Poll of the Day > I witnessed a head on collision

(+) Yeah! (+)

My husband and I were coming home from town and we got behind a red pickup. The truck was going 40 mph, would speed up a bit, put on his breaks at odd times and would cross the center line then the outside line.

He came to a turn off, almost stopped, suddenly put on his blinker and turned right in front of an oncoming car who that had just stopped a small hill and was probably going 55 mph, the speed limit.Both my husband and I yelled"What is he doing?"

They hit head on and the car spun around and was facing back they way he came from.

My husband called 911 and I went to check on the occupants. The guy in the car was in terrible pain. He had to be airlifted and I found out later he had some broken ribs and broke some bones in his hand.

The guy in the truck told me he was 78 and had never had a wreck. He had his cane and had on house slippers.

I was told by a guy who lived next to him that he probably shouldn't be driving. He had almost ran his teenaged daughter off the road a couple weeks ago.

I figure it was misjudgment caused by age/ dementia or something like that. Too old to safely be on the road. Anyway, he wasn't hurt other than scared, confused and sore.

I went back to the other guy and held his hand until the ambulance arrived.

Probably his broken hand...I didn't squeeze it but I hope I didn't hurt it more!


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That's awful. I'm glad no one was fatally injured.

We have age minimums for driver's license tests, and I think we should think about age maximums.

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Crazy, hope it isn't wasn't too trippy of a thing for you to see/experience and whatnot.

I kinda worry about my own dad sometimes, he's a good driver but he is getting up there in age, I kinda think about maybe he'll just won't see one thing someday.

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A hard cut-off age will no doubt spark a lot of outrage, and be hard to defend. Rather, making driving tests mandatory for renewing licenses past a certain age would prove the inability of those who fail without needlessly restricting those who can still judge and react safely on the road.

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Shadowbird_RH posted...

A hard cut-off age will no doubt spark a lot of outrage, and be hard to defend. Rather, making driving tests mandatory for renewing licenses past a certain age would prove the inability of those who fail without needlessly restricting those who can still judge and react safely on the road.

I think this could work. Maybe decrease the number of years between license renewals past a certain age (65-70)?

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RCtheWSBC posted...

I think this could work. Maybe decrease the number of years between license renewals past a certain age (65-70)?

Should be yearly starting around age 68.
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We need harsher driving capability requirements. Not just age but so many things including reaction speed, proper depth perception and the attention span to avoid looking at your phone while driving.
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RCtheWSBC posted...

I think this could work. Maybe decrease the number of years between license renewals past a certain age (65-70)?

I agree.

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Head on

Apply directly to the forehead

ReggieTheReckless posted...

Head on

Apply directly to the forehead

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I just got a sad, unexpected update. The old man that pulled out in front of the guy in the car died today. I am not certain if it was accident related or if he had previous health problems.

Although I didn't know him this news hit me in the heart. He seemed to have no close family, didn't ask for anybody to be called. He was scared that night and confused. I tried to comfort him but I feel bad, like he died lonely or something.

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That's just awful.

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I had to deal with a similar situation a few years ago. There was this van swerving in and out of the lanes, so I slowed down, he keeps swerving and slowing down then speeding up and then he hit a car stopped at a light and books it, I pulled over and talk to the cops as a witness (they got there pretty fast seeing as it was less than a mile from the police station) the girl he hit was rushed to a hospital but I think she was alive but never got any updates. I told the cops about the guy swerving and what way the driver went and that was it but it was crazy.

Hopefully it doesn't lead to any trauma for you.

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