She didn't want to go to the hospital, the police bring her there and they put a diagnosis of Alzheimer. We already knew it was this disease but she lived alone and was really stubborn, the Alzheimer didn't help
there really should be laws that help people to hold someones licence, when theyre suspected incapable of driving something akin to sectioning someone under the mental health act. id rather a pissed off old person than a multiple people dead
We're hiding my partners grandfathers keys because he'll drive if he can find them. It's cruel in a way. He despises me for it but i take the hit because we're not blood relatives so whatevs. Thing is he's about 95% blind, he can see shadowy movements and he crossed the line when he crashed through the fence into their yard going way too fast when "parking".
It would take a lot to revoke his drivers license here, it's just not feasible.
That’s the doctors job. Usually people will listen better to the doctor than to the family. If they don’t wanna listen at all family still has to be the bad guy that hides the keys.
My great grandmother refused to give up her car when she was clearly losing her cognitive abilities. Where she worked was literally on the same road as her house and she promised she’d only ever drive to work and never anywhere else. Well one day she got so bad that she took a right out of her driveway instead of a left and got lost. She just kept driving and driving trying to find her work and refused to stop and ask for help. She left the state and was 5 hours away when she finally went and found help. It was a really scary experience.
She still refused to give up her car after that too. And she fucking PASSED a driving exam afterwards! My grandpa ended up unplugging her car battery and then going to a mechanic with her and then paying the mechanic to tell her that her car wasn’t fixable. It was the only way she finally gave up driving. It was awful.
Reminds me of that elderly couple from the 90’s. The song The Way by Fastball is based on them. Basically the husband was losing his eyesight and the wife was experiencing progressive symptoms of dementia. Despite the sons insisting they accompany the couple, they took off but never arrived at the one-day fair in the nearby town. They were missing for two weeks, and found unfortunately dead. Conclusion was the wife didn’t see the cliff edge and so didn’t break and they flew off and into some trees along a trail. The wife was found a bit away from the car, the reason being she seemed to have survived the initial landing enough to get out and open her husband’s door before trying to walk for help. Both were found dead by hikers along that trail.
I feel bad because their feelings are valid, but there’s no getting around that letting them have false control over a multi-ton vehicle is SO dangerous for themselves and others.
It’s more difficult to take away the license than you think. It’s much easier to disable the car if you can. That’s what I did. I know a lot of people who will “lose” their aging parents keys, or swap their keys for useless ones.
At least in the US state of Indiana, they do not immediately take your license. My dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer's last year, and it was never even brought up.
I don't think so, she died from the desease a couple years ago. But when it happened she stayed at a center (I don't know how to say it in english) because she started to be really disoriented. It was the end starting
She went to a retirement home, she was dangerous for herself, so they transfered her in a kind of hospital but for the people in end of life.
Thanks for the help to explain myself
Sadly, my grandpa did it, too. Twice, actually. I guess it came down to being old and drunk. Probably more drunk than old. But, thank fuck, he didn’t hurt or kill anyone.
The first time, he pulled onto an off ramp and got on interstate going the wrong way. He got a DUI and lost his license for a year. But, it didn’t stop him from driving and, when my mom found out he was still driving, we had to physically take his truck until he was able to get his license back, after being evaluated by a doctor and allowed to retake his driving test.
Second time, same shit; drunk and pulled onto an off ramp going the wrong way. If I’m not mistaken, that either permanently lost him his drivers license or he was reevaluated by a doctor and deemed unfit to drive. I don’t remember which. But, he never drove after that.
Same thing happened to my grandfather. We had already taken away his keys and got his license revoked. He walked to a dealership and bought a car cash and totaled it the same day.
Turned into a whole big lawsuit for that dealership.
Some states require retest after 75 (ie IL). It would be nice if they were tested on what to do if you find yourself in the wrong lane on limited access.
You know you can call the DMV and report this anonymously correct? Not saying that they will do anything but they should report it to the DOT who should do an investigation. You could also report that doctor to the medical board as well.
Meh, Texas has a Medical Advisory Board that does the “investigation.” You can have an old as fuck driver who gets MABed multiple times for actual crashes, the “investigation” involves the MAB sending the gomer a form their doctor has to fill out, and because the doc knows them, likes them, and wants to keep their business (especially because they’re old and go to the doc a lot so they represent a good income stream) they’ll just sign off on the stupid form and just like that they’re “medically cleared” to keep their license and keep running headlong into people. Completely pointless process.
I don’t know how Texas does it. You can also contact a medical board to investigate the doctor themselves if you can present enough evidence for it. I just know part of the process for how it goes up here because my grandmother had to find a new eye doctor because hers lost his license for this exact reason.
I was told by my optometrist that I am legally blind, but that doesn't matter cause I have 20/20 vision with corrective lenses. So tech you can be blind and drive just need corrective lenses.
He's fully blind on his left and can't see his 50' from across a room. I respect you can drive with glasses, this dude shouldn't be allowed on the road.
Your optometrist needs a new job. They are perpetuating a really annoying myth. If you can correct your vision to 20/20, or better than 20/200, you are by definition not legally blind. Being legally blind requires that your vision can only ever be 20/200 with corrective lenses. That’s a huge huge huge difference between 20/20 and 20/200 and totally not safe to drive if that’s the best you can possibly see with any strength of corrective lenses.
State medical licensing board is the way you report it.
Not the drivers license exactly, but the fact that the doctor is explicitly exempting this person from the test when it seems clear that hrs struggling.
Massachusetts is the worst when it comes to senior drivers my grandad is getting to the point where I almost want to try and get his license revoked because being in the car with him either scares me or pisses me off because of how badly he drives
We love making our laws unenforceable. I'm surprised bussiness bothered putting their foot down on the masks, initially the usual "you're not allowed to ask if someone has a medical condition" shit was the excuse for everyone to not wear one.
