I have an elderly friend whom I have known for 46 years. In fact I consider him my second dad. He has had a tremendous influence in my life in many positive ways... the most memorable being he taught me to fly when I was 16 years old. He's been a pilot most of his life and an advanced ground school instructor... flown many military and civilian aircraft. He had to give up flying about 12 years ago because of age related issues.
That being said... he is now 85 and I was visiting him over the weekend. I was riding in his small Toyota pick-up while we ran an errand around the Pensacola area. On the way back he spotted an old car show at a local fast food establishment. He asked me if I would like to stop... to which I replied, "it's up to you". He wanted to check out a 67 Ford Galaxy he caught a glimpse of because he has one in his garage that's all original. While he was looking for a spot to turn around, he failed to notice some on coming traffic and he began his left hand u-turn. He started by drifting into the on coming lane and I told him to watch out! There was a Chevrolet Equinox SUV barreling down on us pretty quick... he just continued his turn into a private drive while the suv was braking hard and was on the shoulder of the road when the front of his truck entered the drive way. The SUV had to then whip back into the lane of travel to avoid hitting us. Looking from the passenger side window, it was almost too much to handle... I was sure we were going to get hit. I give credit to the Lord and the great driving skills of the driver in the other vehicle for not having to take a trip to the hospital.
I know distraction played a part in this event, in fact, I believe that our focusing ability diminishes as we age. Seeing a close personal friend who has been very capable of tasks requiring great concentration, now challenged to drive a vehicle safely down the road, hurts. But this is life and we must keep an eye on our elderly folks for signs they need to give up driving. We also need to be aware of these folks while riding... They don't mean harm, but they can be a hazard!
That being said... he is now 85 and I was visiting him over the weekend. I was riding in his small Toyota pick-up while we ran an errand around the Pensacola area. On the way back he spotted an old car show at a local fast food establishment. He asked me if I would like to stop... to which I replied, "it's up to you". He wanted to check out a 67 Ford Galaxy he caught a glimpse of because he has one in his garage that's all original. While he was looking for a spot to turn around, he failed to notice some on coming traffic and he began his left hand u-turn. He started by drifting into the on coming lane and I told him to watch out! There was a Chevrolet Equinox SUV barreling down on us pretty quick... he just continued his turn into a private drive while the suv was braking hard and was on the shoulder of the road when the front of his truck entered the drive way. The SUV had to then whip back into the lane of travel to avoid hitting us. Looking from the passenger side window, it was almost too much to handle... I was sure we were going to get hit. I give credit to the Lord and the great driving skills of the driver in the other vehicle for not having to take a trip to the hospital.
I know distraction played a part in this event, in fact, I believe that our focusing ability diminishes as we age. Seeing a close personal friend who has been very capable of tasks requiring great concentration, now challenged to drive a vehicle safely down the road, hurts. But this is life and we must keep an eye on our elderly folks for signs they need to give up driving. We also need to be aware of these folks while riding... They don't mean harm, but they can be a hazard!