[Zack Nguyen]

My grandmother continued to drive until she broke her pelvis and was placed in a home. She was frankly blind and drove anyway. She somehow conned the DMV into renewing her drivers license. How exactly I'm not sure. But she had absolutely no business being on the road, and was a menace to every living thing. I'm told she would tool along at about 20 mph. The only good news was that if she hit someone they had a good long time to get out of the way.

I can sympathize though. Driving is a sign of independence and it is tought to give it up.

[johnny7]

When they... and eventually, WE get that old... the car is THE sign of 'vitality' and freedom.

It's no small deal when your days grow short.

[Heatseeker]

I'm going through this right now with my 81-year-old dad. While many people his age are more than quick-witted enough to be good drivers (including some of his buddies: he used to be a commercial pilot) years of medication for various conditions, combined with a near-total absence of peripheral vision and lagging reaction time, have caught up with him.

Like your grandmother, our DMV let him keep driving but some minor infraction caused them to have him in for a driving test. This could not have more closely resembled the "Titanic" if Leo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet were necking in the back seat while the orchestra played "Nearer My God to Thee" on the hood. No more license.

And it is a terrible burden. He's always been very independent, and he lives outside of town in a country-club development, miles from the nearest store or pharmacy. I am driving him around now but he doesn't call me as often as I would like because he hates having to ask for rides. Never mind I'd much rather take time out to drive him somewhere than have him go plowing into a busload of nuns.