Driving Around in My Automobile....

Did you know there are no upper age limits for a person to have their drivers license mandatorily taken away from them in Virginia (and most other states)?  There can be elderly folks operating their cars until they turn 113 years old, if they want!  Some states require eye/written/other types of testing starting at age 75, but most states have no restrictions that limit a person by maximum age.  

I do not think people should have to give up their driver's license at a certain age.  However, I do support more rigorous testing for elder drivers.  Look, we've all been on the road behind an older person who is driving 45 mph in the left lane of the freeway with their blinker on.  One cannot deny that reaction times, visual and mental acuity, and physical prowess decline in humans as they age.  There are, of course, outliers and exceptions.  [This post should not be read as disparaging to older drivers--there are people of all age groups who are bad drivers or who have issues that make them road hazards].  As an elder law attorney, I try to have my finger on the pulse of the community that I serve, and I understand the issues and concerns that they have.  Do you need help trying to convince an older relative to give up their car?  Or use an alternative mode of transportation?  Give me a call.

Driving can be a wonderful way to capture a feeling of freedom.  It is an embedded part of the American Dream.  But it can also be a tremendous burden that people may not be able to handle.
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"Life Is A Highway"

Love's like a road that you travel on
When there's one day here and the next day gone
Sometimes you bend, sometimes you stand
Sometimes you turn your back to the wind
There's a world outside every darkened door
Where blues won't haunt you anymore
Where the brave are free and lovers soar
Come ride with me to the distant shore
We won't hesitate
Break down the garden gate
There's not much time left today

Life is a highway
I wanna ride it all night long
If you're going my way
I wanna drive it all night long

Through all these cities and all these towns
It's in my blood and it's all around
I loved you now like I loved you then
This is the road and these are the hills
From Mozambique to those Memphis nights
The Khyber Pass to Vancouver's lights
Knock me down, back up again
You're in my blood; I'm not a lonely man
There's no load I can't hold
Road so rough; this I know
I'll be there when the light comes in
Just tell 'em we're survivors

Life is a highway
I wanna ride it all night long
If you're going my way
I wanna drive it all night long
Life is a highway
I wanna ride it all night long (gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, yeah!)
If you're going my way
I wanna drive it all night long

There was a distance between you and I
A misunderstanding once
But now we look it in the eye (oh!)

There ain't no load that I can't hold
Road so rough, this I know
I'll be there when the light comes in
Just tell 'em we're survivors

Life is a highway
I wanna ride it all night long
If you're going my way
I wanna drive it all night long (gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, yeah!)
Life is a highway
I wanna ride it all night long
If you're going my way
I wanna drive it all night long (gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, yeah!)
Life is a highway
I wanna ride it all night long
If you're going my way
I wanna drive it all night long (gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, yeah!)

Writer: T. Cochrane