Senior Citizens Behind the Wheel

604 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Elderly drivers and the risks they take pdf essay

Many concerns have been expressed about the potential dangers elderly drivers present when operating a vehicle. Mental and physical capabilities begin to decline as a person ages. When their health deteriorates, the well being of other individuals on the road is at stake. Many elderly drivers should not drive due to their medical history and the fact that they might suffer from possible side effects from taking multiple prescription medicines. In addition, local organizations and neighbors can provide transportation for the elderly to keep them from endangering themselves and others. The threat senior citizens create when driving can be avoided if they are tested to ensure their competence as a driver. Driving is a privilege that should not be taken lightly when people's lives are at stake. The article, "Elderly drivers: what are the dangers?," from Page Wise, Inc. states driving depends heavily on a "person's physical and mental health as the years pass" (PWI 1). The body becomes weaker with age, and functions, such as hearing, become impaired. A study from the AARP indicates that about thirty percent of drivers over the age of 65 have hearing problems (PWI 1). Hearing is essential in driving well. Hearing allows a driver to listen for potential hazards hidden from view because of an obstruction or a blind spot and it allows a person to listen for approaching sirens from an ambulance, fire truck, or police car (PWI 1). Moreover, reflexes are not as quick as a person ages. Many older people cannot respond fast enough when presented with a dangerous situation. When reaction time is lengthened, it can mean the difference between life and death. Senior citizens are more likely to acquire continual dise... ... middle of paper ... ...o a senior citizen when he/she presents a driving hazard. Senior citizens create risks when they drive in an unhealthy state. Diseases and other illnesses emerge because of old age. Medication prescribed by doctors can interact with other medicine and create side effects. As a person grows older, hearing often becomes impaired. This sense is essential to being an adequate and safe driver. Driving with these medical ailments can prove to be fatal to both the elderly and other motorists, and it can cause other drivers to be at risk for accidents. Testing the elderly to confirm their competence as drivers should be mandatory due to their failing health and for the safety for other motorists. Works Cited PageWise, Inc. (PWI). "Elderly drivers: what are the dangers?." Page Wise, Inc. 9 Sep 2003 http://allsands.com/Hobbies/elderlydrivers_upv_gn.htm

Show More
Related

  • Legal Driving Age in the State of Iowa

    2135 Words  | 5 Pages

    Statistics show 16- to 17-year-old driver death rates increase with each additional passenger, which is due to distracted driving. Taking your eyes off the road for 2 (two) seconds, at 60 mph, means you have driven blindly for half the length of a football field. The risk of fatality is 3.6 times higher, when they are driving with passengers than when alone. For many years, the correlation between driving behavior and age has interested highway safety researchers and administrators. It is general knowledge that the greatest risk of motor vehicle crash...

    Read More

  • Driving Stereotypes

    1335 Words  | 3 Pages

    There is a great debate on whether or not the elderly should be able to drive. Most people who have had any encounters with terrible elder drivers would say no way. This is because they have had that one or maybe even two experiences with a not so cautious elderly driver. This experience has caused them to put a stereotype on all elderly people and their driving abilities. After reading and analyzing all four of the elderly women from the four works in A Writer’s Reader. The authors of each have included many different stereotypes of elderly women. Just like the elderly driving ability stereotype is not true for all elderly drivers. The Authors stereotypes are not always true for every elderly woman. The authors are just informing their readers on the many different stereotypes that are floating around.

    Read More

  • Elderly Drivers Persuasive Speech

    869 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to Carnegie Mellon University the casualties’ rate for drivers 85 years and older is 4 times more higher than it is for teenagers who are considered are most reckless drivers. Penndot statistics shows that the number of crashes involving drivers age 65 and older in 2013 was up 12 percent from five years before. Voanews indicates that in a lot of elderly drivers accidents they mistaken the gas pedal for the brakes or vice versa. One fatality crash can affect and impact people for their whole lives. These crashes can occur in seconds. According to cdc.gov there were nearly 5,700 elderly drivers that were killed. Police are already busy enough the more we can reduce their work the more it will help keep our community safer; not only in crashes but the police can also focus more on preventing drug deals and gang fights. To put it another way we don’t want families to be stressed out on their elderly parents safety we want them to feel like their parents are safe, so they can go help other issues in this

    Read More

  • Alzheimer's Disease Argumentative Essay

    1228 Words  | 3 Pages

    2.) Yes, I do believe that my home state should have such a law because it's not safe for people with Alzheimer's disease to be on the roads driving. It's not safe, if they do not know where they are going. Many people with Alzheimer's disease, would probably get into car accidents and maybe even die, which is not good. If that law was put into action, then people with Alzheimer's disease would be more safer and their families, would not have to be worrying about them all the time.

    Read More

  • Elderly and Road Exam

    1078 Words  | 3 Pages

    "On the Road—Older Adult Drivers." Growing Old in America. Barbara Wexler. 2008 ed. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Information plus Reference Series. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 4 April 2014.

