Taking away the keys.

No, not mine, but there are opinions. 

 My 85 or so old neighbor (2 houses up)  always drove a tad fast.  A week ago while backing out of his driveway, he plowed over his flag pole then continued by turning left and slamming into the house next to mine.  His C-10 is bashed in at the back as he hit a double flue brick chimney, poked a hole in his gas tank and suffered cuts to the head and hands.  I came home just as the cops showed up.  He refused medical attention.  They totaled the truck as the frame was cracked.

The house has both chimney flies cracked, a big crack in the living room ceiling, also in a ceiling upstairs.  The house foundation is cracked in 2 places above the frost line.

Anywho, he goes to some diner every morning to solve the world's problems, this morning he was coming home as I was leaving, driving very fast down the middle of the road; I took out a bag of leaves swerving him.

He didn't hit my house so it's really none of my business but I fear for the driving public.

Thanx.  WWGRMD?

I believe you can call the DMV and they can suspend his license if they decide to take up the issue.  At that point he can re-test to get it back.

I wouldn't have an issue doing this in your case as he's a threat (for lack of a better term) to the safety of himself and others.  If he fails the test (sounds like it's a given that he will) he can learn about public transportation and taxi services or family/friends that can give him rides.

This is a state by state issue. Some will not intervene without doctor consultation. However, since he has a record of crashing recently it depends on what the state wants to do.

My grandmother (in Florida) used to hit the corner of her house regularly pulling into the driveway. She rwrecked almost every car she ever owned. Was a terrible driver. My Mom and Uncle asked her to stop driving (she was 83) and she said, "No, you can take my keys from my dead body." And they did. When they went to her doctor the doctor refused to do anything. He said to keep her from driving too far and she'd be fine. (Note: most fatalities happen within 20 miles of home at less than 40 mph). Well, she was on the way to the bank when she pulled into an intersection without the right of way and was hit by a truck. She died in the helicopter on the way to the trauma center.

I suppose you could try and have a conversation with him, but it would probably not go well. Any family nearby that you could contact?

BTW, I teach DE and my students are always shocked to know that there is no more retesting once a person gets their license. Ever. Thank you AARP.

My 88 year old father-in-law is scary to ride with. We refuse to let him drive us. 

Illinois passes him on his yearly driving test so who are we to argue? 

Once in a while the local NBC news leads off a story - senior citizen plows into restaurant front window..........I immediately hope it's not my father-in-law. 

Yes, you should absolutely look at the state laws and see if you can do something.

How would you feel if he hurts somebody in an accident, knowing you didn't do anything to stop it?

Yeesh. 

We took my father's license after he ran a red light and T-Boned a Honda.  I asked if he knew it was red, "No, it was white."  (he had beginning Alzheimers').

I went through the same intersection a few days later and there was a traffic light, but also above and to the right was a speed camera.  They are placed inside a white plastic ball for protection.  He was OK not driving.

He's a danger to himself and the community. Yes, something should be done. Is he sober when he does these things?

Forgive me for this.

I want I want to die in my sleep like my grandfather, not screaming and crying like his passengers

Do look into options for reporting him, the next person might not have the reaction speed or space to swerve away from him.

If there are no options you may even want to put up some cheap and fragile lawn ornaments for him to hit, they could give him more opportunities to reflect on his driving abilities at a minimum, or to build up his record of driving incidents if needed...maybe some boulders near the house for protection too.

Thanks guys.  The Chief of Police is a neighbor, go chat him up this week.

Will let you know how it goes.

We had to take the car from my father in law. No horror stories, but a formerly beautiful car was getting dings all over it. Then he started calling, not recognizing where he had driven to. He was very unhappy about it, but it had to be done.

It's no different from an alcoholic or a druggie. Just because someone has payed their dues in life doesn't mean they get to endanger others.

One of the best things I did was install the Uber app on Dads phone and show him "hit this U, put in Outback, and a guy will show up and take you there for $3, after you have a few drinks, hit the U again". After 30 days or so, he said sell the car, this is cheaper than the insurance on it. 

We required my FIl to take an evaluation test after witnessing his terrible driving.  He would swerve into oncoming traffic while turning, his car was developing scrapes and dents from light poles that should not be in the middle of parking lots.

He somehow nailed the test, only lived a few more weeks before a parkinsons complication got him.

We looked into this for my grandfather. In Washington you can report it and the DMV will look into but you cannot do it anonymously. And grandpa was smart enough to trace it back to us.

akylekoz said:

 He would swerve into oncoming traffic while turning .....

Ever drive in Connecticut?  EVERYONE turns like they're pulling an 80ft. trailer.  Oy.

When my dad was 86 and living in Florida, I got a phone call from his insurance company asking how he was feeling after the accident. 
 

This was the first I had heard of it, and I went into a minor panic.  I called his cell and house phone and didn't get any answer. No response to texts. I called his neighbors and asked them to check on him, but he didn't answer the door. 
 

I finally got him to pick up the phone a few hours later. 

Me: Dad are you okay?

Dad: Yeah, why?

Me: I've been trying to call you. 

Dad: I've been riding my bicycle for the past few hours.  

Me: Were you in an accident?

Dad: What? No.

Me: The insurance company called and said that you were in an accident and they wanted to know if you were all right. 

Dad: What? Oh that... I hit a Maserati.

