I can’t stand the drivers out there on the road that just feel like they can take their sweet ass time and get to their destination whenever they feel like it! I was driving around town yesterday doing a few errands and I’ll be damned if I didn’t get caught behind every older gentleman in town. Let me be straight, I don’t dislike the idea of older people driving cars - I DO dislike this idea that they can drive 20 MPH in a 55 MPH zone and WE’RE just supposed to go around them and think nothing of it!

You know, living in this damn-near fascist state of Ocean Township, New Jersey I would expect the local Gesta - I mean police force - to be on top of these types of people. For a police force that will pull over a younger citizen because they see that they’re not wearing a seatbelt, it’s odd to think of how they allow an older citizen to literally cause accidents on major highways without any retribution.

Don’t take this the wrong way - I don’t have a problem with older people. I love older people. They are the biggest untapped resource that our country has; they’ve got years upon years of experience and knowledge inside of them. But I do also care about my own life. And when an older citizen is driving well below the speed limit on major roadways in my town, well I have to put my safety first.

I’m sure that there’s some policy entrepreneur out there who has some type of testing policy in his hands that will decide whether or not a person is allowed to drive. However, I’m also sure that this person will not dare step up to the major elder-folks lobbying groups like the AARP. It seems that finding a “law” to fix this problem isn’t going to be the answer.

So maybe there is another answer…

What about this? As we get older and our driving skills deteriorate, why don’t we voluntarily drive less? Is it wrong to believe that an older person - who is usually awake at 6AM - should do most of their driving at around 6:30AM? This will get you to the store, to the deli, etc, well before there is a surge of drivers on the road. Then, if needed, they can go out later on in the day among the younger drivers in traffic and finish up their errands.

I don’t know if it’ll work, but I do know this. I almost got into two accidents yesterday morning because the people who were driving the cars in front of me (not directly in front of me, but a few cars ahead) were extremely older citizens who were driving about 25 miles per hour in the “fast” lane on the highway. That’s not right. Someone who is on the highway and is constantly getting passed by EVERY car on that highway should realize that something is wrong.

I respect the older people, I respect their age and wisdom, but when they’re not respecting my life as a driver on NJ’s roads…then maybe those particular drivers should be asked to get off of the roads.

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