Somebody needs to pick up Michael from pinochle.
That’s right, it’s your 85-year-old father and he needs a ride before he gets angry.
I was loafing in the Admiral’s Club at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, attempting to build up some momentum for another business trip, when a story on the television hit me like a splash of cold water to the face. The topic has been a bit overdone in recent years, but the angle had a healthy pink hue to it. According to the news, 45% of accidents involving seniors 70 years and older occur at intersections. The problem appears to be in the eyes. The older generation is having difficulty seeing oncoming traffic when making turns.
Engineers are looking at an array of solutions, including the installation of more turn lanes and traffic circles. In the same breath, states are looking at an array of regulations involving those senior citizens who have trouble passing vision tests at driver’s license facilities.
More left-turn lanes could certainly serve as instant, temporary guide dogs out on the road. Of course, they would have to be left-on-arrow-only instances. Throwing down lanes without the appropriate traffic control is just feeding into the current problem. If you allow any motorist to creep out into the center of the intersection you may be asking for further trouble.
For some odd reason, traffic circles continue to be the darling of traffic engineering whenever intersections begin to grow a set of sharp teeth. If there is ongoing confusion at a stoplight somebody always jumps up and preaches the advantages of spinning traffic in an urban area. What they fail to see is the dizzying effect it has on Americans. We had a two-lane circle just outside our previous office building. I shook my head every time I saw someone take the inside lane and proceed to make a right-turn exit, essentially cutting off those in the outside lane. Like I said, we have moved from that circular disaster, but I still tempt danger with a smaller traffic circle about a block from my house. There, drivers seem confused with the yield sign. I really do not think an increase in traffic circles for a U.S. population with dulling motor skills is a wise choice.
We need to go big—bigger letters on bigger, brighter signs. We need to go wide—wider intersections with more of those left-turn lanes. And, we quite possibly need to just go get them.
It seems as a way to control the aging baby boomers states are about to take steps to simply remove them from the road altogether. If they can’t pass the vision test, then they lose their license. So when they need to move, they’ll either break the law or twist the arm of a family member or friend for a ride.
We need the bigger, brighter and wider for drivers of all ages on what has now become the congested road. Examples of this approach, however, are light. States seem to be talking with an enforcing tongue, rather than a compassionate one. So be ready for that call in the middle of the day, because ultimately the younger generation will need to step up and help a senior in need in the coming years. Just hope your pickup route doesn’t encounter any traffic circles.
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