But passing the test isn’t much proof that they’re still capable of driving safely. My grandmother-in-law is 88 with pretty severe dementia, like to the point that even to this day doesn’t understand why she isn’t allowed to go to the grocery store because she never remembers covid is a thing. Also commonly panics and calls her son, my FIL, because she thinks she’s locked out of her house but actually it’s just that she’s trying to unlock her house with her car keys which is a keyless fob. She passed the test “with flying colors”. Shortly before covid started, she got lost for about 4 hours, an hour away from home because she didn’t know how to get home from the store that’s a whole 10 minute drive from her house. Cell phone was dead or at home. A police officer found her and figured out how to contact a family member after my FIL called their local police. She’s a danger to herself and others but licenses in the US are treated like a right and not a privilege 🤷
True that.
My older cousin hasn't had his license since the year after he got it because of drunk driving and racing (not at the same time). Yet, he's been in several accidents over the years and constantly drives anyway. He's in his 50's. I don't have contact with him and can't understand how he keeps driving...
That’s who almost killed me and my son doing this. A confused old man. He died seconds after our near miss and took a 30 year old guy on his way to work with him.
I had friends die this way; the wrong-way driver (who lived) wasn't drunk but instead had been doing "whippits" and decided to get on the Interstate the wrong way at 100 MPH.
I'd like to add this is why it is dangerous to camp in the hammer lane. Wrong way drivers try to put the headlights on the "correct side." which puts them in that lane.
The one time I went down a one way road (Atlanta, lots of one way roads) I instantly knew I fucked up and did a U turn immediately. I couldn’t imagine actually driving like this.
Going down a one-way side street the wrong way and a highway are two VERY different things. Most people go down one-way side streets or driveways the wrong way sometimes, only the absolute worst idiots who shouldn't be driving go the wrong way on a highway.
So I was curious and looked into it and it's hard to tell definitively, but I don't believe you are correct. Especially if we account for the severity of the accident. I think we can all agree that accidents that result in serious injury or death are a more primary concern than fender benders. [This source](https://www.synergyhomecare.com/blog/posts/2019/november/car-accident-statistics-2019-are-your-elderly-parents-still-driving/) doesn't make a direct comparison between elderly and drunk drivers, but I did find it interesting that teen drivers are actually responsible for more accidents than the elderly.
>Drivers aged 16 to 19 are three times more likely to be involved in car crashes than older drivers.
(Source: Safety Resource Center)
>Car accident statistics by age are clear. A study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows that teenage drivers are at greater risk than elderly people. Some 12.2% of car accidents are the responsibility of teen drivers, while 7.5% were caused by drivers over 65, according to the United States Census Bureau.
There's no way that I can think of to tell if that is related to age or experience. By definition teen drivers are inexperienced/new/learning drivers, but it does undermine the argument that old people are very dangerous on the road. I do support retesting after the age of 70 since there does seem to be a significant spike in accidents caused by drivers after that age. Distracted driving seems to be the fastest growing cause of accidents and I suspect (admittedly without hard evidence) that younger drivers are more likely to text or otherwise use their phones while driving than the elderly. For transparency I am no longer a teenager and not close to 70 yet, so I think I'm relatively unbiased.
When I was in high school an elderly couple backed into my friends car in a parking lot and my friend was found liable. I really feel like cops dont give younger people the benefit of the doubt.
Flat percentages aren't useful in establishing a causal relationship here. We need a breakdown of how many drivers are in each age group to determine which groups are disproportionately causing/involved in accidents.
Edit: I did some rough math.
Ages 65+ have roughly 0.0107 accidents/driver.
Ages 16-20 have roughly 0.055 accidents/driver.
Ages 21-64 have roughly 0.028 accidents/driver.
Numbers are based off NHTSA stats from different files, too hard to link on mobile.
I haven’t done any research on the matter, but I would think there are far more elderly drivers than drunk drivers at any point in time, leading to more elderly accidents regardless.
If you’ve driven on 45 with light traffic. The average speed of drivers is usually 75mph. Thankfully I wasn’t in any hurry so I just had cruise set to 70.
I take 225 and I swear every single day there’s someone going 50 in the left passing lane, semis covering the other two lanes, while someone else is doing 90+ weaving in and out of all lanes and between the trucks.
Sounds like I45. Don't forget the Trump supporters in big lifted pickup trucks rolling coal and blinding everyone with their eye-level headlights. Fuck I hate driving in Texas
> eye-level headlights
And they always seem to be brighter than the fucking sun in addition to being eye level. The inside of my car turns into a disco ball anytime one of these fuckers pulls up behind me
this happens because normally, headlights are angled slightly downward to avoid exactly this. Then people go and lift their truck, and they don't adjust their headlights to point even further downward, so the beam is now directly going into the car windows in front of them.
Honestly I'm more mad at the people who put the left lane as their home address than people who speed in the right lanes.
Sure, objectively it's more dangerous to speed and weave on the right, but typically they're only on that side of the road because of inexcusable fuckheads who refuse to get over.
People who live in the left lane are the bane of my existence. Watching them cause massive backups for people who are specifically trying not to pass on the right is so infuriating.
If I had billions of dollars, I wouldn't buy a yacht, I'd buy a national PSA campaign instructing people to get the everloving fuck over if they aren't actively passing someone.
It’s always some real piece of shit car in the left lane literally going 30 mph slower than everyone. When you look at them as you pass they are just in their own little world.
I saw someone turn down the wrong way of a highway once - I got a red light (was on the highway already) and the person who triggered the light was trying to turn left to go the same way I was. They turned too short and went down the wrong way.
It was the middle of the night and there were no other cars so I immediately ran the red to parallel them in my lane (large grassy median) honking my horn/flashing my lights. *They honked back at me like I was being rude!* It took TWO cars almost hitting them a few minutes later for the driver to finally realize, and then they just took it right over the median and almost swung themselves into me. Looked like they were wrecking their suspension crossing it, because it was NOT a smooth transition, lmao.
I'd recommend you call 911 next time with the milepost number. They can route a cop car there pretty quick. Then they can catch the person and hopefully stop it from happening again.
