Most people, men especially, consider themselves to be excellent drivers. If truth be told, however, most people aren’t even good drivers, as witnessed by the appalling number of car crashes that occur every year on the roads and streets of the world.
I’m not even referring to crashes that occur through outright stupidity or recklessness, and I’m certainly not going to open the festering can of worms known as “Wimmen Drivers”; not in this post, anyway.
I consider myself to be a competent driver in that I’ve only ever had a couple of serious accidents in well over four decades of driving — not serious in that people were injured, but serious enough that cars were either written off or close to being so. And yes, some were technically the fault of the other driver, but once again, I can also assume at least a little culpability in that perhaps I wasn’t paying enough attention to the traffic.
What bothers me — and I’ve noticed it a lot recently — is that as I’m getting older, my driving skill is declining. Some of it is physical: my neck and body are stiffer, making it more difficult, for example, to turn to look behind me; and my reflexes certainly aren’t what they used to be either, which means I can’t drive on auto-pilot anymore and have to concentrate really hard on what’s going on around me.
The latter certainly came to mind when I read about this little tragedy:
A man and woman were killed after an Audi ploughed into them as they were visiting a popular seaside resort at the end of the summer holidays.
The pair, in their 60s, were walking in Anglesey when the car swerved to avoid a horse and carriage before ploughing into them. The driver, a man in his 80s, also died at the scene.
(I don’t know what the car’s make has to do with the story, but it is the awful Daily Mail, after all, so maybe a little gratuitous class hatred was needed to make the story a little more spicy.)
From an eyewitness:
One local said: ‘The Audi swerved to go around a horse and carriage, mounted the pavement and hit pedestrians who were walking past a house – they didn’t stand a chance.’
It seems pretty clear that the Olde Phartte was going too fast — this didn’t happen on a freeway but on a narrow city street, after all — and that he either didn’t leave enough room to brake, or else he lost control during the swerve and smashed into the luckless pedestrians before hitting the wall. (And in a modern car (like the Audi), you have to be going really fast to be killed by crashing into a wall.)
Or else his octogenarian reflexes were like mud, and he left it all too late.
I know that Olde Pharttes get a bad rap for the heinous sin of Driving Too Slowly, but I’ve noticed myself slowing down a lot when I drive these days, because I’m fully aware that my reflexes are those of an older man, and not some young whippersnapper in his forties.
There’s a reason why modern F1 drivers don’t carry on racing into their fifties. Even once-world champs like Fernando Alonso (43) and Lewis Hamilton (39) are quite aware that their days of F1 racing are very much numbered. (I know: the peerless Juan Manuel Fangio raced almost into his fifties, but the F1 cars of his day ran at less than half the speed of today’s.)
Anyway, I am (perhaps surprisingly) in favor of stricter driving tests for Olde Pharttes like myself. When my current license expires, I will have to retake the practical and theoretical tests as though I were a newbie driver, and I will do so willingly. Because I would hate to be like that 80-year-old in the above tragedy, killed (and killer) because I was, quite simply, driving beyond my capabilities.
As Dirty Harry (himself quite an Olde Phartte) said once: “A man has to know his limitations.” And I’m certainly aware of mine, when it comes to driving anyway.
It’s called maturity, and it’s well past time that I started showing some.
I partially agree with what you wrote, however there are many young drivers in the world that are as terrible if not more terrible than old drivers.
My own experience. I am 40. I never bought a brand new car, always used. Partially to save money on the cost of the vehicle, insurance and taxes and also because you can buy something nice and then some asshole runs into it and insurance wants to use aftermarket parts to fix it with less labor hours than needed for the body shop to put them on so the job is sometimes half assed. Anyways… this is not the main point I am making.
So in 2021, I had a 12 year old Honda with over 170,000 miles and the transmission died. Dumb luck. I know sometimes people get longer, I had shit luck. So I purchase a 2018 Toyota Rav4 Adventure. 14,000 miles. Nice. Toyota used certified. 3 years old. Nice vehicle.
I had that vehicle for 1 year. Then, I am driving along and some OLD ASS CUNT pulls out in front of me, running a light. She didn’t just run the light, she pulled out too far into the intersection. BUT I AVOIDED HER. I did NOT hit her. Accident avoided, right?
Nope, about 30 seconds later, while I am waiting for the dumb old cunt to move, I get rear ended by a 19 year old piece of shit driving a Honda Civic. The front of his car was destroyed (good, services him right, asshole), and I later found out my vehicle, while is seemed driveable, was totaled. ONe of the unibody frame rails was damaged badly and the underbelly of the trunk was shoved upward and destroyed. Insurance totaled it. After I get rear ended, the old bitch that pulled in front of me took off.
