Did you know that the Japanese government requires people age 75 and older to measure their cognitive level in order to reduce the number of accidents on the road involving old people? This test includes the following:
Elderly drivers will first be asked to write down the date and time. They are then shown 16 illustrations, for example of animals, for a short time and asked to describe in writing what they have seen. They will also be asked to draw a picture of a clock indicating a particular time.
Once they have passed that test, they have to sit through an hour and a half lecture about safe driving.
Driving is a privilege, not a right. Someday, your time will come when you are not capable of controlling your death machine and you need to get off of the road, forever. At least as a driver.
Which leads me to my next point.
My dad was hit by a car yesterday. In the parking lot of a home improvement store. While he was walking to his car. By what? By an elderly couple in a Ford Taurus backing out of a handicapped parking spot. As they backed into my dad, my dad jumped out of the way. Good thing too, because the old driver kept backing up for another three feet. If he had knocked my dad over, he probably would have turned him into a speed bump. The old guy stopped abruptly, looked in his mirrors....his old wife looked around. Neither one of them got out of the car...then they just drove away. What is this? A low impact hit & run? My dad followed them...quite possibly on foot...across the parking lot to Target where he observed them park their car and slowly hold up traffic as they walked inside. Probably to buy soup and bananas. He didn't have the heart to confront them in Target. That, and he really wanted to get home and eat dinner. So he took down their license plate number and went home. My mom was really upset when she found out that he handled it that way. So they called the police. The police have identified these geriatric vehicular offenders. Apparently they are from another town way up north. Must be visiting their grandkids or something. Anyway, my dad has to press charges against them for the hit and run (well, the old guy anyway) - not in order to sue him or anything, but to get his license revoked and get him off the road. It sounds mean, but who else does grandpa have to run over with his Taurus before someone REALLY gets hurt? What if it was a little kid? My dad is fine, although his hip was hurting a bit. He went to the chiropractor though and it's all good.
I was angry when I found out about this happening. Partly because I found out on Facebook, but also partly because it's ridiculous. I was fuming over it on my way to work this morning when some old lady stole my right of way at a 4-way stop. It angered me. I followed her for an entire block while leaning on my horn. It's okay, it's not like she heard me anyway. She was probably on her way to church. Yes, it's a Thursday, but that seems to be what many old ladies do early in the morning every day of the week.
I miss my grandparents.
Once, long ago, my dad accidentally ran my brother over with the family sedan. We were pulling into the driveway. We had one of those sloped curbs that you drive over. My brother was excited to get home, so he opened up the door as we were still moving. He smacked the top of his head in the doorway and fell out of the car and my dad ran over his legs. I yelled at my dad to stop, so he did, but he happened to be right on top of my brother's legs. It sucked pretty bad, but he was fine.
Look, aww.
This is what he looks like now though.
I think he looks the same. :)
I hit a turkey once. It actually it me. It flew into my wind shield. It was pretty traumatizing. I was lucky that my window wasn't smashed. Probably because first it hit my right front fender, then slide up the hood and hit the windshield as it was headed straight for my face. Then it slid up and hit the top of my car and bounced off of something. My sun roof was open and a whole bunch of feathers appeared, flying around as I was screaming in terror. I don't know what happened to the turkey. I believe he was maimed by my car, but I never found him. I was lucky.
I could go on and on. I have a lot of stories from my personal life that involve people getting run over by vehicles. But I need to stop. I just made really great hot chocolate. It's snowing. There's a lot I can say about that 4-letter S-word but I'll save that for another day.
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