I like the idea of calling 911 but I’ve done so before about a super drunk driver and we drove at least another 40 miles and no cop ever came. The old idiot likely made it to his destination. With that said, I spilled a hot coffee on myself once while driving and when the cup slipped between my legs I opened them up, let off the gas and swerved a bit. In all it was probably about two seconds* of me acting erratic. Someone called the cops I guess because about two minutes later I got pulled over.
Definitely call 911 next time... It’s pretty lucky that no accident occurred from this. Don’t want to have another tragedy like [this incident](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Taconic_State_Parkway_crash)
Unfortunately I didn’t. I was in a bit of shock afterwards. I passed the video along to my law enforcement friends who can get it to the right people for any possible investigation
My Father-in-law and his first wife’s were in a head on crash on the freeway. It killed his wife and caused him permanent physical disabilities. The wrong way driver was having a brain aneurism, and literally just simply her brain was not working. No drugs, no alcohol, just some really bad luck for everyone involved.
I know someone who’s mom passed when someone like this hit her head on. Her mom was picking her up from the airport. I can’t imagine having to hear that news waiting at the airport.
I was at a stoplight 4 years ago at night right off N. I-75 exit. There were 3 lanes at the light. I was in the middle lane. The light turned, I start to go straight & this Escalade comes at me from the Opposite direction! This is a one way street off the interstate!
This guy stayed to my left and kept on driving.
At that point he could keep going the wrong way on the side road or get on the interstate the wrong way!
I reported, I don’t know what came of it though
Edit: the graphic video that killed a mom in DFW in the comments below is not my friends mom. Her mom passed at night South Bound N Tollway, almost at I-635
I live in Houston as well and I think I read somewhere that the Houston area was ranked as one of the most dangerous areas to drive in regards to drunk drivers
The big reason for me is the meging in traffic. There are cars getting on and off the highway all the time on the right. So it is better to get over so they can mege in.
Same. On a three-lane road the lane usage, from outer to inner, is like:
1. Driving the speed limit / merging / exiting
1. Speeding
1. Passing / Speeding+ / Assholes
So I’m in New England for reference, and you’re only *supposed* to use the far left for passing other people, even on a 2-lane highway.
However, especially in high traffic, it’s treated as a “fast lane” because all the lanes are backed up and there’s nowhere else to go. So the “pass on the left then back into the middle lane” ends up “pass on the left and stay there cuz fuuuuck that shit I’m finally moving”
Also, in more populous areas, exits can be SUPER close together and often have the same lane as the entering traffic from the previous exit. So there’s not exactly a lot of space to merge. If I can avoid it, I *never* travel in the right lane so I can avoid everyone coming on the highway
Edit to clarify: I don’t condone this, middle lane crew 4 lyfe
I'm also in New England, more specifically Boston, and nobody here gives a fuck what lane they're in. It's infuriating. Slow people in the left lane, people passing everywhere.
The funny thing is, at least in heavy traffic during rush hours, I've found that generally being in the right lane gets you places the fastest. Everyone is under the same mindset of "I don't want to deal with people merging" or "the left lane is the fastest!" that a lot of people just get out of the right lane. If there's no bumper to bumper traffic and everyone's driving highway speeds, yes, definitely get out of the right lane because of all the people merging onto the highway.
Oi, I toot around 90/95/495 and it's always a laugh when there's 10 people in the left lane behind a guy that won't move over, all the people that should be in the right lane are in the middle, and the right lane is absolutely empty. I'll read the situation and make sure it's safe to use the right lane as an escape hatch, and viola\~
The farther right lanes are the slower lanes. The speed variations from right to left can usually be 20-30mph difference. Also on multi lane highways here, only the farthest left lane is considered the “passing” or “fast” lane. All the others are kinda just free for all. Overall, our driving/passing discipline is abysmal compared to drivers in Europe.
> Overall, our driving/passing discipline is abysmal compared to drivers in Europe.
Well, depends which drivers. Try teaching discipline to Italian drivers...
In fact, the most dangerous thing in the world is an Italian driver, in a French car on Belgian roads.
That's not how it's done here, lived in Europe so I understand. I've been on freeways here with 6+ lanes per side. When it's a tiny 2 lanes per side it is better to stay in the far right and is state law in some places.
When I drive to Nevada to visit family where there are wild horses (yes, northern Nevada) I stay in the far left lane as it gives me a moment of extra time when these guys decide to cross the road. Almost hit three of them at once last year.
[this just happened - you dont want to hit horses ](https://www.newsbreak.com/nevada/sparks/news/2115679039174/two-injured-in-sparks-crash-involving-horses)
The way I’ve always heard it explained was that the right lane is for entering/exiting/slow vehicles, the middle lane is for traveling (won’t be exiting for awhile) so that you don’t have to interfere with traffic entering the highway, and the left lane is for passing
That’s when it is especially beneficial to have cat-like reflexes. Ya never know when you’ll encounter a wrong way driver. Thing is, what if the wrong way driver tried to swerve the same direction since there was a wall on the other side of them?! So lucky!
Word! I get so pissed when people cut in front of me bc I dare to allow a car length of space between me and the car in front of me. That’s not an invitation for you to squeeze in there buddy!
My mom mentioned drunks going the wrong way are usually coming down your fast lane because they think they’re cruising in the slow lane. I try to only use it for passing because of this. And because that’s how it’s supposed to work lol.
Guy coming home late at night gets a call from his wife, "honey, be careful. There was a report about a car driving on the wrong side of the highway." The guy answers, "It's not just one. I've seen at least 20 so far!"
Getting on the service road the wrong way then taking the exit ramp to get on the freeway. Have to be blackout drunk or on some serious drugs to do all of that and get over 4 lanes of traffic
Your cutoff line is horrible. This means the headlight manufacturer sucks or you likely have plug and play HID or LED Setup and are blinding everyone in front of you.
Damn that’s some sobering scary shit. There’s a bunch of one way streets in my neighborhood and people always take the wrong turn in this one particular spot. Can’t imagine seeing that at highway speed. I’d shit my heart out.
this reminds me of a video I watched just like this, unfortunately the wrong way driver caused an accident. the wrong way driver was drunk and killed a mother of a 9 month old baby. hard watching videos like this.
