It would be foolish of me to state that as we age, our reflexes and sight do not deteriorate as this is a proven fact. We do not stay youthful in all aspects of life but our senses do not automatically die as soon as we reach the age of retirement. I think that for older aged drivers to be allowed back onto the road they will have to participate in another driving test to show the examiner that they are not a threat to the community and are safe, able drivers like I am hopefully conveying them to be.
For some pensioners, bus stops may not be stationed close to where they live so they would have to walk for what feels like hours on end; suffering from agonizing pain and may even be in the risk of a broken hip. Without a driving license, they might have to resort to pestering family members for lifts to their destinations. How would you like it if one of your grandparents were asking you constantly for lifts because of narrow minded people who fail to see the moral injustice of this act?
Teenage drivers are increasingly leading the cause of death to anyone on the streets of our country. The majority of crashes are overwhelming as they are caused by inexperienced or distracted youths who pay no attention to the law and feel they are above everyone else as they speed down streets putting the future generation at great risk. Elderly drivers may be seen driving down the streets at a slow pace, but which would you rather hit your child, a teenager driving 20 mph over the legal limit or a pensioner driving 20 mph under the legal limit? I realize I have over exaggerated, but I feel it is quite important that you are not overpowered by the common stereotype of pensioners and give them a free chance at living out the rest of their lives with ease.
(LOOK AT POWERPOINT AND DISCUSS THE CRASHES!)
In 2007, statistics were produced again showing the country that crashes are more common among young drivers than any other age group. I have recently found out that 1 in 4 crash fatalities involve someone who is in the age group 16-24; this is nearly twice as high as other age groups.
I cannot understand why people today want to see pensioners off the road for good. They have been driving for what I assume to be decades, with each passing day learning something knew or being reminded of some rule they might have needed reminding of. They are more experienced than any other driver out on the roads and yet people seem to want to be left on the roads with lunatic drivers who put them and their families in a lot of risk. Would you want to put your family at risk? To want to take away someone’s right of independence is socially wrong. Who are we to decide what people can and can’t do? When you are older and do not carry an exciting life anymore, wouldn’t you want to be able to drive to have that feel of freedom and vitality again? This might be the only thing in a pensioners life that makes them feel happy so it is not right for us to strip someone of their own dignity and pride.
(LOOK AT POWERPOINT AND DISCUSS THE HORSE INCIDENT!)
On September 13 2006, a reckless driver named Younis Abdullahi Said fractured a pensioner's vertebrae and escaped a prison sentence. Said was driving at 51mph in a 30mph zone when he lost control of his vehicle sending him flying into a row of parked cars. As soon as he crashed a loud scream was thrown through the air. Said looked out his windshield and realised that he had driven into Ernest Turner, a 77 year old man. Turner was trapped between Said’s car and a parked car. The retired pensioner sustained a broken vertebra, but luckily he has since made a full recovery. He made a statement to local journalists and said he felt lucky to be alive. Police soon found out that Said was driving without insurance or even a license after being banned from driving for previous motoring offences. Said had obviously not thought about the ramifications of his insanely youthful driving. This story I found not only tells me that youthful drivers are feral and reckless, but that some of them don’t even care who or what they get in danger.
The crash fatality rate is much greater for drivers 17 year olds than any other driver within the first 6 months after obtaining this license. This remains the highest through to the age of 24 but is still the greater than the pensioners crash rate. Teenage deaths have also been on the increase as approximately two-thirds of teenage deaths occur when other teenagers are driving. We can’t ignore this fact no longer. Teenage drivers are indeed the worst drivers on the roads.
I am not going to tell you that elderly drivers are the best drivers, but compared with the majority of youth drivers, they are certainly the more qualified and dignified drivers and should be kept on the road.
I am now going to play a video showing a car crash… as you have just seen, the teenagers were driving so ferociously that they even uprooted a cemented metal pole and sent gate fragments flying approximately 20feet away. I think its extremely lucky of the teenagers that they escaped with only scrapes and bruises as a few if not all of them could have been killed in the stupidity of their actions. Whilst the teenagers are driving (animal like) they feel fearless and majestic but as soon as the police catch them they show themselves for what they really are, scared and mendacious, dispelling them of their egotistical ways of life.
Thank you for listening and I hope that you no longer see elderly drivers as an insult to road safety.
