Driving (me crazy)-er

•Can't you move up a little?...We've all seen the older driver who stops at a red light at least 20 feet short of the limit line, or is so careful that they're going ten miles under the speed limit and holding up traffic.  It's painfully obvious that there's lots of elderly drivers who shouldn't be driving.  Nobody wants to talk about it because it's not politically correct, and there's not a lot of political will behind it in the first place-lots of large donations come from the older, wealthier, adult population.  So...it's up to  people who are over sixty or sixty-five to speak up.  The amount of boomers headed for old age behind the wheel is frightening, and though better public transportation is the long-term solution, stricter drivers license regulations for the aged are a short-term must.  I'm over sixty myself, and cars are definitely an important piece of the keeping-your-independence pie, but there's no way around the need for better oversight of elderly drivers... 

•Less is more from...When people age, everything gets smaller.  People's bodies shrink,  they move into smaller places, they eat smaller meals.  Everything gets smaller...except the car.  The car is the only thing that keeps getting bigger.  We all know the reason: it's the fear factor.  We're more frail than we've ever been, we feel more vulnerable,  so we want more protection.  Understandable...but wrong.  More metal doesn't mean more confidence-bigger does not improve your driving skills.  It just means you've got some over-60 driver trying to maneuver a vehicle the size of North Dakota.  Not to mention the destructive carbon footprint giant gas-guzzling vehicles make.  Why can't the car get smaller along with everything else?...

•And on that note...I went to my local Department of Motor Vehicles recently to renew my driver's license, and there was an elderly lady who was stepping into her car to take the driving test with the DMV guy.  The car was a Lexus SUV, and while the lady shakily pulled herself into the car, clearly a  little nervous about the test, the DMV rep eyed the car and looked absolutely stricken.  Probably seeing his life flash in front of him, he turned to the little old lady and said, "This is your car?"...

•In my case... I've always been, and will always be, a sports car lover.  My version of an SUV is the car I've got now, a late-model VW diesel Golf.  A phenomenal car, though considered small by today's standards. But somehow, more metal  doesn't make me feel more confident.  Good handling and agility, good ergonomics, and a car that's easy to park  are, in my current incarnation as a late-in-life father, what I need most...

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