"victim" killed in car crash...

[dk_alaskan]

nope. it's the kids by a longshot...

edit:

from the NHTSA:

Leading Cause of Death for Teens
The heart of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA's) mission is keeping families safe on America’s roadways. Young drivers, ages 15- to 20-years old, are especially vulnerable to death and injury on our roadways – traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers in America. Mile for mile, teenagers are involved in three times as many fatal crashes as all other drivers.

edit2: hmmmm, this only addresses fatalities... maybe the oldies are getting into more fender-benders since it is hard to die in a 5mph auto vs. mailbox disaster!?!

Could it be the older drivers are not paying attention to their speed, conditions, etc. setting up the younger drivers to have a wreck?

And heart attack because of five over mebe? just a thought

[Shadam]

correct me if I'm wrong, but new zeleand gives licences to drivers as young as 16 but they can't have passengers after certain late hours. in ozyland we loose many many young people when cars are over loaded sometimes with people in the trunk, most have male drivers. no surprise there. females may not understand under the hood, but their less likely to kill their passengers. regardless of a relentless advertising campain particularly on tv, our road toll grows every weekend.

[freezorburn]

Hard topic because you this countries Public transportation is CRAP!!!

When you get older parents your life would be turned upside down if they can't drive anywhere. They would become dependent on you for travel.

[khakis]

Just wait til the "Grey Wave" hits this age and has not only the voting power, but the money, longevity, and the fuck-you-we're-the-baby-boomers attitdue to keep driving and killing people well into thier late 90's. Watch the insurance companies increase our premiums while the boomers do all of the bad driving.

word. Senior citizens may suck at driving but they are REALLY good at voting

I have been seeing that bus crash coverage on the news and most of the sound bites seem to be trying to pin the blame on the bus/bus driver, which pisses me off.

[half-fast]

For example, although young people tend to have good reaction times, disproportionately more young male drivers feature in accidents,[9] with researchers observing that many exhibit behaviors and attitudes to risk that can place them in more hazardous situations than other road users.[7] This gets reflected by actuaries when they set insurance rates for different age groups, partly based on their age, sex, and choice of vehicle. Older drivers with slower reactions would be expected to be involved in more accidents, but this has not been the case as they tend to drive less and, apparently, more cautiously.

from wikipedia

[L7]

Older drivers with slower reactions would be expected to be involved in more accidents, but this has not been the case as they tend to drive less and, apparently, more cautiously.

Still leaves the speculation of whether they get in more accidents per distance driven.

How many accidents do they cause. While I appreciate the cautiousness to a point what is with the relationship between driving stupid slow and utterly failing to yield to those with the right of way. Rolling through stop signs to come out into traffic without adequately yielding and then driving dog slow is my personal favourite in this town.

If you're in such a hurry you can't actually stop at the sign don't you think you could pick up the pace now that you are in front of me (barely). I'm not talking speeding but just getting into the same time zone as the speed limit. Get a lot of that in this little town, I seriously think this shit leads to a lot of the aggressive driving. Failing to yield is itself pretty aggressive even if it is the result of being oblivious to all other traffic.

[L7]

Wait, I have another rant of an insurance nature. Insurance companies deem me a higher risk of accident because I drive more than 20K a year. Shouldn't they then deem me a lower risk if I accomplish that 30 or 40k in a year without accidents or tickets. If I only drive 2k a year but still manage a fender bender maybe I should just be pulled off the road. There is something to be said for practise especially successful practise.

[mock vomit]

...and do this maneuver that I'm not even sure has a name involving backing up at highspeed, flicking the wheel and hitting the handbrake at the same time. The car reverses direction and already is moving where you want to go...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J-turn

A J-Turn is a driving maneuver used to reverse a backwards-traveling vehicle so as to continue driving in the same direction, but with the vehicle pointed forward. The J-Turn is also called "moonshiner's turn", based on the elusive driving tactics used by bootleggers. A J-turn differs from a bootleg turn in that the vehicle starts out reversing.

J-turning is possible only in light vehicles (cars and light vans), which have their brakes biased to the front tires.

This maneuver is also known as a "Rockford", referring to the TV show "The Rockford Files" due to the prevalent use of the stunt in the show.

[grrrr]

Mile for mile, teenagers are involved in three times as many fatal crashes as all other drivers.[/i]

That specifies "all other drivers", not "all older drivers".

We need good public transit.

