Story to scare all of us for ACC and roadusers.

[Mudfart]

My mother in law who is now 73, went to resit her car license when she turned 70. She was unable to read any of the letters on the eye chart and the person conducting the test told her to "just say anything". She passed.
She has now had 2 accidents since then. One accident was with my two young children in her car. She was pulling out in a left turn to merge, and didnt see the giant 4wd barrelling at her in a 70kph zone.
Now she doesn't have to resit her test again until she turns 75!
She also drives long distances, 500kms +.
There's worse news for ACC, govt etc....
There was a world wide conference of eye surgeons that perform the lasic corrective surgery type ops. They got together because they have figured out that 30 years+ after the operation, the eye begins to regrow and the person becomes IRREVERSABLY BLIND. By blind they mean permanent blurred vision, that cannot be fixed!
So a 20year old can expect to be going blind at about 50y.o.
Over 10,000 people in NZ have had the surgery, thats a lot of blind people driving in the near future.
My question is, govt knows these issues, if they are worried about road accidents, maybe they need to look at some of the causes. I know a lot of young people who wouldnt wear their glasses while driving because they didnt look cool. Its great to say "well it says on your license that you must wear glasses", its even better to catch them before they crash and kill.

[Pixie]

My brother,a former frequenter of these forums,was a license examiner for the AA and police.At one stage,they were directed not to fail elderly drivers as it was too upsetting for them.

[sunhuntin]

I know a lot of young people who wouldnt wear their glasses while driving because they didnt look cool. Its great to say "well it says on your license that you must wear glasses", its even better to catch them before they crash and kill.

my ex was the same. tore her up so many times for stupid things like NOT LOOKING AT A ROUNDABOUT, nearly running red lights or drifiting in and out of her lane on the two lane RAB by the turn off to whitby. crazy stuff that should have been common sense and instinctive. had so many near accidents in the car... and she wanted to get her bike license... be the fasted darwin award ever.

[YellowDog]

It is quite worrying how such a crucial requirement for safe driving is not enforced.

The Lasik thing is bollox.

[Laxi]

my grandfather in law hat to have a physical when he turned 75, the doctor told him if he promised to only drive localy he'd pass him, he finaly stopped driving after he turned up 1 day with 4 flats and didn't even realise untill i asked him what he'd done, pulled the dizzy out of his car after that

[Marmoot]

People turn into asians as they age?

[red mermaid]

So stop them driving yourself.

There is nothing worse than an old person having a crash and living their last years/months/days in pain, or even worse killing or maiming someone themselves.

I have seen it happen in both scenarios and it is not a pretty sight.
Stop them now....yourself!

[YellowDog]

So stop them driving yourself.

There is nothing worse than an old person having a crash and living their last years/months/days in pain, or even worse killing or maiming someone themselves.

I have seen it happen in both scenarios and it is not a pretty sight.
Stop them now....yourself!

It can't be nice for them and sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.

[Tink]

My dad is only 61 yet he came out of deaths door in May, very serious blood poisoning .. we were told on day 3 he would not make it... 3 months down the track, he told the specialists in ICU he would be riding a motorbike before the year was out.

HE DID!!! and does now... but... he still has self preservation for himself and others, he won't ride/drive unless he is 100%.

And I am a nag... !!! If I am not happy I won't let him go.

[Conquiztador]

Grandpa was turning 75. We wanted to give him a decent pressie.

"Let's get him a new LCD TV" said my brother. "Wont work" I said. "He cant see well."

"OK then" my brother said, "let's get him a new decent sound system!". "Bad idea" I said. "He has almost no hearing left.

So we got him a scooter!

[Mudfart]

im not sure if the lasik story is true or not, Im basing it on a few months ago I had a few g's in my pocket and was considering getting my eyes done, so I googled to find the St Marks clinic in Remuera. The top of the search came up with a NZ herald article from that very morning 12.??.2009, and had all the info in it that I shared.
I do know that sometimes the Herald does fall for false rumours like this and print the stories too.
What Im hoping, is that for the best outcome, the monster in law doesn't see the impending cliff edge in front of her, and drives straight off one, not hurting anyone else. That would be perfect.

[awayatc]

blind people are very well looked after on our roading system I thought.....
Wth all those cats eyes in the middle of the road, and the noise /rubble strips on the side.....You can drive just about by braille