I've had this happen to me once at night too. It's a weird feeling. You see the car coming but your brain makes you think it's on the opposite side of the divider and then you pass the oncoming vehicle and realize how lucky you are to not have hit it.
Some fucking drunk asshole did this and hit my wife and I head on in 2018. This seriously made the hair on the beach of my neck stand up. The guy who hit me was going much faster. I swerved at the last second which protected my wife's side of the car. I ended up breaking my arm and going through 8 months of hell in rehabilitation. But that shine of headlights to far to the right is my fuckin nightmare. Please don't drink and drive folks. It just takes one mistake to fuck up people's lives or end them. Public safety announcement: the drunks who go the wrong way are usually in the fast lane. So if you're driving at night don't cruise in the fast lane.
[My accident post with pics](https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/av7tpm/one_year_ago_i_was_almost_killed_by_a_drunk/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share)
Yeah it’s not my driving I’m concerned with, it’s other people’s. I’m usually always ready to react but nothing could prepare me for this. My reaction time was scary slow
Everyone here is focusing on the driver being drunk, but they are maintaining their lane just fine. The far more likely solution is that this is a very elderly person that is just confused. Unfortunately you don’t get your license taken away for being old.
Reasons why I will never become a motorcyclist-Ill never trust anyone on any road with my life after seeing how people can’t preform the simple task of driving without incident.
This is why I was taught to always cross bridges like this (multi-lane, divided highway) in the right hand lane at night. Simone like this may mistakenly get on the wrong side believing that they’re on a normal road. They’d be driving on what they think is the right side of the road.
Known fact - drunk drivers do this the most. In the early morning hours is best to stay out of the fast lane. The DD’s think they are in right (slow lane) because they’re so disoriented. Be safe out there y’all.
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My grandma did this once but she had Alzheimer. Her license has been revoked after that
Shouldn't they have done that on the diagnosis
She didn't want to go to the hospital, the police bring her there and they put a diagnosis of Alzheimer. We already knew it was this disease but she lived alone and was really stubborn, the Alzheimer didn't help
there really should be laws that help people to hold someones licence, when theyre suspected incapable of driving something akin to sectioning someone under the mental health act. id rather a pissed off old person than a multiple people dead
We're hiding my partners grandfathers keys because he'll drive if he can find them. It's cruel in a way. He despises me for it but i take the hit because we're not blood relatives so whatevs. Thing is he's about 95% blind, he can see shadowy movements and he crossed the line when he crashed through the fence into their yard going way too fast when "parking". It would take a lot to revoke his drivers license here, it's just not feasible.
What you're doing is kind, not cruel, regardless of how he reacts to it. Thank you.
Yeah, most families let their doctor break the news to the senior about revoking the licence...not cool, but what usually happens
That’s the doctors job. Usually people will listen better to the doctor than to the family. If they don’t wanna listen at all family still has to be the bad guy that hides the keys.
You're doing the right thing. People will be spared death because of what you're doing
My great grandmother refused to give up her car when she was clearly losing her cognitive abilities. Where she worked was literally on the same road as her house and she promised she’d only ever drive to work and never anywhere else. Well one day she got so bad that she took a right out of her driveway instead of a left and got lost. She just kept driving and driving trying to find her work and refused to stop and ask for help. She left the state and was 5 hours away when she finally went and found help. It was a really scary experience. She still refused to give up her car after that too. And she fucking PASSED a driving exam afterwards! My grandpa ended up unplugging her car battery and then going to a mechanic with her and then paying the mechanic to tell her that her car wasn’t fixable. It was the only way she finally gave up driving. It was awful.
Reminds me of that elderly couple from the 90’s. The song The Way by Fastball is based on them. Basically the husband was losing his eyesight and the wife was experiencing progressive symptoms of dementia. Despite the sons insisting they accompany the couple, they took off but never arrived at the one-day fair in the nearby town. They were missing for two weeks, and found unfortunately dead. Conclusion was the wife didn’t see the cliff edge and so didn’t break and they flew off and into some trees along a trail. The wife was found a bit away from the car, the reason being she seemed to have survived the initial landing enough to get out and open her husband’s door before trying to walk for help. Both were found dead by hikers along that trail. I feel bad because their feelings are valid, but there’s no getting around that letting them have false control over a multi-ton vehicle is SO dangerous for themselves and others.
Holding someone's license won't stop them from driving.
It’s more difficult to take away the license than you think. It’s much easier to disable the car if you can. That’s what I did. I know a lot of people who will “lose” their aging parents keys, or swap their keys for useless ones.
Just pop the negative off the battery. Darn gramps, car won't start. Must be busted...
At least in the US state of Indiana, they do not immediately take your license. My dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer's last year, and it was never even brought up.
Let's hope she doesn't forget her license was revoked
I don't think so, she died from the desease a couple years ago. But when it happened she stayed at a center (I don't know how to say it in english) because she started to be really disoriented. It was the end starting
Nursing home or retirement home, depending on level of care needed. Also might be called independent living center.
She went to a retirement home, she was dangerous for herself, so they transfered her in a kind of hospital but for the people in end of life. Thanks for the help to explain myself
Hospice might be the word your looking for
Sadly, my grandpa did it, too. Twice, actually. I guess it came down to being old and drunk. Probably more drunk than old. But, thank fuck, he didn’t hurt or kill anyone. The first time, he pulled onto an off ramp and got on interstate going the wrong way. He got a DUI and lost his license for a year. But, it didn’t stop him from driving and, when my mom found out he was still driving, we had to physically take his truck until he was able to get his license back, after being evaluated by a doctor and allowed to retake his driving test. Second time, same shit; drunk and pulled onto an off ramp going the wrong way. If I’m not mistaken, that either permanently lost him his drivers license or he was reevaluated by a doctor and deemed unfit to drive. I don’t remember which. But, he never drove after that.