    Read More

  • Senior Citizen Drivers Essay

    1541 Words  | 4 Pages

    Statistically, senior citizen drivers are the biggest danger to themselves. Taking a first look at it, they are the safer driving group. That being directly related to the fact that they wear their seatbelts, they don’t go over the speed limits, and they don’t make some crazy fast moves, usually, that could force other drivers into other directions. Meaning, with senior citizens on the road, it’s easier to detect what they are going to do (CDC

    Read More

  • Speeding Can Save Lives

    396 Words  | 1 Pages

    Driving has become an essential and valuable tool. It allows us to connect with others, even when we are not close. People can explore, learn, and share through the use of automobiles. They are regarded as one of the most necessary items a person can have. However, along with all of these great qualities, there can also come terrible tragedies.

    Read More

  • Safe Driving Research Paper

    942 Words  | 2 Pages

    Richard Petty once said “You’ll got home safe, so drive safe, and stay safe.” Being a racing legend, he is an advocate for safe driving to minimise the cases of road crushes that have been on the rise. He double up as the chairman of the Veterans’ Safe Driving Initiative, the initiative is aimed at guiding the veterans returning from deployment on safe driving tips. It is necessarily important since the infrastructure has changed over time. Another initiative is being run in Minnesota where the teens are guided on the important safe driving tips. Study shows that more crushes are likely to occur in teen driving than veteran driving. It is also evident that young drivers are more likely to cause a crush within six months of passing the driving test and young male are worse than the females in the field.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay: Should The Driving Age Be Raised?

    520 Words  | 2 Pages

    Every day, many people lose their lives to fatal car accidents, but who is to blame; The young, the middle-aged, or the elderly? The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration states, “In 2008, 5,864 15-20-year-old drivers were involved in fatal car crashes- a 27 percent decrease from the 7,987 involved in 1998” (Traffic Safety Facts 22). In 1998, there were 7,987 drivers involved in fatal car crashes, with roughly 3,400 fatalities, but in 2008, there was only

    Read More

  • Elderly Driving

    549 Words  | 2 Pages

    So, using the car's computer systems require a level of sophistication and savvy that elderly people lack, either due to degradation of their mental states or through their unwillingness to learn. Lastly, elderly people suffer from physical problems that cause them to get into accidents when they drive, such as deteriorating vision. Good vision is one of the most important things required for driving safely, but is also something that gets worse as people get older. Glaucoma is a condition that hinders eyesight, and it is most common among elderly

    Read More

  • Senior Drivers Research Paper

    611 Words  | 2 Pages

    Like failing to yield the right of way, failing to stay in lane, misjudging distance and time needed to turn in front of traffic, speeding or driving slowly. When I see those problems I realized that I underestimated the risk of the old drivers. Factors of the senior driver accident are far more than what I thought. I should

    Read More

  • Essay On Driving Under The Influence Of Drugs In Driving

    1211 Words  | 3 Pages

    Driving under the influence of drugs poses a significant threat to public safety. These substances may weaken awareness, cognition, attention, balance, coordination, as well as other brain functions that are necessary for safe driving. Reckless driving, car crashes, and fatal accidents have all been linked to driving under the influence of drugs. . Although illegal drugs are best known for their impairing effects, prescriptions (Rx) and over the counter (OTC) medications are known to be capable of producing impairment and many are frequently encountered in individuals who are drive while impaired. Many prescription drugs including opioid pain relievers and benzodiazepines that are prescribed for a variety of reasons come with warnings against the operation of motor vehicles as well as other machinery—for a specified period of time after use.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Teenage Driving

    866 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of unintentional deaths for teens (16-17),” reported The New York State Department of Health. The most exciting thing about being sixteen in the United States is driving. Teenagers can not wait to be sixteen to drive, however, they do not understand the dangers that come with driving at such a young age. Sixteen is the age between child life and adulthood. It is a time when they are not stable and undergoing change, which makes them unsuitable to drive. Many teenagers would say that they need to get to places. In response to that claim, there are public transportation systems and bikes as available alternatives for young drivers. The financial stability and matureness of eighteen year olds proves

    Read More

  • Destroying The Elderly

    216 Words  | 1 Pages

    Another danger that may harm the elderly living alone is driving. Since eyesight, hearing, and reflexes decline gradually as you age, driving becomes more and more difficult. When seniors live alone, there’s no one to give them a lift to wherever they want. They have to drive. This may cause dangers to other people and to themselves. On my way to school last year, I was behind a car moving somewhat erratically. First, I thought that the driver was drunk or asleep. However, when driving past him, I recognized he was an elder, maybe 80 years old or more, and his hands were shaking holding the wheel! I was very worried about him. In one case in February 2018, Santia Feketa, 18, and Britney Poindexter, 17, were killed after their pickup was hit

    Read More

  • Ageing Drivers

    601 Words  | 2 Pages

    All states in Australia have plates to distinguish learner drivers and provisional drivers. The plates aim to help inform other drivers that the person in the car may have less experience and make more mistakes than a driver on a full license, hence alerting other road users to be more cautious around them. In the case of senior drivers, they will generally have more experience. However, as people become older other factors may decrease their ability to drive. Some physical marks of old age include diminished eyesight, hearing and sleep. Weakened eyesight makes it harder for them ...

    Read More

More about Senior Citizens Behind the Wheel

Open Document