Anyways, after the asshole 19 year old rear ends me, he gets out and starts getting wise with me asking why I stopped so fast and told me I caused the accident. I told him to go fuck himself. I then asked him, why did you rear end me asshole, ever hear of paying attention and using brakes? He said he “had the brakes on”. Yea right. Road was a 35 mph zone and even at 35 mph a Civic would not have caused the damage to my vehicle that his did. I told him that the police were coming and to get the fuck away from me.
There was a witness to my accident. She was great. Had the plate of the old cunt who ran in front of me and told the cops about the dipshit who rear ended me.
The police did not ticket the driver who rear ended me. Isn’t that nice.
So I get a replacement Toyota Rav4. Another 2018. This new one is nice, But it has been rear ended 3 times. Luckily all minor
First, October of 2023. I am sitting at a stop light. And BAM. Some russian / ukranian woman who is a dental hygentist driving an Acura rear ends me. She says there’s no damage why do we need to call the police? Fucking bitch. There was paint rippling and some deformed plastic on the bumper. This bitch was around 40 years old.
So I figure i’ll wait until Spring to get the vehicle fixed. Spring comes. February of 2024. I am sitting at a stop light. Bam, a bitch in a minivan with a retarded kid in the passenger seat rear ends me. More bending to the bumper and a little more damage. Minor, however still, PAY ATTENTION.
This bitch is questioning why I want to call the police. She is at my car looking at it. Saying no damage when there clearly is some minor damage, and even minor damage to a bumper is EXPENSIVE to fix, so I want the police report so I don’t get fucked for these idiots mistakes. The police gave her a WARNING for hitting me. She then asks the police “WHY AM I GETTING A TICKET, I didn’t follow that closely”. Police tell her it is a WARNING and since her car touched mine she was following too close. This bitch was around her 40’s in age.
Finally, I am at a stop sign about two weeks after being rear ended by the minivan (see any pattern here), completely stopped. BAM. Rear ended by a BMW driven by someone in his 20’s. Asshole kid. Mouthing off about me calling the cops. My bumper now had a crack in it. Fucking asshole said he was gonna leave, there is no damage. I said theres a crack in the bumper and I already jumped out of the car and took pictures of you and your plate, you do what you want, but your paying for this.
Police come. This punk in his 20’s gets a WARNING.
This is Massachusetts where I am. This state is known for MASSHOLE drivers. They suck. People will pass in a no passing zone, pass in a break down lane, just to get one car ahead. They will tail gate you and then if you let the person by, they then slow way down and play a game with you. They will cut you off when you have right of way.
Massachusetts gives licenses to ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS.
Anyways, while I agree there are older drivers who are bad, there are also MANY younger, under 65 drivers that are beyond fucking terrible.
My bumper is now fixed from a good body shop. Took 2 body shops to fix my car right. The first body shop sucked. That’s a story for another time.
Sadly, traffic accidents, major or minor, with or without cause (alcohol or drug use, for instance), now fall into the category of non-crime crime. You’re lucky if an actual LEO shows up to investigate and not a clerk-typist social worker.
Invest in a good front and rear dashcam. Having video (don’t cheap out, get a 4k resolution camera with decent IR capability at night) to show the cops, the insurance company, and even the idiot who hit you can save a LOT of trouble. Then post it on Youtube, Rumble, Instagram, etc.
Being of same or near vintage as our host I’ll throw my 2 cents in here. First, I did not know that Texas has a retest requirement. I think that’s a great idea, but its something I would dread to do as all sorts of nonsense has crept into driving test that really has nothing to do with actual safe driving.
That being said, I would dread having to retake my motorcycle driving test. I rode a motorcycle for years when I was younger and dumber. I stopped that when I started getting kids and didn’t ride for years. A few years back I decided that I might want to start again as my life insurance is paid up and death by pavement eating would effect no one but myself. I took the motorcycle course again “just for fun” to scrub up on my skills and barely passed the driver test at the end of the course.
I still haven’t bought a bike (motorcycle), even though I can easily afford one that will mostly just sit in the garage. I think something in my brain is saying you just don’t have the reflexes you used to have to survive in today’s traffic. I have my mountain biking thing where its just me, the bike, and a mountain trail where I can always just get off and walk if the trail conditions get too edgy for my skills. That’s not really an option on public roads, where the idiots and illegals are legion (much overlap).
