Two years ago my elderly grandmother constantly found herself comfortably behind the wheels of her new Cadillac.  Having observed her navigating throughout her own house we tried unsuccessfully for years to convince her to hang up the keys and rely on our available taxi services that friends and family were offering.  Even when travelling together grandma insisted on driving to escort her grandkids to family activities.  This only took once or twice before we learned that it just wasn't worth risking our lives to ride with grandma to family gatherings.  Again we tried to detain the keys, but with no avail.

     In mid-summer last year [2008] as grandma was returning home from a trip to the grocery store that she made four times a week for over thirty years, she was broadsided by an elderly gentleman who also was returning home from a short trip that he had taken multiple times for numerous years.  The grandpa just couldn't navigate the four-way stop that he approached and smashed directly into grandma's door.  Thank goodness for slow speeds and airbags.  While grandma was taken to the hospital for observation she was released two days later with a sore neck and a bruised hip.  With the aid of a cane she was able to resume her normal life without much pain....

     Normal that is except for the keys.  Grandma learned the extremely hard way that elderly drivers can be extremely dangerous as well as hazardous behind the wheel.  Even when driving trips that they have taken a million times.  I am greatful that grandma wasn't hurt any more seriously in her own accident, and that she wasn't the cause of something a lot more dramatic.  I fully support the education, testing, and correcting of elderly drivers behind the wheel.

Rory Hayward