Posted on Sun, Aug 19, 2012 : 10:29 a.m.
No one injured as elderly motorist swerves off Stadium Boulevard
By Sven Gustafson
Police believe a medical condition caused the driver of this Lincoln sedan to veer off the road Sunday morning.
Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com
Authorities believe a medical condition caused the man to swerve off the road around 8:30 a.m. Sunday on West Stadium Boulevard near Franklin. No injuries were reported.
The accident caused damage to a pole, two trees and the man’s vehicle, police Sgt. Matt Lige said.
Comments
Bertha Venation
Mon, Aug 20, 2012 : 3:33 p.m.
I agree with road testing people over a certain age, but if one has to give up driving, at least there is senior cab if you live in the Ann Arbor City limits. A lot of places don't have this option. I think we're lucky.
LXIX
Mon, Aug 20, 2012 : 2:10 p.m.
Maybe wishful A2 seniors can only get younger like in the Curious Case of Benjamin Button. At either point near the spectrum end, however, the privledge to drive really needs to be road tested.
A2comments
Mon, Aug 20, 2012 : 11:19 a.m.
We should begin requiring testing of drivers 75 and older. FYI you can anonymously request a driver be considered for testing if you know their date of birth. This allows family members to do so without creating a major family conflict. SOS site has a form.
Tru2Blu76
Mon, Aug 20, 2012 : 2:09 a.m.
Age limits are used and will continue to be used for such things as voting, smoking and alcohol consumption - and they will continue to be rigorously enforced. So the key question is, How old is too old when it comes to being licensed to operate a motor vehicle? This is a guess based only on my personal observation: people aged 80 or more years are probably entering the Doubtful Zone when it comes to driving. There's also no way but case-by-case analysis to tell whether early-onset Alzheimer's and other impairments can be used to define incompetence vs competence. A possibly better way to determine driver competence among the aging: at a certain age, everyone is required to operate a car simulator for 10 minutes (or more). This could also be used in other cases, under court order. A more productive and "innovative" way would be to require people of a certain age to drive only grass and weed mowing machines and ONLY in parks and highway medians. ;-)
Ann English
Mon, Aug 20, 2012 : 10:57 p.m.
One previous comment poster mentioned how his father had limited peripheral (NOT preferential) vision, and could not get approved by his doctor for continued driving. I would think that a someone with limited peripheral vision could do well on a car simulator; you don't need to see what is directly to your left or right, just on what is projected on the screen in front of you.
Dog Guy
Mon, Aug 20, 2012 : 1:28 a.m.
Help is on the way. The Affordable Care Act won't afford care for folks over 70, so Dog Guy and other old people will soon be thinned from the road herd. Dingell is excluded from Obamacare, but has young drivers assigned to him . . . not to worry.
hail2thevict0r
Mon, Aug 20, 2012 : 1:28 p.m.
Someone's been reading GOP chain emails....
ordmad
Mon, Aug 20, 2012 : 5:14 a.m.
100% false. Please try something other than Fox news.
golfer
Mon, Aug 20, 2012 : 12:45 a.m.
another thought is on stadium at the crosswalks they have not installed the blinking lights. you go down Plymouth road and they are on all of them. i think we need to install them asap. the reason is not just for older folks but for the rest of us. unless they see the light blinking someone is going to run it and kill someone. one car stops on the left person walks. the right lane is a disaster waiting to happen.
Halter
Sun, Aug 19, 2012 : 11:54 p.m.
Unfortunately, this kind of this is going to happen more and more often as we get an increasingly aging population. Most likely, there does need to be some process put in place to assure that our elderly are capable of handling a motor vehicle. Right now, we rely on our medical system to monitor that -- when Dr. Smith says you can't drive anymore, you can't drive anymore. But we all know plenty of elderly who don't go see any doctors. My father hasn't seen one in a decade despite pleas by the family to do so.....But personally, my parents live in a small town. I called the local deputy there (yeah, all one of them) and asked him to keep an eye on my dad. IF he sees him driving erratically (I personally refuse to get in a car if he is driving), then the legal system will take care of taking away the driving license. But its important to all of us to check if our parents, grandparents etc are taking care of business. That being said -- who knows what actually happened here, especially on that stretch of Stadium -- this is exactly where the two lanes merge into one, and there are near accidents there EVERY day...whose to say that somebody in a big hurry didn't actually cause the driver to run off the road at the merge area, just like happens to me at least once a week in that stretch...
Kara Marie
Sun, Aug 19, 2012 : 10:16 p.m.
That would be my apartment building, I was trying to figure out what happened there. Looks like some ATT boxes are damaged too.
Ann English
Mon, Aug 20, 2012 : 10:49 p.m.
You mean AT & T boxes? If yes, I wonder if some tenants reported their Internet connections lost.
Ron Granger
Sun, Aug 19, 2012 : 9 p.m.
