change in driving agility?

[Penn]

I dont know how to word this- but as I age I notice my agility is not as good. I can not do the heavy driving I did at 20 - or even 35.

Have your agility skills declined at all?

Maybe it is me- I am perm and total disabled- with wrecked back, shoulder and bi-carpal.

At first I did not want a disabled plate- I did not want to be a target of road rage- but it IS easier then the blue placard- it also does not need dr renewal ever few years here in PA where as the placard does.

I also prefer a plate that is hard to remember.

10 years ago- I could drop everything and handle a 12 hour drive to chicago with no problem- today I doubt I would want to.

I can still drive- I prefer non rush day light- dry roads. I plan my errands.

What say you-

 

[pmbug]

I'm still spry and agile.

However, for long term driving, the vehicle itself makes huge difference. Some cars are comfortable and some are not.

 

[ancona]

I get a lot of windshield time, although not as much as I used to. From Central Florida to Fort Gordon is around seven and a half hours, and from NAS Pensacola to NAS Key West is around 12 hours depending upon traffic. I still do these drives regularly and yes, it sucks. Windshield time is good for books on tape, where I can listen to hours and hours of lectures on every subject imaginable. A woman I know, director of the writing center and English professor at a local college, is the wife of my business partner and years back she bought a whole collection of lecture series. We loan them back and forth and have done so for years. I find it calming to learn while I drive. It is a pleasant distraction to the crazies on the highway who all seem to be working to achieve light speed.

As far as skill, i would say that I have yet to lose much. My eyes aren't what they used to be, but other than that so far so good.

 

[Penn]

Maybe I sounded poor me- here. I have outlived my late dad by 7 years- so I am on bonus time.

Not that I care much- I could die today and be fine with it.

 

[Jay]

I rode motorcycles for twenty years. Out of fifty of us, 46 either lost limbs or were in severe accidents. Finally quit when my now 17 year old was born. Intact. In a month long coma nine years ago (I maintain due to taking statin drug Lipitor, known side affect). Although my weight dropped from 165 to 100 and it took two months to regain strength (some anyway) and ability to talk and walk properly, I seem to have dodged a bullet. I suppose I've gone hundreds of thousands of miles back and forth across the country, mostly aimlessly. Seems like such a waste to me now. Oh well. No noticeable decline in ability to drive, never had a ticket or accident that was my fault. Lots of cognitive problems. And memory problems. And one of the worse memories regarding the coma was when the speech therapist was asking me questions, asked me whether a wastepaper basket or a garbage can would hold more. And I could not answer her because I had never seen one before. (I thought). I actually asked my wife if she had ever seen one, thank goodness she glossed over it and the speech therapist said never mind lets move along. I still have some expressive and receptive aphasia. Fortunately transposing red and yellow hasn't seemed to apply to traffic lights, only speech.

 

[Penn]

wow Jay- that is intense!!

 

[DCFusor]

I've noticed a bit of loss of my faster reflexes. There used to be no car I couldn't drive to its peak capabilities, and in fact, I was a winning racer in a couple different sports.

But not too long ago, I traded in an SS Camaro (new gen) partly because I ran into my limits before it did, not a situation I like in a fast car. You want to know how to handle a car that's gotten loose for whatever reason, and I just couldn't get that thing loose and yet under control at any speed my brain can handle. ~200 mph is just too fast for something that doesn't have some serious altitude and control surfaces.

So, I got a Volt. It's a better car anyway.

 

[rblong2us]

Hey Jay

thats quite a story. Good that you survived.

I gave up proper road bikes when I got a car licence, a car and a girlfriend ( in that order )
but still ride dirtbikes that are designed to go on unsurfaced roads ( trails) and still fall off regularly ( several times on saturday, due to black ice and major washouts caused by mucho rain )

I had a head on collision age 17, on a 500 Triumph and went into a Triumph Vitesse sports car, with us both doing about 60mph. He came out through the windscreen and I sailed through the air above the car, between some trees about 3 ft apart and landed in a huge clump of bramble bush, above a field full of cows.
No crash helmet or jacket, just jeans 't' shirt and trainers ......
Almost removed a finger, broke a toe and had a full 'out of body experience', with a biiig time gap between impact and landing in the brambles.i

Kind of has you thinking about why we survive sometimes .......

 

[DoChenRollingBearing]

For me, when I was younger (20s and 30s) I could drive & drive... 500 - 600 miles no problem. Now my back, butt and right knee complain after less than two hours. No injuries caused this, maybe too much driving?

Here ya ancona re CRAZY drivers in FloriDUH!

Harder to drive? Slow down... Take breaks... $.02

 

[Jay]

For me, when I was younger (20s and 30s) I could drive & drive... 500 - 600 miles no problem. Now my back, butt and right knee complain after less than two hours. No injuries caused this, maybe too much driving?

Here ya ancona re CRAZY drivers in FloriDUH!

Harder to drive? Slow down... Take breaks... $.02

DCRB, all of my friends who lost limbs lost them in Fla. as a result of elderly drivers (read reaction time, vision, and hearing impaired) ran stop signs and amputated left leg below the knee. Always left leg BTK amputation. I was run off the road five times in Fla. but never seriously injured. The last time scared me badly, though.

 

[Jay]

Hey Jay

thats quite a story. Good that you survived.

I gave up proper road bikes when I got a car licence, a car and a girlfriend ( in that order )
but still ride dirtbikes that are designed to go on unsurfaced roads ( trails) and still fall off regularly ( several times on saturday, due to black ice and major washouts caused by mucho rain )

I had a head on collision age 17, on a 500 Triumph and went into a Triumph Vitesse sports car, with us both doing about 60mph. He came out through the windscreen and I sailed through the air above the car, between some trees about 3 ft apart and landed in a huge clump of bramble bush, above a field full of cows.
No crash helmet or jacket, just jeans 't' shirt and trainers ......
Almost removed a finger, broke a toe and had a full 'out of body experience', with a biiig time gap between impact and landing in the brambles.i

Kind of has you thinking about why we survive sometimes .......

RB, bet you wish you have that Triumph now. That would be worth a pretty penny here. Had a Bridgestone in high school, wish I had that now. Also an old Honda Hawk (automatic). Thats worth a fortune here, now. Sold it to a guy for 50.00