Astoria is turning into a mini-Miami. Pedestrians beware, and I'll tell you why.The other day I was walking my rather large dog, and we came to a crosswalk at an intersection. A car stopped for us to cross, and I was about to step out into the street when I noticed that an old relic of a car was pulling up behind the first car, and the second car was edging more and more towards the center line, to the point where the driver's side of the car was blocked from view.
By then I was getting more than a little nervous, so I stepped out hesitantly, pulling the dog in close. Good thing I was hesitant.
The second car pulled out across the center line, passed the stopped car, and blew right through the crosswalk. If I hadn't been leery, and proceded slowly, he would have wiped me and my dog all over 16th Street. And probably kept right on going.
I got a glance at the driver as he passed a few feet in front of me. Yup, it was an old geezer, chin jutting over the top of the steering wheel, gripping the wheel with his hands at 10 and 2, staring grimly ahead, rushing to his denture adjustment or bingo fiesta. He looked a tad huffy that the first driver had stopped at the crosswalk and gotten in his way.
He didn't even see us, and that was an accomplishment. I'm no bitty little thang, and I have a very large dog. I would have reported him, but of course, I was too busy trying to stay out of his way to think about taking down license plate numbers.
Not that I think it would do any good to report such a thing in Astoria, which has become the Giza for Geezers. They merrily drive around running stop signs and ignoring cross-walks, blithely going about their business without a thought in the world.
I suppose it's going to take one of these geriatric lethal weapons plowing through a herd of school children to wake up the DMV to check them yearly for vision, reflexes and lucidity.
In the meantime, folks, be very, very careful at crosswalks. One of those geezer missiles might have your name on it.
6 comments:
This is an ENORMOUS pet peeve of mine. Just as they test 16 year olds to get a license, seniors should have mandatory drivers' tests beginning at age 70. You suggest this and they'll flip their little gray lids. But I used to live in Paradise, California, originally a retirement area. We had drivers driving down the wrong lane of traffic, pulling out onto busy Skyway without even looking, even driving riding lawnmowers in defiance when their kids took their keys away. People not giving up their cars when they're ready is selfish and woe if someone like that plows through our farmer's market and hits one of my family!
Oh Mom, you are so right on the money!
I had a terrible time getting the keys away from my pop, who had cataracts and was senile. Finally had to have his car towed away when he was off on a trip with my mother.
My mother was no help, she said it would "hurt his feelings" if his license were taken away. I countered by telling her that HER feelings would be pretty well crucified when the house got taken away in a lawsuit because he wiped out a family of 10 or something.
Up here, these are some of the most brazenly incompetent elderly drivers I've had the misfortune to come across. You know something truly horrible is going to have to happen, like that wipe-out in Santa Monica by that senile old man, for something to be done.
Oh, and here's another thought: Those same shaky old folks can get concealed weapons permits!
I didn't know that! Aren't they scary enough as geezer missiles???
One did run over my cousin, Badi, as he stepped off of the school bus. It was determined to be his fault, as at the age of nine he should not have listened to the bus driver when she told him to proceed and he should have known that the little old lady bearing down on him was high on some OTC drug.
The combo problem is, though, we have too many people living outside of the normal routes of a bus line that doesn't recognize 3/4ths of the county. Its a hell of a lot easier to yank those keys away from someone who can climb onto a bus any time of the day to go anywhere in the county than it is when you are truly making someone totally housebound until you are ready to play chauffeur.
Nice articles! Yeah, more to read.
Hi CB,
Sorry about your cousin!
Know what you mean about the house-bound thing for people out of the way. That was true in my parents' home town, where there was no public transportation at all.
However, I can't help but think that even so, these elderly who shouldn't be within 10' feet of a driver's seat should be kept from driving, hell or high water. They truly are a menace to society.
And thanks, glad you like the articles!
Post a Comment