Do you know anybody over age 90 who is still driving?

[Big Cuddly Bear]

I went to clear the snow from around my mom's car today and while I was at it she asked me to clean the snow from around her friend's car too. They both live in apartments for the elderly... 65 and older.

Anyway as I am cleaning her friends car area, my mom mentioned that this woman was going to be 94 years old next week. Honestly, I'm kind of shocked that a 94 year old person would still be driving....

My mom is almost 70, and I imagine her doctor will be telling her not to drive anymore. I'm surprised he hasn't already. ( I am NOT saying 70 year olds shouldn't drive, but I wouldn't mind if they had to take a test every 3 -5 years. )

My FIL is 84 and he drives.... but I sure as heck won't get in the car with him. He scares the bejeezus out of me when he drives.

Same with my 88 year old grandmother. She is very mentally on top of things, but has no reflexes. No way she should be driving. It literally takes her 3 seconds to reach up and scratch her head if it itches.

Do you know any people that are 90 years old, or older, who are still driving....

AND WOULD YOU GET IN THE CAR WITH THEM IF THEY WERE DRIVING?

 

[MichelleVW]

I went to clear the snow from around my mom's car today and while I was at it she asked me to clean the snow from around her friend's car too. They both live in apartments for the elderly... 65 and older.

Anyway as I cleaning her friends car area, my mom mentioned that this woman was going to be 94 years old next week. Honestly, I'm kind of shocked that a 94 year old person would still be driving....

My mom is almost 70, and I imagine her doctor will be telling her not to drive anymore. I'm surprised he hasn't already. ( I am NOT saying 70 year olds shouldn't drive )

My FIL is 84 and he drives.... but I sure as heck won't get in the car with him. He scares the bejeezus out of me when he drives.

Same with my 88 year old grandmother. She is very mentally on top of things, but has no reflexes. No way she should be driving. It literally takes her 3 seconds to reach up and scratch her head if it itches.

Do you know any people that are 90 years old, or olde,r who are still driving....

AND WOULD YOU GET IN THE CAR WITH THEM IF THEY WERE DRIVING?

My Mil is 80 and shouldn't be driving, but none of the kids will step up and take her keys away. A few months ago she got pulled over DOING 80!!! It was one of DH's friends who pulled her over and he LET HER OFF WITH A WARNING!!! That made me so mad...she's going to kill someone driving like that. DH talked to his friend and told him that if he ever pulls her over again to give her all the tickets he can manage.

 

[momof1princess]

my grandmother is almost 82 years old, and overall, she's still a decent driver, but her reflexes have slowed down. i'd rather ride WITH her than to drive her anywhere, because she gets really nervous when anyone else drives and she screams at you the entire time.

 

[gottaluvPluto]

I thought it was up to family members to report if an elderly person shouldn't drive. The DMV will then have the person do a driving test to see if he/she should be on the road.

 

[irisheyes123]

My grandfather turns 90 in 2 weeks and he still drives but he is very active for his age as far as I know over here he has to do a yearly health and eye check to keep his drivers license and yes I would get in the car with him driving

 

[mickeymedic]

Both of my grandfathers - ages 88 and 92 still drive. The 88 year old grandfather still drives quite a bit. My parents and my aunt and uncle make a point to ride with him periodically to ensure that his reflexes are what they should be - and for now he is still doing fine. My 92 year old grandfather only drives during good weather and during daylight hours. I don't know if my father has had a chance to ride with him recently - but the last time my parents rode with him, he was still doing OK. I do worry about him, though.

 

[indimom]

My husband's grandmother turns 90 in a couple months. She is still in good health and drives herself everywhere. I'm sure her reflexes are slower than a 20 year old's, BUT (being old school) she isn't texting, talking on the phone, eating a Big Mac or smoking while she drives. I'd say she's no more dangerous than some of us younger folks.

As long as they are driving carefully, it's fine with me. But, I think people should have more frequent eye exams and possibly driving tests once they hit a certain age (or if they have an accident or two - that goes for any age).

 

[MushyMushy]

My biological grandmother is 96 and still drives. You wouldn't believe she was that old if you saw her. She's beautiful, dresses up all the time, takes care of herself and just looks fantastic. My father, on the other hand, is 79 and should have had his license taken away 10 years ago, but nobody would do it. My sister and I are now family outcasts because we finally said enough is enough and did it.

 

[Pakey]

My father is in his 80's and not only drives, but pulls a very large 5th wheel RV. When I was going through chemo, my parents came every day to drive me for treatments. His driving seems the same to me as it always has. I'd rather ride with him than my husband or my sons.

 

[theycallmered]

My grandfather turns 90 today and is still driving, albeit a lot less than he use to 5 or 10 years ago. He purchased a new (to him) Cadillac in 2008 and has only driven it about 4000 miles. He knows his limitations and usually finds a friend to drive him to the store or other trips out.

 

[golfgal]

Age isn't always the reason to take away a license but I agree, people should have to be tested every so often to see that they can still drive. I know plenty of 40 year olds that could brush up on skills

My Dad is 71 and unless he has something medical happening there is no reason he shouldn't be driving. He is a very young 70-most people think he is in his 50's if he isn't around his kids . My grandpa drove up until he died at age 90 but only to church and to certain areas of town where there wasn't a lot of traffic. He was actually a good driver but was just being careful. He did have someone that would take him grocery shopping and run errands with/for him so that helped too.

