[fireblade1]

A Chicago, Il. Police Officer was killed today during Chi-town's Annual Toys 4 Tots ride. He was hit by a senior aged man with a "cage" who claims he did not see the motorcycle. The officer was just a couple of weeks from retirement from the CPD when he was struck while riding his Harley Davidson full dress cruiser.
How in the world someone managed to hit a motorcyclist in the middle of a 2000 bike parade through Chicago just bugs me. This is yet another reason why individuals beyond a specific age (70+) should be given a senility test before they are allowed to renew their driver's license. I would certainly hope that if I begin to go down the road to senility that someone will kindly take my license and keys away from me.
No offense intended for those folks that might see this post that are in that age bracket and are completely on the ball.

 

[Ride-or-die]

did not see the fcking motorcycle, why are cage drivers saying that so ofter, open you fcking eyes for god sake. i drive and ride and i still see bikes in my cage, i thunk if anything all cage drivers should be forced to learn to ride so they can be aware of motorcyclists.

 

[inspiron]

It's not just senility. As you get older, your vision declines (the eyes don't focus as well as when you were young), and your reation time increases. This has nothing to do with senility, Alzheimers disease or dimentia, it's just the natural aging process.

Here in Switzerland, you get a driver's license for life ... but AFAIK, you have to pass a medical exam and eye test every two years once you hit 65 years of age. As for me, I have to take the exam every 5 years anyway, since I have a commercial drivers license (allowing me to drive our 7.9 ton firetruck).

 

[wavyredlaurie]

This is so tragic. And it's depressing how common it is, for people to be out there on the road that are really no longer capable or competent. Some people regulate themselves - many elderly people only drive in the middle of the day, when traffic is lighter, and they have the best light. Others, like my Aunt, decide at a certain stage that they no longer should be driving (and she was still a lot more competent than many other drivers I know!).

My Father In-Law had Alzheimer's, and you can't believe what a hard time we had getting his license away from him. My Mother In-Law doesn't like or want to drive, so she covered for him, and did all kinds of things to keep him behind the wheel, well into Stage II. It was scary.

We finally ratted him out in every way we could, because we knew he was really out of it some days, and it would be partially our fault if he killed someone. We also called his doctor, and made him tell my FIL that he could absolutely not drive, and that my MIL had to lock up the keys. Boy, were they not happy. The current system doesn't take people like this off the road, and most places don't have decent public transportation, so taking away the ability to drive means they are more helpless and isolated.

 

[RookWV]

I can't find anything about this in the Sun Times or Chicago Tribune

 

[inspiron]

As wavyredlaurie mentioned, many older people would be off the roads if the public transportation were to be safe and affordable. In Basel, many of my colleagues (young and old) get by with no car at all. The Basel public transportation (trams and busses) run on-time, every 8 minutes, and are (for the most part) clean, safe and affordable (a monthly pass costs about $50.00).

On top of that, the SBB (Swiss Federal Railsystem) also runs on-time and connects all of the cities in Switzerland and has good connections to Germany, France, Austria and Italy.

We still have the occasional 75+ year-old on the Autobahn doing 45 mph, being passed by the 18-wheelers that are restricted to 56 mph. But for the most part, they stay in the right lane, because they are afraid to accellerate their old Opel Ascona or Ford Scorpio, and the rest of us are blasting past them in the left lane doing more that 80mph.

 

[Va bene]

Here are two links I found:

SunTimes

ABC

What a shame. My heart goes out to the families involved.

 

[YellowJacket]

Susan:

Thanks for the media links. The ABC link had an interesting video attached.

 

[LayinLo]

That makes me





Yellowjacket, where is Lillian?

 

[tlwisner]

What I read is that the Chicago Police officer was on his way to the parade and skidded on black ice on the Dan Ryan Expressway. The rider who was killed was an off duty sheriff's deputy from DuPage county.

I have seen bad drivers often when in group rides, they get impatient and then decide they will cut through the group. Maybe that's a thing I don't enjoy riding with larger groups.

 

[SuzukiGirl1]

Here's the deal, and I'm not trying to start an argument, and I don't disagree with you in regards to how you feel about older "senile" drivers...BUT...

Imagine that you are 70 years old. You've lived a lot of life, been through MANY hard times and hard situations. Maybe you've had a family and watched them grow up and now have grandkids. You have (or had) a wife or husband that you've been with for several years. You are an adult. You've been used to being an adult and having responsibilites and "taking care of the family" for so long. Now, imagine that someone comes and tells you that you can no longer drive. They want to take away your freedom. They want to take away some of your ability to "take care of your family" and they begin to treat you like a child instead of respect everything you've been through. You're mind is fine, maybe you're body is fine too, and you can't understand why they are "ganging" up on you.

It's hard for people to age, and the US has such a bad attitude towards the elderly it makes me sick. I wish that our culture was a bit more like the japanese culture (maybe Hardward can talk more to this), but basically respecting your elders. Even though they are now weaker than you. Just because someone has grey hair and wrinkles doesn't mean they still can't out-wit you...or out-drive you.

I'm not defending the person that hit the biker...I think it sucks and it happens too much. But, I don't think that the majority of these accidents are caused just because someone is older. I'd probably rather be riding next to an elderly person that riding next to a minivan with a soccer mom in it who's paying more attention to her bratty kids in the back than to the road. :roll:

 

[themeatmanlandry]

Test 'em. Make EVERYONE re-take the driver's test every 5 years.

[It wouldn't hurt to make the test a little harder also. Around here, a trained ape could pass it.]

