that it was at night and the fact that most people who open their driver door are up to no good (we had seen several police videos where the driver opened the door and proceeded to start shooting), they drew their guns and ordered the driver to remain in the vehicle. After the safely approached the vehicle, the realized that the driver was an elderly man who was somewhat disoriented after having just left the hospital only a half an hour earlier in the evening!

Unfortunately, growing older means that our reaction times aren't as good as they used to be when we were younger, and this is extremely important to driving safely. Our reaction time is what helps to make us a more safe driver by increasing the amount of time that we have to avoid an accident with another vehicle or pedestrian. The best thing that seniors can do while driving is to avoid driving at times when the roadways are extremely crowded. For example, you may want to try driving earlier in the morning or a little later in the day after rush hour traffic has died down. All of this may help you to maintain some sense of independence as well as help you to avoid potential accidents.

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