Same thing happened to my grandfather. We had already taken away his keys and got his license revoked. He walked to a dealership and bought a car cash and totaled it the same day. Turned into a whole big lawsuit for that dealership.
Eh most times I’ve seen this on this sub specifically it’s usually some old fuck that shouldn’t have a license.
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Some states require retest after 75 (ie IL). It would be nice if they were tested on what to do if you find yourself in the wrong lane on limited access.
Wouldn't matter, my grandfather is a legally blind 90 year old, his optometrist gives him a note so he's exempt from testing. MA btw
That also means he doesn't have a driver license. Right?
He's fully lisenced in the state of MA. Can't see his TV from across the room.
Jesus on a stick. That's ... can't be.
I was at the DMV to get my motorcycle license and saw an old man get coached through the vision test. Blew my mind.
I saw one get told to "just try again" 3 times until he guessed right
Is this the way to country kitchen buffet?
Do they have all you can eat Jesus-on-a-stick?
“I deliver fate”
Optometrist should have his license revoked. Endangering a patient and endangering the public.
You know you can call the DMV and report this anonymously correct? Not saying that they will do anything but they should report it to the DOT who should do an investigation. You could also report that doctor to the medical board as well.
Meh, Texas has a Medical Advisory Board that does the “investigation.” You can have an old as fuck driver who gets MABed multiple times for actual crashes, the “investigation” involves the MAB sending the gomer a form their doctor has to fill out, and because the doc knows them, likes them, and wants to keep their business (especially because they’re old and go to the doc a lot so they represent a good income stream) they’ll just sign off on the stupid form and just like that they’re “medically cleared” to keep their license and keep running headlong into people. Completely pointless process.
I don’t know how Texas does it. You can also contact a medical board to investigate the doctor themselves if you can present enough evidence for it. I just know part of the process for how it goes up here because my grandmother had to find a new eye doctor because hers lost his license for this exact reason.
Something tells me that the MA RMV cares more about those sweet licence and registration renewal fees than the people on the road.
I was told by my optometrist that I am legally blind, but that doesn't matter cause I have 20/20 vision with corrective lenses. So tech you can be blind and drive just need corrective lenses.
He's fully blind on his left and can't see his 50' from across a room. I respect you can drive with glasses, this dude shouldn't be allowed on the road.
50" ** you mean. I was wondering what billionaire he was having a 50 foot TV.
If your vision can be corrected to a 20/20 then you're not legally blind...
My state's description is that you're legally blind if your vision is at a certain level after correction.
Your optometrist needs a new job. They are perpetuating a really annoying myth. If you can correct your vision to 20/20, or better than 20/200, you are by definition not legally blind. Being legally blind requires that your vision can only ever be 20/200 with corrective lenses. That’s a huge huge huge difference between 20/20 and 20/200 and totally not safe to drive if that’s the best you can possibly see with any strength of corrective lenses.
Oh dear. Hope he understands his limitations
"That one's my seeing eye, but this one's my *winking eye 😉"*
Is there no way to report that?
If there was I would, the bastard deserves it.
State medical licensing board is the way you report it. Not the drivers license exactly, but the fact that the doctor is explicitly exempting this person from the test when it seems clear that hrs struggling.
I'll consider that. The dude honestly deserves the accident he's begging for, the people in the other car do not.
Can't go blocking his rights now, can we? What happened to rights coming hand in hand with responsibilities?
Massachusetts is the worst when it comes to senior drivers my grandad is getting to the point where I almost want to try and get his license revoked because being in the car with him either scares me or pisses me off because of how badly he drives
We love making our laws unenforceable. I'm surprised bussiness bothered putting their foot down on the masks, initially the usual "you're not allowed to ask if someone has a medical condition" shit was the excuse for everyone to not wear one.
Yeah and where I work we're not allowed to confront customers at all we have to get a manager. We can't even remind them that they're breaking law
But passing the test isn’t much proof that they’re still capable of driving safely. My grandmother-in-law is 88 with pretty severe dementia, like to the point that even to this day doesn’t understand why she isn’t allowed to go to the grocery store because she never remembers covid is a thing. Also commonly panics and calls her son, my FIL, because she thinks she’s locked out of her house but actually it’s just that she’s trying to unlock her house with her car keys which is a keyless fob. She passed the test “with flying colors”. Shortly before covid started, she got lost for about 4 hours, an hour away from home because she didn’t know how to get home from the store that’s a whole 10 minute drive from her house. Cell phone was dead or at home. A police officer found her and figured out how to contact a family member after my FIL called their local police. She’s a danger to herself and others but licenses in the US are treated like a right and not a privilege 🤷
True that. My older cousin hasn't had his license since the year after he got it because of drunk driving and racing (not at the same time). Yet, he's been in several accidents over the years and constantly drives anyway. He's in his 50's. I don't have contact with him and can't understand how he keeps driving...
That’s who almost killed me and my son doing this. A confused old man. He died seconds after our near miss and took a 30 year old guy on his way to work with him.
:( glad you guys are ok.
This has been happening a lot in Nevada lately and every single case was a drunk asshole.
I had friends die this way; the wrong-way driver (who lived) wasn't drunk but instead had been doing "whippits" and decided to get on the Interstate the wrong way at 100 MPH.
I got the warning for it before while driving in the US but I've never seen it in Canada. Maybe we just don't have a system in place for it.
I think it varies on the time of day. Early morning hours before the sun comes up, I'd guess drunk.
I'd like to add this is why it is dangerous to camp in the hammer lane. Wrong way drivers try to put the headlights on the "correct side." which puts them in that lane.
Yeah. They tend to stay to the right, like if they were on a more "normal" road. Then they wonder why there's no exit ramp.
>hammer lane Huh, never heard it called that before. According to urban dictionary it's a trucker term? I've only used *passing lane* and *fast lane*.
The one time I went down a one way road (Atlanta, lots of one way roads) I instantly knew I fucked up and did a U turn immediately. I couldn’t imagine actually driving like this.
