{"id":2908,"date":"2012-03-23T09:01:27","date_gmt":"2012-03-23T16:01:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=2908"},"modified":"2012-03-23T14:58:57","modified_gmt":"2012-03-23T21:58:57","slug":"seniors-shouldn%e2%80%99t-be-above-driving-laws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2012\/03\/23\/seniors-shouldn%e2%80%99t-be-above-driving-laws\/","title":{"rendered":"Seniors shouldn\u2019t be above driving laws"},"content":{"rendered":"

Picture this: An elderly woman who has had multiple eye surgeries and can barely see over the dashboard of her car has just had her driver\u2019s license renewed for another five years. Meanwhile, a perfectly adept 17-year-old has to pick up his friends one at a time from a party because he can only have one passenger in his car. The scary thing is, the grandma could drive as many people as she wants.<\/p>\n

Elderly drivers don\u2019t have any driving restrictions and it\u2019s a big problem. It often seems like they are free to roam the streets without being reprimanded for careless driving. Meanwhile, N (new) drivers can have their license stripped away at the smallest infraction.<\/p>\n

After smashing her way through barriers at the Victoria Airport last July, Shirley Zerbin, aged 83, killed a taxi driver and injured several others. While Zerbin is being charged under the Motor Vehicles Act she isn\u2019t being charged criminally.<\/p>\n

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Seniors are safer on the porch (photo Flickr Creative Commons).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If an N driver killed a person and injured multiple others, surely criminal charges would ensue. What makes elderly people so above the law and young people so below it?<\/p>\n

ICBC should force seniors to do a road test every two years after they turn 80. Seniors should also display a big S for senior, just like the N for new drivers, on the back of their car to alert other drivers to their presence.<\/p>\n

Also, when a senior gets a ticket for poor driving points should be added to their licenses. Once enough points are accumulated, they should undergo a driving test to fully assess their abilities.<\/p>\n

Elders are good at convincing their children and other family members they are perfectly fine to drive. But ICBC will only issue a driving test if a family member submits the senior’s name.<\/p>\n

Children and family members of elderly people want them to keep their licenses because then they don\u2019t have to drive them around.<\/p>\n

Until the laws are changed and elderly people with questionable driving habits are reprimanded, or taken off the road, the streets aren\u2019t safe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Picture this: An elderly woman who has had multiple eye surgeries and can barely see over the dashboard of her car has just had her driver\u2019s license renewed for another five years. Meanwhile, a perfectly adept 17-year-old has to pick up his friends one at a time from a party because he can only have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2909,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-webexclusive","category-views"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t