 

[JVL1018]

My grandma drove until she was about 92.
She drove slowly(LOL) and carefully...until she backed into my Mom's car in the driveway and she stopped driving that day, said she realized it wasn't the best idea.
She worked until she was 88 (by choice, she was a part time bookkeeper), traveled all over the place well into her 90s, was out and about every day, had a better social life than I ever had and died a couple of months shy of her 98th birthday in April 2000.
My Gram at 90 was what some people are at 65.

ETA: she was retested I think when she was about 90. The only problem she had was she had to get used to using a handbrake. She was handicapped-she had polio as a little girl and wore a brace on her right foot, so she couldn't move her foot from the gas to the brake fast enough so she always drove with both feet. One on the gas, one on the brake.
Drove for her entire life like that, found out that she would fail her drivers test if she did that, so she got the handbrake and hired an instructor and took driving lessons at 90 and passed her test with flying colors.

 

[Disney Doll]

My father is 82 and still driving. I go with him on occasion to make sure he is doing OK and he is. They don't go far anymore...around town to the store, he takes my mother to the hairdresser etc. Seldom on the higway. om stopped driving about 8-10 years ago because she has some vision problems.

 

[MUFFYCAT]

My mother is 82 and still driving, but it's limited. She doesn't go far anymore or drive when it's dark.

My neighbor is 91 and drives to church and the local stores which thankfully are all close.

 

[december]

My grandmother is 90 and still drives occasionally. She's never had an accident. My father is 70, and for the life of me I can't think of a reason he shouldn't be driving? Is your mother in bad health? Poor eyesight?

 

[disfan07]

Our neighbor is 95. He still lives on his own, he drives, he cooks for himself and he has his daily shot of scotch (i'm pretty sure it's scotch).

If you didnt know how old he was, you would think he was over 90. Hes better off than my grandfather who is 86.

My dad jokes that it's the shot of scotch everyday...lol. He said he should start doing that.

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

My grandmother is 91 and is still driving and yes, I would get in a car with her (but given that I was raised with manners, I would always drive her if we were going in the same car).
She is not a spritely teenager anymore (physically but mentally she is much sharper!) but she has a great driving record and being old-school, she doesn't have a cell phone or texts or any gadgets in her car to distract her. Now THAT is scary - a texting driver!

 

[Tess]

I went to clear the snow from around my mom's car today and while I was at it she asked me to clean the snow from around her friend's car too. They both live in apartments for the elderly... 65 and older.

Anyway as I am cleaning her friends car area, my mom mentioned that this woman was going to be 94 years old next week. Honestly, I'm kind of shocked that a 94 year old person would still be driving....

My mom is almost 70, and I imagine her doctor will be telling her not to drive anymore. I'm surprised he hasn't already. ( I am NOT saying 70 year olds shouldn't drive, but I wouldn't mind if they had to take a test every 3 -5 years. )

My FIL is 84 and he drives.... but I sure as heck won't get in the car with him. He scares the bejeezus out of me when he drives.

Same with my 88 year old grandmother. She is very mentally on top of things, but has no reflexes. No way she should be driving. It literally takes her 3 seconds to reach up and scratch her head if it itches.

Do you know any people that are 90 years old, or older, who are still driving....

AND WOULD YOU GET IN THE CAR WITH THEM IF THEY WERE DRIVING?

My Grandmother--she is practically deaf and will be 91 next week! She has absolutely no business driving any longer primarily because of her lack of hearing! Other than that, she is mentally sharp and alert.

 

[laurie31]

I don't think of 65 or even 70 as "elderly" but I do think ability to drive is not dependent on age.


My grandmother lived to be 90 and never stopped driving. There is a lady in our church who will be 100 this Saturday, and she stopped driving last year, because she decided that 99 was too old to drive - lol. She is in church every Sunday, all dressed up, and she doesn't even use a walker. If you met her, you might guess late 70's-early-80's as her age.

DH's dad is 71 and he hasn't yet retired, so since he's working full-time, of course he has to drive. I don't really think of him as "old" though. My dad is 81 (and retired) and he is now nervous about driving on the interstate, but he does fine on the surface streets.

My grandfather was a truck driver and loved to drive. He didn't retire until he was 82. He had worked in the office for many years, but before he retired, he decided he wanted to drive a big rig one last time, so he took a load to MONTANA. We thought he meant something just a few states away, not 1800 miles each way! But he did it, without incident.

Like a pp mentioned, I know people in their 40's who perhaps need a refresher driver's ed course . I guess it would make the licence cost more, but maybe every 3rd renewal, they could require the driving test again. Then it wouldn't be discriminatory against the elderly and it would catch some of the much younger folks who shouldn't be operating a motor vehicle. We actully pay next-to-nothing for the privilege to drive, compared to what Europeans pay.

 

[tar heel]

My FIL had to pass a road test to get his license renewed when he turned 90. He passed, so they gave him a license that expires in five years.