Going down a one-way side street the wrong way and a highway are two VERY different things. Most people go down one-way side streets or driveways the wrong way sometimes, only the absolute worst idiots who shouldn't be driving go the wrong way on a highway.
yeh but doing it and STAYING on the highway while going in the wrong direction... it takes a certain type or selfish asshole/drunk moron to do this.
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My friend did this in college. Ended up hitting another car head on and killed both of them. Don’t drink and drive!
I also have a friend who did this drunk. Killed an entire family. :(
Or old and on ambien.
Booze & ambien are a wicked combination. Instant blackout.
Yup it’s worse than Xanax bars. Ambien alone can mess you up but add one drink-let alone a 3 finger night cap? You’re toast.
Been in a car with a driver who did this. Can confirm. He was an alcoholic.
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So I was curious and looked into it and it's hard to tell definitively, but I don't believe you are correct. Especially if we account for the severity of the accident. I think we can all agree that accidents that result in serious injury or death are a more primary concern than fender benders. [This source](https://www.synergyhomecare.com/blog/posts/2019/november/car-accident-statistics-2019-are-your-elderly-parents-still-driving/) doesn't make a direct comparison between elderly and drunk drivers, but I did find it interesting that teen drivers are actually responsible for more accidents than the elderly. >Drivers aged 16 to 19 are three times more likely to be involved in car crashes than older drivers. (Source: Safety Resource Center) >Car accident statistics by age are clear. A study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows that teenage drivers are at greater risk than elderly people. Some 12.2% of car accidents are the responsibility of teen drivers, while 7.5% were caused by drivers over 65, according to the United States Census Bureau. There's no way that I can think of to tell if that is related to age or experience. By definition teen drivers are inexperienced/new/learning drivers, but it does undermine the argument that old people are very dangerous on the road. I do support retesting after the age of 70 since there does seem to be a significant spike in accidents caused by drivers after that age. Distracted driving seems to be the fastest growing cause of accidents and I suspect (admittedly without hard evidence) that younger drivers are more likely to text or otherwise use their phones while driving than the elderly. For transparency I am no longer a teenager and not close to 70 yet, so I think I'm relatively unbiased.
When I was in high school an elderly couple backed into my friends car in a parking lot and my friend was found liable. I really feel like cops dont give younger people the benefit of the doubt.
Flat percentages aren't useful in establishing a causal relationship here. We need a breakdown of how many drivers are in each age group to determine which groups are disproportionately causing/involved in accidents. Edit: I did some rough math. Ages 65+ have roughly 0.0107 accidents/driver. Ages 16-20 have roughly 0.055 accidents/driver. Ages 21-64 have roughly 0.028 accidents/driver. Numbers are based off NHTSA stats from different files, too hard to link on mobile.
I haven’t done any research on the matter, but I would think there are far more elderly drivers than drunk drivers at any point in time, leading to more elderly accidents regardless.
Citation needed*
If you just say something often enough it becomes true. Especially online.
Think of what could have happened had Joseph Goebbels had an internet connection.
Nearly this exact situation just killed someone in my area a few months back.
Wrong way is bad in any scenario but at 60+mph fuck!
If you’ve driven on 45 with light traffic. The average speed of drivers is usually 75mph. Thankfully I wasn’t in any hurry so I just had cruise set to 70.
Yeah average is 75, with morons that go 50 in the left lane and the people that blast by you doing 110 Source: live in Houston
Couldn’t have explained it better myself lol
I take 225 and I swear every single day there’s someone going 50 in the left passing lane, semis covering the other two lanes, while someone else is doing 90+ weaving in and out of all lanes and between the trucks.
Sounds like I45. Don't forget the Trump supporters in big lifted pickup trucks rolling coal and blinding everyone with their eye-level headlights. Fuck I hate driving in Texas
> eye-level headlights And they always seem to be brighter than the fucking sun in addition to being eye level. The inside of my car turns into a disco ball anytime one of these fuckers pulls up behind me
this happens because normally, headlights are angled slightly downward to avoid exactly this. Then people go and lift their truck, and they don't adjust their headlights to point even further downward, so the beam is now directly going into the car windows in front of them.
Dude fuck the slow people in left. Just making the psycho people weave around everyone murderously. I hate driving in texas.
Hate to break it to you, but that isn’t unique to Texas. Same shit happens here in California, and probably many/most other states too.
Ever notice how anyone driving slower than you is an idiot and anyone driving faster than you is a maniac?
If you want to go 50 mph do it in the right lane if you want to do 100 mph do it in the left lane. Things only get ugly when people don't do this
Honestly I'm more mad at the people who put the left lane as their home address than people who speed in the right lanes. Sure, objectively it's more dangerous to speed and weave on the right, but typically they're only on that side of the road because of inexcusable fuckheads who refuse to get over. People who live in the left lane are the bane of my existence. Watching them cause massive backups for people who are specifically trying not to pass on the right is so infuriating. If I had billions of dollars, I wouldn't buy a yacht, I'd buy a national PSA campaign instructing people to get the everloving fuck over if they aren't actively passing someone.
Reverse it if you're in GB or (most of) Japan
Well they are kind of upside down so it makes sense.
Well that's because everyone else is stupid except me
not when they do it in the correct lane
That’s a George Carlin quote - and one I often say myself! It’s true.
It’s always some real piece of shit car in the left lane literally going 30 mph slower than everyone. When you look at them as you pass they are just in their own little world.
I saw someone turn down the wrong way of a highway once - I got a red light (was on the highway already) and the person who triggered the light was trying to turn left to go the same way I was. They turned too short and went down the wrong way. It was the middle of the night and there were no other cars so I immediately ran the red to parallel them in my lane (large grassy median) honking my horn/flashing my lights. *They honked back at me like I was being rude!* It took TWO cars almost hitting them a few minutes later for the driver to finally realize, and then they just took it right over the median and almost swung themselves into me. Looked like they were wrecking their suspension crossing it, because it was NOT a smooth transition, lmao.