Me: You hit a Maserati?! You couldn't find anything cheaper to hit in St. Pete?

Dad: It was low. I couldn't see it.  I didn't even know that I hit it but someone followed me and waved me down at a traffic light so I went back to look. They were pretty upset. I gave them my info and told them to call my insurance company. Why are they so low?
 

Me: Are you hurt?

Dad: No, not at all. Just a little sore. 
 

Me: How's your car? Is there a lot of damage?

Dad: No, it's fine. I painted it yesterday when I got home. 

My stepfather was in a major accident from which he never fully recovered. In hindsight, the signs were there, but my siblings and I either missed them, or dismissed them as not being that bad. As you can imagine, I feel horrible about that. Fortunately, mom's injuries were minor, and the state trooper that he pulled out in front of was uninjured. (It's a whole other story, but the trooper was traveling at a high rate of speed w/no lights or sirens - that was definitely a contributing factor.) My stepfather recovered to some degree but did not put up a fight about losing driving privileges. I did have to hide the lawn tractor keys though. 

Mom has started to hit curbs in parking lots. It's time for my siblings and I to form a plan. 

In reply to 914Driver :

Does your neighbor have family?  This sort of thing is typically the responsibility of the children, if you have contact information give them a call to let them know your concerns.  Alternately, your profile says you're in New York - I did a little searching and it appears there's a form you can send in asking for re-evaluation of a person's driving license: https://dmv.ny.gov/driver-re-evaluation-program 

I'm 45. I've had some neuro challenges that don't make driving very safe for me. 

I don't drive right now. It sucks but i deal.

I can't imagine being that ignorant.

914Driver said:

akylekoz said:

 He would swerve into oncoming traffic while turning .....

Ever drive in Connecticut?  EVERYONE turns like they're pulling an 80ft. trailer.  Oy.

Why is that such a thing?  I'm so tired of going straight through an intersection and having the car on my left crowd me because for some reason they feel compelled to swing wide for a berking left turn.

In retrospect, we probably should have taken my mother's keys away sooner than we did.  She never got in a real accident, but she did bruise up her car a bit.

One morning I was leaving my neighborhood on a green light when an older gentleman in a Buick sailed straight through his red light and nearly took the nose off my car.  I was going that way so at the next stoplight I POLITELY approached him to point out that he had just run a red and nearly hit me.  He was clueless and said, "But I drive this road every morning!"  Yeah, well, maybe it's time you changed that.

My 84 year old mother just had an accident two weeks ago.  The was coming up to a stop light and ran into the back of an SUV.   We think she hit the gas instead of the brakes. Car totaled.  Airbags saved her life - she is very fragile.   Anyway the State Trooper came out.  He was nice to her and didn't give her a ticket but apparently had some sort of prerogative to suspend her driver's license.   He told  her she needed a doctor to sign off on her driving again.     

We convinced her to use Uber's and not get another car.   

 So far my 85 year old day seems to be still driving ok.    At one point he told me he as having trouble seeing at night.  I looked at the headlights on his 25 year old pickup truck  and they looked like were hit by a sand storm for 5 years.  Fortunately that truck died, he bought a Toyota RAV, and now, a miracle, he can see at night again. 

Illinois has the strictest requirements for road exams of any state, at least when it comes to age. At 79 or 80, you have to take a driving test if your license expired. From age 81 to 86 it is a road test every two years. After age 87, it’s every year.

My great aunt - for whom my mom and to a lesser extent me and my siblings were the most involved as she had no spouse or children - somehow passed her driving test at age 85. I took her to it, and I swear the person administering the eye test was looking the other way and helping a colleague with something while my aunt told her which letters she saw. 
 

My mom eventually took the keys. Literally. Mom got lambasted for it constantly, but it was the right thing to do. My aunt had been trying to find out if she could take the driving test in rural-ish Kentucky where she owned a home... and it may have been "ok" for her to drive there, where there simply weren't many people. But she lived in Chicagoland. The chances of her killing someone were far higher. And she had Parkinson's. Her body didn't work like it should have. It just wasn't safe. 
 

Mom and her sisters and I tried to do it "officially", but even in Illinois it is shockingly difficult to get the state or doctors to take away driving privileges. 
 

At one point I was strongly considering somehow putting in a kill switch or "phantom drain" with a note for the mechanic to not find it. Mom had the good sense to just be up front about it and physically remove the keys. 

jharry3 said:

My 84 year old mother just had an accident two weeks ago.  The was coming up to a stop light and ran into the back of an SUV.   We think she hit the gas instead of the brakes. Car totaled.  Airbags saved her life - she is very fragile.   Anyway the State Trooper came out.  He was nice to her and didn't give her a ticket but apparently had some sort of prerogative to suspend her driver's license.   He told  her she needed a doctor to sign off on her driving again.     

We convinced her to use Uber's and not get another car.   

 So far my 85 year old day seems to be still driving ok.    At one point he told me he as having trouble seeing at night.  I looked at the headlights on his 25 year old pickup truck  and they looked like were hit by a sand storm for 5 years.  Fortunately that truck died, he bought a Toyota RAV, and now, a miracle, he can see at night again. 

I'm surprised he wasn't having more trouble with these ultra-bright, ultra-white LED projector beam death ray headlights that they're sticking on all the cars.  I used to love driving at night especially with the top down but anymore not so much.  Just tired of getting blinded.