I plan to retire to somewhere that has good transit, and good walkability. Driving everytime I need a jug of milk sucks.

[Adolf Allerbush]

Sounds like age discrimination no matter how you shake a tit at it. The only way I see this going down is if you change the retesting and/or testing criteria to effect everyone. That would be something that I'd be down for.

[IrieRon]

I've always been partial to the "Brody."

[Obama Nate]

Sounds like age discrimination no matter how you shake a tit at it. The only way I see this going down is if you change the retesting and/or testing criteria to effect everyone. That would be something that I'd be down for.

As is requiring that you reach the age of sixteen before you can be issued a license--or twenty-one before you can buy a beer.

The question is whether the law would be rationally related to achieving a legitimate governmental purpose. Of course it would, but its probably not going to happen for reasons discussed above.

[karpiel]

"...more stupid then a dog." Hmm.

Words are something I always dun been horrible at, talking them and typing them, to the point it could be considered a speech impediment.

[karpiel]

How much of the teenage driving problem is from them being inexperienced drivers? If you delay drivers licenses until 25 you will get a bunch of inexperienced 25 year olds.

Is there special driving school for old people?

I didn't get my license till I was 18, but had been driving semi regularly on dirt roads and in parking lots since I was 5, my dad used to be a professional driver, so maybe it's in the blood?

I say invent a new blood test.

[karpiel]

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_12436821

[Keegan]

Mandatory tests after a certain age... it's not like they have anything else to do anyways

The asian driver comment reminded me of this...

[Meanfruit]

Try driving anywhere in the Lower Mainland of B.C and you will see that (bad )driving is not related to age in the least but on your geographical location prior to relocating to said area.Driving safety and ettiquitte is secondary to getting where you want to go in 2nd and 3rd world countries,I imagine.Not saying this with intent to inflame racial stereos,just observing that it seems function follows form in this case.Old people suck at driving,young people suck at driving.Lots of different people suck at lots of different stuff.BTW,anybody here know a real good driver who can't ski/board/surf/climb?Thought so.

[karpiel]

Try driving anywhere in the Lower Mainland of B.C and you will see that (bad )driving is not related to age in the least but on your geographical location prior to relocating to said area.Driving safety and ettiquitte is secondary to getting where you want to go in 2nd and 3rd world countries,I imagine.Not saying this with intent to inflame racial stereos,just observing that it seems function follows form in this case.Old people suck at driving,young people suck at driving.Lots of different people suck at lots of different stuff.BTW,anybody here know a real good driver who can't ski/board/surf/climb?Thought so.

Exactly why the test should be much harder.

[Tippster]

The main "argument" against testing the elderly - that kids are a greater danger - is retarded. It doesn't matter if a completely separate group of drivers is also unsafe. It's immaterial actually.

[Rubicon]

The main "argument" against testing the elderly - that kids are a greater danger - is retarded. It doesn't matter if a completely separate group of drivers is also unsafe. It's immaterial actually.

I agree but this is what happens when "fairness" becomes a criteria for determining policy.

[summit]

There is so much logic fail in this thread, I think my brain imploded.

[Keegan]

Exactly why the test should be much harder.

But see.. there was a place in Richmond aka Mini China that the immigrants would go, pay someone, and get a full license without doing shit. Even riding buses around Vancouver gets testy with some of these drivers on the road...

[bluejet59]

I was renting a car once in Boca Raton and the guy behind the Hotel desk said " be really careful, there's lot's of old people here." I was laughing until I had time to experience a few near misses from the locals.
Also remember the carnage from that very old guy at the Santa Monica Farmers Market a few years ago? It looked like Baghdad.

[karpiel]

And another...

An elderly man was killed this morning in a traffic accident along Colorado 14 when his car careened into the Poudre River, authorities say.

The name of the man is not being released pending notification of family members.

The man was driving a Cadillac sedan when he went off the road and crashed into the river, said Trooper Ryan Sullivan, spokesman for the Colorado State Patrol

More like "An elderly man killed himself..." "lucky there were no victims..."

[jonesy]

There are bad drivers at every age for various reasons. After being involved in a few fatality crashes in 3 million miles you see driving in a whole new light. I guess sometimes that what it takes to open your eyes to the reality and dangers of driving. Most drivers have little experience. They drive a small car/truck to work,the store,ect. and have even less training. There a NASCAR driver in their own mind. There's fast drivers and there's good drivers,but there's very few fast good drivers.