Saturday, February 09, 2008

Adventures In Driving Numero Deux

On our way in to The Big City on Wednesday afternoon, Puffy & I managed to get our near-death experience out of the way quickly so as to clear up the rest of our visit for more fun, less nerve-wracking adventures.

We were 5 - 10 km from the city limits when we looked ahead, & both said "What's that? What's going on?" Headlights, heading straight for us, in our lane.

Mayhaps someone passing? Nope. Mayhaps swerving to avoid debris/animals/crash site? Nadda. Old people obliviously driving on the wrong side of the road? Ding! You betcha.

I reached over to sound the horn {Puffy instinctively pushed my hand away, mistakenly thinking I was going to grab the wheel} as Puffy drove on the shoulder repeatedly blowing the horn as they passed us. Nothing. They didn't even LOOK at us. A little ways up the road, a delivery truck/tradesperson vehicle had been sucked into the ditch by the snow as they had swerved onto the shoulder to avoid a head-on collision.

My suggestions?

  • Anyone who didn't actually have to take their driving test to get their licence back in the day must take one now. My grandfather, rest his soul, just walked into the licencing place, slapped down $5 & walked away with a driver's licence that he faithfully renewed until the year he died. He was also the man driving through town with cruise control on, & so serves as a good example of why older people need to go for frequent driving exams.
  • Anyone over the age of 70 should have to take a driving exam every 2 years, at the very least.
  • Anyone under the age of 70 should have to take a driving exam every 10 years, at the very least.
  • Super-geniuses, naturally, are exempt.

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