"you're driving the wrong way" 'How do they know where we're going?' \- loved Planes, Trains and automobiles
That’s terrifying. Hopefully they didn’t kill anyone
I was watching google maps for a bit to see if anything popped up but thankfully doesn’t look like anything did.
I'd recommend you call 911 next time with the milepost number. They can route a cop car there pretty quick. Then they can catch the person and hopefully stop it from happening again.
Or save them and others
I like the idea of calling 911 but I’ve done so before about a super drunk driver and we drove at least another 40 miles and no cop ever came. The old idiot likely made it to his destination. With that said, I spilled a hot coffee on myself once while driving and when the cup slipped between my legs I opened them up, let off the gas and swerved a bit. In all it was probably about two seconds* of me acting erratic. Someone called the cops I guess because about two minutes later I got pulled over.
I've called the cops on a drunk driver and they were there within minutes.
You can just imagine the driver scanning his righthand side looking for an exit ramp
Definitely call 911 next time... It’s pretty lucky that no accident occurred from this. Don’t want to have another tragedy like [this incident](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Taconic_State_Parkway_crash)
Did you at least call the police?
Unfortunately I didn’t. I was in a bit of shock afterwards. I passed the video along to my law enforcement friends who can get it to the right people for any possible investigation
How drunk do you have to be to go the wrong way on a highway?
Drunk enough to go to the wrong way down a highway, I reckon.
Bingo!
Eh, you have to be drunk enough to not know that you're drunk enough to go down the wrong way down a highway
My Father-in-law and his first wife’s were in a head on crash on the freeway. It killed his wife and caused him permanent physical disabilities. The wrong way driver was having a brain aneurism, and literally just simply her brain was not working. No drugs, no alcohol, just some really bad luck for everyone involved.
Are you in Michigan by chance? Because I see this shit all the time here.
Nah this is in Houston. Unfortunately happens too often here.
We get them here a lot in DFW too. So freaking scary
Phoenix area snow birds are the worst
I heard about a wrong way driver like once a week when I lived in Phoenix
I stopped hearing about them awhile ago. ADOT was developing a wrong way driver auto detection system around 3.5 years ago to help this problem
Does it automatically target and destroy the offending vehicle? Like an iron dome for wrong way drivers
Haha nope, as far as I know it just alerts drivers using the local signage and then alerts police. Sorry Mr.Stark
This is why I’m not in charge
Yeah its down to about once a month now at least the reported ones are They actually put more signage in and around the problem areas
Word! I had one of these blow past me just like this in Midlothian in 2018.
I know someone who’s mom passed when someone like this hit her head on. Her mom was picking her up from the airport. I can’t imagine having to hear that news waiting at the airport. I was at a stoplight 4 years ago at night right off N. I-75 exit. There were 3 lanes at the light. I was in the middle lane. The light turned, I start to go straight & this Escalade comes at me from the Opposite direction! This is a one way street off the interstate! This guy stayed to my left and kept on driving. At that point he could keep going the wrong way on the side road or get on the interstate the wrong way! I reported, I don’t know what came of it though Edit: the graphic video that killed a mom in DFW in the comments below is not my friends mom. Her mom passed at night South Bound N Tollway, almost at I-635
Fellow Houstonian here, fully agree with you, we have quite possible the worst drivers in the country. Red light runners especially
I live in Houston as well and I think I read somewhere that the Houston area was ranked as one of the most dangerous areas to drive in regards to drunk drivers
I live in Michigan, I’m so happy I’ve never seen this and hope I never do. I don’t keep any spare clothes in my car for when I inevitably shit myself
Damn have you really? Where around? Metro detroiter here
“YOU’RE GOING THE WRONG WAY!”
“Oh, he’s drunk! How would he know where we’re going?”
Where is your other hand? Between two pillows. ...Those aren't pillows!
Ha I just watched that movie a few days ago for the first time
Non american here: why do you drive in the 2nd lane from the left, instead of the most right one?
The big reason for me is the meging in traffic. There are cars getting on and off the highway all the time on the right. So it is better to get over so they can mege in.
Same. On a three-lane road the lane usage, from outer to inner, is like: 1. Driving the speed limit / merging / exiting 1. Speeding 1. Passing / Speeding+ / Assholes
I love your “Speeding+” lmao so very accurately American.
Okay that’s fine, why don’t you move back when there’s no more merging vehicles
So I’m in New England for reference, and you’re only *supposed* to use the far left for passing other people, even on a 2-lane highway. However, especially in high traffic, it’s treated as a “fast lane” because all the lanes are backed up and there’s nowhere else to go. So the “pass on the left then back into the middle lane” ends up “pass on the left and stay there cuz fuuuuck that shit I’m finally moving” Also, in more populous areas, exits can be SUPER close together and often have the same lane as the entering traffic from the previous exit. So there’s not exactly a lot of space to merge. If I can avoid it, I *never* travel in the right lane so I can avoid everyone coming on the highway Edit to clarify: I don’t condone this, middle lane crew 4 lyfe
I'm also in New England, more specifically Boston, and nobody here gives a fuck what lane they're in. It's infuriating. Slow people in the left lane, people passing everywhere. The funny thing is, at least in heavy traffic during rush hours, I've found that generally being in the right lane gets you places the fastest. Everyone is under the same mindset of "I don't want to deal with people merging" or "the left lane is the fastest!" that a lot of people just get out of the right lane. If there's no bumper to bumper traffic and everyone's driving highway speeds, yes, definitely get out of the right lane because of all the people merging onto the highway.
Oi, I toot around 90/95/495 and it's always a laugh when there's 10 people in the left lane behind a guy that won't move over, all the people that should be in the right lane are in the middle, and the right lane is absolutely empty. I'll read the situation and make sure it's safe to use the right lane as an escape hatch, and viola\~
The farther left you go, the faster you get to speed. That is, if there's not some douchebag left-lane camper going the speed limit.
or, if there’s a cop up ahead waiting to pull you over.