As I get older, I find I sometimes feel like I really could use a nap. I just want to curl up with my blanket and catch a few winks. The older I get, the more it happens. Do those 5 hour energy drinks really work?
a2susan
Sun, Aug 19, 2012 : 8:33 p.m.
It's hard to know if it was a medical condition or age that caused the accident. Shouldn't be too quick to judge until we know the details.
Ann English
Mon, Aug 20, 2012 : 10:47 p.m.
It can help right up here to have a grandchild riding with you; it wasn't too long ago that annarbor.com told us about a grandfather's life being saved in Indiana by his Boy Scout grandson grabbing the wheel as the grandfather had a series of ministrokes on their long road trip. His grandson received an award for his heroism from his troop up here.
Basic Bob
Mon, Aug 20, 2012 : 3:20 a.m.
When you're 88, age is often a medical condition.
Mike Caruso
Sun, Aug 19, 2012 : 7:06 p.m.
Be careful, the people of South Park, Co. went through this exact scenario... Just make sure to lock down all Country Kitchens prior to revoking any licenses.
hail2thevict0r
Sun, Aug 19, 2012 : 7:35 p.m.
We shouldn't have to worry - the only Country buffet in Ann Arbor closed earlier this year.
bernard woitas
Sun, Aug 19, 2012 : 5:32 p.m.
I find it offensive and discriminatory to be identifying some drivers as elderly , aged ,young or whatever description that may be used to point to age . If the driver in this story were black would the news have reported that . Most news orginizations have stopped being race discriminatory . How about stopping the age discrimination .
towncryer
Mon, Aug 20, 2012 : 12:56 a.m.
Someone's cultural identity doesn't predispose them to a certain driving ability.. Biting my tongue here, lol
Tom Todd
Sun, Aug 19, 2012 : 11:50 p.m.
Do You work for the AARP?
Billy
Sun, Aug 19, 2012 : 6:44 p.m.
Your concerns would be founded if one's age had no bearing on driving ability. However that just isn't the case. Someone's cultural identity doesn't predispose them to a certain driving ability...your age however DOES. Age can determine both experience and mental capacity. It's simple biology that the human brain tends to degrade in advanced age. No...of course not EVERYONE will age the same, but exceptions do not a rule make. So you might be of perfectly sound mind at 85.....many others are not...and nor are they fit or capable to drive. Because YOU can handle it you, do you think we should just allow all those that can't to go ahead also?
hail2thevict0r
Sun, Aug 19, 2012 : 6:19 p.m.
I don't know about you - but it's concerning to me that anyone older than 85 is driving on the road. Just as I would find it concerning to have anyone below 15 driving on the road. Heck, I find it concerning to have 15-17 year olds on the road. These people on both ends of the spectrum do not have the skills of the average driver. Just as we test our young drivers we should test our old drivers as well.
Brad
Sun, Aug 19, 2012 : 3:05 p.m.
Someone probably squeezed him out at the "road diet" merge there.
laura wolf
Mon, Aug 20, 2012 : 1:51 a.m.
smokeblwr, you are being generous when you say "out of town drivers". i'm on the road alot and many people don't know how to merge properly- locals and out'o'townwers. road diet = good one
smokeblwr
Mon, Aug 20, 2012 : 12:11 a.m.
I find I get squeezed on the road diet on the other end near Alhambra and Stadium. Seems people from OUT OF TOWN can't read a traffic sign telling them that the right lane is ENDING and they stay in the right lane and honk at me when I keep going straight in the left.
Homeland Conspiracy
Sun, Aug 19, 2012 : 11:12 p.m.
"road diet" ????
actionjackson
Sun, Aug 19, 2012 : 3:24 p.m.
"Authorities believe a medical condition caused the man to swerve off the road around 8:30 a.m."
anonymous
Sun, Aug 19, 2012 : 2:56 p.m.
Are there any state/local requirements regarding the driving ability of our elderly population?
golfer
Sun, Aug 19, 2012 : 9:40 p.m.
no due to age discrimination. years and years ago my dad was in his late 80's. one day i saw him driving down stadium. he stayed in the center lane for ever. held up cars etc. he did not pass his eye exam when he went to get his driver license . preferential vision was bad. they said get a dr ok and we will give you your license.. i called the dr and told him what happened. he tested him and did not approve him. you got to be careful this is a tough decision. but remember it is not only his life it is the person whom he might injure..
1bit
Sun, Aug 19, 2012 : 8:45 p.m.
To answer your question, they must meet the same requirements as everyone else. Statistically, they get in less accidents than teenagers.
anonymous
Sun, Aug 19, 2012 : 5:29 p.m.
Does this apply to all drivers with handicap plates, or just those with hand controls? Are you aware of any guidelines that you can use with an elderly driver?
Lizard
Sun, Aug 19, 2012 : 4:22 p.m.
No. but if you are handicap and use hand controls you must retest every year.