There is always a chance that sometime in the near future I will change my mind and become that guy who shouldn’t be on the road, especially on a motorcycle but still is. Life is short, no?
I’ll add one more comment that I’m sure others will also echo. I spend a great deal of time going back and forth between where I live and the mountains I love to be in and see a great many stupid drivers doing stupid things like cutting across three lanes of traffic, tailgating when the driver in front is going too slow for them, weaving at high speed through traffic, etc. Inevitably these a**holes are not old pharts, but “kids” in their late twenties or thirties, and all males. Yes they have the reflexes to make these moves, but the little old Asian women they cut off and gave a heart attack to doesn’t. Tree, Rope, you know the rest.
I think if old people are re tested, then people under 25 should br re tested. Yearly.
Even though some older folks have caused accidents and it’s terrible when it happens they have years of experience and mistakes happen when you are on the road for years
The 4 people that rear ended me were aged 19 to 45
Also – this from Massachusetts – notice this was NOT an “old Phart”.
https://www.wwlp.com/news/local-news/hampden-county/police-investigating-incident-near-st-michaels-cemetery-in-springfield/amp/
Yes. We used to dread my late father going out: every time his car would return with a new scratch. My mother decided to stop driving a couple of years ago when she saw herself following the same path (and for a long time before that she restricted herself to short trips, getting a driver for longer ones).
Fortunately, my dad was admirably self-aware when it came time. When I suggested he shouldn’t be driving anymore, he replied “Yeah, it’s time,” and immediately sold the Jag.
There is that magic time when old timers are still ambulatory, but probably shouldn’t be driving. Two cases come to mind. The first one was my daughter, who t-boned an old lady that ran the red light. Not only that, she was in the right lane and went to turn left. Got a trip to the hospital. Luckily, a witness stepped up.
Second was an old boy I knew from church. I watched him amble with his walker to the car. He puts the walker in the trunk, and gets in the driver side while his more fit wife got in the passenger seat. I remember thinking, that’s no gut whatsoever. Wasn’t long after, he ran a light, got t-boned. His wife died a few hours (her side got hit), he lasted a year in immeasurable grief.
I’ve noticed two things – first, every accident and fender bender I’ve been involved in DFW, I’ve been sued. I had one where I bumped fenders with a woman as I entered a parking lot. No damage to either car. She sued for medical expenses. The insurance investigator came to my house to verify my car had no damage – none. Neither did hers.
Second is that while old phartts drive slower, they tend not to be on the road in rush hour, and they generally don’t do stupid things. They are more in the way for me than a danger. It’s the younger ones that do stupid things. Mostly because they 1 – aren’t paying attention and 2 – haven’t cultivated any driving skill and 3- Show absolutely poor judgement. Not a day goes by that I don’t have some idiot youf turn right in front of me from a left lane.
Another thing I’ve noticed is the amount of idiots in Teslas that will brake-check you. It’s happened to me three times this summer, the most recent on Sunday. They are the types that would drive a bug back in the day, then a prius, now a tesla. I drive a 2000 Excursion. Brake checking it is a spectacularly stupid move. One day, I’ll have an old fart reflex pause (cough cough) and 3.5 tons of steel is going to fold that asshole in half. BTW – I’m up their asses when I drive because they are saving the environment by driving down the road 10mph under the speed limit.
Speaking of crummy driving habits; what’s up with leaving a car length or two between your car and the one in front at a light? I can literally pull my truck into that gap sometimes. Makes no sense, especially in the middle lane. It’s almost always a millennial type doing it.
what’s up with leaving a car length or two between your car and the one in front at a light?
There’s a branch of mathematics/Computer Science called queueing theory. A careful analysis shows that if EVERY DRIVER was aware, and left distance, then when the light changes they could all let off the brakes, and gently accelerate, and more cars could make it through the light cycle.
Counting on EVERY DRIVER to do the right thing is, of course, nonsense. We live in the real world, mostly. I live in Houston, where even the DFW drivers shake their heads at the drivers here.
Every day, people exit the freeway from center lanes. You’re taking your life in your hands if your the first at a newly green light; who knows what teen/illegal/uninsured/Asian is going to run the red when you enter the intersection.
To be fair, my husband and I were rear-ended at a stop light by a semi back in ’19. (“She’d started moving and stopped suddenly!”, I hadn’t moved an inch till he tapped me.) No damage to my car, but I had over $15K in med bills because I have a bad/fragile neck, or as they say, I’m an eggshell.
Speaking of age limits – specifically the ultimate iteration of same – RIP.