 

[inspiron]

In California, if I remember correctly, you have to be re-tested every four years, unless you are accident and moving-violation free the whole time. In that case, you can renew by mail.

But again, the California Driver's License exam is about as hard as the entrance to the US Marines ... if you can fog a mirror, you're eligible.



*inspiron ducks and runs*




Just kidding, Marines

 

[LayinLo]

Here's what I think.....

 

[prekarious1]

Try this motion induced blindness. Not saying that this is what happened but it does explain why so many people say that they don't see us.

I do agree that once you hit a certain age then driving tests should be harder and much more frequent. Nevermind that they are adults and have lived full, sometimes hard lives. If anything that alone should cause them to submit to the testing since they know they are more dangerous than a 16 yr old girl with new make up and a camera cell phone behind the wheel.

 

[Hardware]

...It's hard for people to age, and the US has such a bad attitude towards the elderly it makes me sick. I wish that our culture was a bit more like the japanese culture (maybe Hardward can talk more to this), but basically respecting your elders...

True, I too despise the way the elderly are regarded in Western societies. However, I think elderly drivers with diminished capacities are a serious threat to public safety. It may be hard for an old war veteran who's provided for his family for decades and enjoyed the freedom and independence of driving himself, to relinquish that in the autumn of his years. That said, we must remember that driving is a privilege and not an inherent right.

...I'd probably rather be riding next to an elderly person that riding next to a minivan with a soccer mom in it who's paying more attention to her bratty kids in the back than to the road. :roll:

Very true. The remedies are different though.

There's no test one can administer beforehand to confirm that that twenty-something mother of three is going to have a cell phone plastered to the side of her pony-tailed head while she applies make-up and yells at little Suzie and little Johnny in the car seats because they're throwing Fruit Loops around the back of the minivan/SUV.

When this person, in that type of scenario runs another motorist (cage or cycle) off the road they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

When some poor old man with poor eyesight, bad hearing and reflexes best measured using a calendar, cuts someone off, the remedy shouldn't be necessarily be criminal (or traffic) charges. But they should be taken off the road.

The rights and feelings of the elderly with diminished facilities must be measured against the safety of others sharing the roads with them.

I would be the first person to vote that people with diminished abilities be prohibited from driving. I would also be the first in line to volunteer a couple of times a week to drive elderly people in my community to help them out with shopping, doctor's appointments, etc.

 

[Gixxerdale]

Just because someone has grey hair and wrinkles doesn't mean they still can't out-wit you...or out-drive you.

I'd probably rather be riding next to an elderly person that riding next to a minivan with a soccer mom in it who's paying more attention to her bratty kids in the back than to the road. :roll:

As my teenage son is finding out, "Youth and Talent is no match for Age and Treachery". He used to make comments about my boring driving in our Explorer when we went places, so I took him through a local canyon on the Gixxer. The same canyon he thinks he is such a shot going down on his bicycle. I think he wet his pants! He was shocked to be railing through corners at full tilt! He couldn't stop talking about the ride for weeks. Guess he thought I was old, slow and all washed up! Now he is a very respectful passenger! :twisted:

So SuzukiGirl, does that also apply to an elderly person on a Gixxer 1000?

 

[c50tiger]

Prekarious - great link. I need to save that one.

Now - as far as senior drivers: I pocketed my grandfather's drivers license 10 years before he died just to make sure he didn't drive - he was a stickler for stuff like that. He went to his grave bemoaning the fact we wouldn't let him have his car. Even though I had sold it 5 years before he died. And did I mention he hadn't been able to walk at all for the last 5 years of his life, and only with assistance for 6 years before that? I took his license after not the first, but the second time he drove through the storeroom at the back of the carport, taking out the washing machine, dryer and hot water heater in the process. After just backing up the driveway to get the mail and pulling back down. 40 yards. Insurance guy estimated he was going about 20mph when he went through the wall and never braked. He had been required for several years to present results of an independant eye exam to renew his license every 2 years. The last time he renewed, the doc had said it was the last time he'd approve it. But then the a'holes at the DMV renewed him for the full 4 years. I was with him one time when he almost took out a couple of kids on bicycles. If I hadn't reached over and grabbed the wheel he would've hit 'em.

Do I think there are some competent and safe senior citizens driving out there? Certainly. But I think the higher percentage are a danger to themselves and others, if for no other reason being overly cautious! I've personally witnessed accidents indirectly caused by seniors driving far below the posted speed, either out of confusion or being uncomfortable at higher speeds.

If it were up to me (but it ain't), between 65 and 75 everyone should have to eye test every two years, and road test every four years. Over 75, road test every two years.

 

[inspiron]

I think c50tiger also hit an important point there - cages moving too SLOWLY, causing unnecessary traffic jams. On the German Autobahn, the police used to crack down on the speeders who would ignore the posted limits (there are long stretches where there is a posted limit of 120kmh / 75mph).

Now, they have started to crack down on both the tailgaters AND the people driving too slowly. If the speed limit is 75 mph, and the traffic is being held up because someone is driving 45 mph for no apparent reason (road or weather conditions), this can be very dangerous - the other cars (and trucks) will start to make sudden lane changes, the "road rage" factor increases, and it's more dangerous for everyone.

 

[tlwisner]

Test 'em. Make EVERYONE re-take the driver's test every 5 years.

[It wouldn't hurt to make the test a little harder also. Around here, a trained ape could pass it.]

I agree, except that in Kentucky the ape would not require training... ;-)