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Driving (28 May 97) I've already posted some remarks on this, a year ago, but the current chitchat prompts my further opinionated comment: -The real problem with having to give up driving comes with living alone. At 75 I now do that, in the same house that once held our family of four. I get by just fine, but despite all the happy drivel about jitneys, shuttles, errand runners, etc., etc., ad nauseam for seniors, loss of driving would be devastating. From my position a mile and a half up the hill from the nearest "business" district, how would I visit doctors, pharmacy, dentist, grocery store, hardware/garden store, library, computer shop, podiatrist, friends, relatives, post office, parks, beaches, museums, restaurants? The answer is NOT, and a complete change in lifestyle, move either to a resthome or a room with one of my children. -So when the DMV last year threatened (on no grounds whatever) my license renewal, I was a bit upset. The point here is, when you go in for renewal, BE READY! Make sure you are firmly "on", practice hiding hand tremor when you sign your name, know the written and driving (if any) test cold, and challenge any officious or suspicious clerk with "Are you trying to diagnose me? Just where was your medical training?" (I did get a standard, not conditional, renewal). -Practice driving skills, especially those which compensate for the natural decline of reflexes and attention that comes with age, not just from PD. From the number of my cars which I drove 100,000, 200,000, or 300,000 miles, I know that I've driven well over a million miles, equaling the experience of most commercial drivers who are younger. I'm reasonably comfortable at 70mph on California freeways, where the other drivers typically are aggressive, rude, and palpably unskilled; and where cheapjack traffic "engineers" make 5 lanes by slicing down the original 4 lanes from 12 feet to 11 or even 10 feet wide. You can cope with this if you concentrate. -In my youth I was a hot rodder, building several hobby cars that would go 100mph when that (at least in the USA) was a big deal; but for the past 40 years or so, I've driven underpowered cars, in a style that can only be called sedate. With a manual-shift 4- or 5-speed I can get up to traffic speed of 65 or so, but it takes a while (longer uphill). I'm used to the impatient cowboys who roar past from behind, swerve back into my lane, then screech to a stop at the next signal, a whole 20 feet gained. I look at each of my 3 rearview mirrors every 5 seconds or so, checking especially for motorcyclists trying to squeeze by. And when I change lanes, I don't just check the mirrors, I twist around and actually LOOK over my shoulder for anyone overtaking. -As for the hasty cowboy, I'm pretty good at "innocently" thwarting his urge to weave if I feel like it, by going just the merest hint too fast or too slow, looking all the while like just another fumbling geezer (don't try this with the big rigs, those drivers are pros and don't need the abuse, and anyway it's risky). When you see a truck about to overtake another truck, hold back and give him the extra room he needs. PWP really do suffer decline in ability to judge distance and closing rate of an approaching object; this is not so much a matter of seconds or feet, but the ability to judge whether a proposed (by you or someone else) maneuver can be executed without the embarrassment of flogging the car's powerplant or jamming on the brakes. This skill comes with observation and practice, and older drivers need it more than most. Cheers, Joe J. R. Bruman (818) 789-3694 3527 Cody Road Sherman Oaks CA 91403