Paul’s passing is all over FB on the gun pages. He is sorely missed. He was insightful, entertaining and honest.
I guess I’ll go shoot up a box of Green and Yellow or was it Green and White Remington ammunition and I’ll don a barn jacket.
Apologies for the hyperlink above; I somehow configured the vid to begin past its starting point. You’ll want to cue it to the start, as the subject gets right to the point.
Some background. I’m a mid-70s Olde Pharte who has been driving since my mid-teens. Well over fifty years. I’ve been cited for speed (December 1970) and one accident in the late 80s. With that record and driving most of that time on the Arizona highways, I’m probably a pretty good driver, but I’m also VERY lucky.
I have no problem with the state testing older drivers. Since we’re Heaven’s Waiting Room West out here, we attract old drivers like ants to sugar. Many folks in their advancing years are simply no longer physically able to safely operate a motor vehicle under the conditions and traffic rules of the day. Speeds here are faster than older folks can react to. We’re just not as quick as we used to be. Our eyes aren’t as good. Our hearing isn’t as sharp. our response is just too slow these days. In my personal case, neuropathy has robbed me of the sense of touch in my feet. I can’t feel my feet on the break or gas pedals as well as I should. Is this dangerous? Yes, I know from personal experience that this can be hazardous.
Do they test old folks for this? No, they do not. When grandpa has a traffic accident, is it because he can’t see very well anymore, or because he can’t move very well anymore. of did he become confused by where he was or what he was doing? When I did my first retest a few years ago, they tested my eyesight, and I took the written test, but that was all. No one seems to care whether old people are physically and/or mentally able to operate a motor vehicle. Being among the ranks of the elderly, I personally know people who can’t see past their fingers or who are so stiff with arthritis they can barely make it out the door, but who get behind the wheel of their Buicks and head for the open road.
They have no alternative. Public transportation here is a pathetic joke. We have trains that run from nowhere to nowhere. There is “alternate” transportation available if you’re richer than all get out. Or you can wait out in the 110-degree heat for a bus that may or may not come.
I would like to continue driving, at least until my current car is paid for. But the reality of it is, I may not make it to my next re-test date in 2027. What I will do then for transportation to shopping or doctors I do not know.
I’ve recently realized that I’m getting older (not old yet at 59) because when I see one of the local constabulary while driving and immediately look down at the speedometer, I usually find I’m not speeding.
I took my last actual driving test when you had to parallel park the
car and no allowance was made for ‘larger’ vehicles.
( 23ft station wagons anyone ? I couldn’t find an Isetta !!!)
If very little has changed since then or only monor changes have been made then …….
Part of the problem, maybe all of it is that in the good old U.S.A.
all you have to do is get daddy’s land yacht around the block without running into someone’s house and you get a drivers license !!!
No mandatory classes, no real skills tests, reflexes, avoidance, NOTHING.
You can immediately launch your self onto the interstate ramp and join the ‘real world’ !!
We need MANDATORY training BEFORE you are allowed to join real life game of bumper-cars !!!
Take some of these 16 year olds, put them on a skid pad / track with an instructor and PROVE to them that 1) no, it WILL NOT stop on a dime,
2) how far do you travel at 60 MPH before your foot just TOUCHES the brake pedal after you hear the starter pistol shot 3) don’t give a damn what you saw in the movie you can’t swerve hard and maintain control at those speeds, on and on.
Just a thought.
A few days at a competition driving school would help. Yes, I knows it’s expensive but what does a new vehicle, almost ANY new vehicle cost these days, or Heaven Forbid what’s the cost of one or ore lives or lifetime care because of injuries ???
Paul Harrell was a class act. I didn’t perceive him as being full of himself and in my opinion his “advice” always came from good sense, He did get a little too much into the details at time – he shared too much information as he shot at beef ribs and oranges, but I learned lots of things and will definitely miss him. Another good man gone.
I watched Paul on the tube (YouTube) a lot. He was a really good guy to watch.
I wish I could have met him. Never did. His videos were great.
One person of many I did meet when I worked in the gun biz was Jeff Quinn. What a nice guy. Always enjoyed his videos. I walked up to him and said hello. He took time to stop what he was doing. He shook my hand. Asked about my job and what I did for work in the biz. He was so nice and polite. He was a somebody to me. I was a nobody in the biz, and he was respectful. He was genuine. Old timers that work for a living and that are also conservative have a way about them that is not a common thing these days it seems.
We are losing a lot of good people in this world. It’s sad. We are left with some good of course but also many total fucking scumbags.