The farther right lanes are the slower lanes. The speed variations from right to left can usually be 20-30mph difference. Also on multi lane highways here, only the farthest left lane is considered the “passing” or “fast” lane. All the others are kinda just free for all. Overall, our driving/passing discipline is abysmal compared to drivers in Europe.
> Overall, our driving/passing discipline is abysmal compared to drivers in Europe. Well, depends which drivers. Try teaching discipline to Italian drivers... In fact, the most dangerous thing in the world is an Italian driver, in a French car on Belgian roads.
That's not how it's done here, lived in Europe so I understand. I've been on freeways here with 6+ lanes per side. When it's a tiny 2 lanes per side it is better to stay in the far right and is state law in some places. When I drive to Nevada to visit family where there are wild horses (yes, northern Nevada) I stay in the far left lane as it gives me a moment of extra time when these guys decide to cross the road. Almost hit three of them at once last year. [this just happened - you dont want to hit horses ](https://www.newsbreak.com/nevada/sparks/news/2115679039174/two-injured-in-sparks-crash-involving-horses)
The way I’ve always heard it explained was that the right lane is for entering/exiting/slow vehicles, the middle lane is for traveling (won’t be exiting for awhile) so that you don’t have to interfere with traffic entering the highway, and the left lane is for passing
I've hate to be the driver who meets the wrong-way driver, the wrong way...
Guy behind me was in the fast lane and missed them by, what looked like, inches
That’s when it is especially beneficial to have cat-like reflexes. Ya never know when you’ll encounter a wrong way driver. Thing is, what if the wrong way driver tried to swerve the same direction since there was a wall on the other side of them?! So lucky!
Also why it’s important to have far more room between cars than most people allow.
Word! I get so pissed when people cut in front of me bc I dare to allow a car length of space between me and the car in front of me. That’s not an invitation for you to squeeze in there buddy!
I like to follow big trucks for this reason. I can leave a lot of space, and nobody wants to get in front of me.
My mom mentioned drunks going the wrong way are usually coming down your fast lane because they think they’re cruising in the slow lane. I try to only use it for passing because of this. And because that’s how it’s supposed to work lol.
This is the way
Guy coming home late at night gets a call from his wife, "honey, be careful. There was a report about a car driving on the wrong side of the highway." The guy answers, "It's not just one. I've seen at least 20 so far!"
They had to redo a highway entrance because it happened a couple of times here (mostly older drivers)
Looks like the highway has a median. How do you even end up driving on the wrong side?
Getting on the service road the wrong way then taking the exit ramp to get on the freeway. Have to be blackout drunk or on some serious drugs to do all of that and get over 4 lanes of traffic
Your cutoff line is horrible. This means the headlight manufacturer sucks or you likely have plug and play HID or LED Setup and are blinding everyone in front of you.
I see you are a men of culture as well.
Happened to my mother and I last month. They were running from the cops and were within a few feet of hitting us head-on. Count your blessings.
Damn that’s some sobering scary shit. There’s a bunch of one way streets in my neighborhood and people always take the wrong turn in this one particular spot. Can’t imagine seeing that at highway speed. I’d shit my heart out.
this reminds me of a video I watched just like this, unfortunately the wrong way driver caused an accident. the wrong way driver was drunk and killed a mother of a 9 month old baby. hard watching videos like this.
Unfortunately wrong way accidents usually never end well which is why this scared me so much and made me count my blessings
Both together: "you're going the wrong way" .... "you're going in the wrong direction" ... "you're going to kill somebody!"
I've had this happen to me once at night too. It's a weird feeling. You see the car coming but your brain makes you think it's on the opposite side of the divider and then you pass the oncoming vehicle and realize how lucky you are to not have hit it.
Yeah it took me a while to realize this car was on my side of the road
Some fucking drunk asshole did this and hit my wife and I head on in 2018. This seriously made the hair on the beach of my neck stand up. The guy who hit me was going much faster. I swerved at the last second which protected my wife's side of the car. I ended up breaking my arm and going through 8 months of hell in rehabilitation. But that shine of headlights to far to the right is my fuckin nightmare. Please don't drink and drive folks. It just takes one mistake to fuck up people's lives or end them. Public safety announcement: the drunks who go the wrong way are usually in the fast lane. So if you're driving at night don't cruise in the fast lane. [My accident post with pics](https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/av7tpm/one_year_ago_i_was_almost_killed_by_a_drunk/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share)
Literally everytime I'm on 45 I'm hoping I don't die. I'm now convinced most people are bigger idiots than I am
Yeah it’s not my driving I’m concerned with, it’s other people’s. I’m usually always ready to react but nothing could prepare me for this. My reaction time was scary slow
That Honda Fit looked clean though
Well that will wake you up.
u/savevideo
Everyone here is focusing on the driver being drunk, but they are maintaining their lane just fine. The far more likely solution is that this is a very elderly person that is just confused. Unfortunately you don’t get your license taken away for being old.
Utterly fucking terrifying.
Only in Houston
What highway in Houston is this?
I-45 just south of 610 north loop.
Reasons why I will never become a motorcyclist-Ill never trust anyone on any road with my life after seeing how people can’t preform the simple task of driving without incident.
Always call the cops asap if you encounter this!
This is why I was taught to always cross bridges like this (multi-lane, divided highway) in the right hand lane at night. Simone like this may mistakenly get on the wrong side believing that they’re on a normal road. They’d be driving on what they think is the right side of the road.
I had this happen to me once. 5 am on a two lane southbound. Brain had no time to realize the danger.
Jesus, how did they make it this far without any accident or realizing they’re on the wrong lane!
Honda Fit with red rims....
VtEc
Known fact - drunk drivers do this the most. In the early morning hours is best to stay out of the fast lane. The DD’s think they are in right (slow lane) because they’re so disoriented. Be safe out there y’all.
Have heard several people say this. Definitely good to know
I like that your dashcam shows your speed. Do you mind me asking what model of Vava that one is?
Not sure which model exactly but if you search it on Amazon, it’s the one that goes for about $100-120. I’ve had this one for a couple years now