Old People

Michael Bagen SPE 101 Speech 12/14/10 Outline I. Attention getter: Going to Wedding, old man hits car i. Credibility: Real life situations with older drivers, Dad is an EMT and talks to me about calls all the time ii. Topics: The facts of old drivers, real-life stories, solutions iii. Thesis: I want a federal law to be passed that forces any driver the age of 65 and older to be retested every 3 years to not only save their lives, but others around them. II. Statistics: i. In next 20 years, the number of elderly drivers triple in amount according to Smart Motorist . Older drivers more conservative when driving rarely changing there habits because of factors such as busy highways or nighttime where as other drivers may go another route b. More accidents than kids, mostly at intersections c. At the age of 65 there is a much greater risk for a driver to be engaged in a vehicle accident 1. At the age of 75 that risk increases from just a crash to an accident involving a fatality because o f there higher risk of bad eyes or slower reaction time ii. Troubles with Age a. Bad at making turns b.Slower response rates and reaction times to a drastic change c. Studies show that most accidents involving the elderly are caused at intersections there also multi-vehicle accidents iii. In Japan (2006) a. 20. 8 percent over age 65 b. 13. 1 percent licensed drivers iv. Between 75-84 years old a. Rate of 3 deaths per 100 million miles 1. Over age of 85, chances increase nearly four times v. By 2030 a. Predictions for over age 65 1. Responsible for over 25% of fatal crashes vi. Database, Accidents Analysis & Prevention – July 2010 a. tested 10 teenagers and 10 senior citizens . used pedestrians to test stopping skills 1. 1. 8% slower in front stopping 2. 2. 8% slower on right side 3. 2. 1% slower for left side vii. One of the problems no one wants to fight this is because Seniors are one of the biggest group of voters every election a. Take away there licenses they can’ t drive to the polls b. Take away there licenses even if they could drive they probably won’t vote for you III. Real Stories: i. Elizabeth Grimes a. 90 years old b. Drove through a red light at an intersection and hit one car and then smashed into 17 year old Katie Bolka 1.A classmates mom heard the crash from a couple cars back and ran out to see if anyone needed help, she recognized the school uniform from her kids and she called to school to let them know 2. On this day Katie left early because she wanted to get to school early for some last minute cramming since she had exams that day an had spent the previous weekend studying. a. If she left at her normal time instead of leaving early her 14-year-old sister would have been in the car with her then they both might not be here today. b. 5. 5 days later, she died, she never regained consciousness c.Of the other four people in the accident including Elizabeth they all survived with minor injuries. ii. George Russell Weller ( 2003, Santa Monica CA) a. Age 86, Weller suffered from arthritis, nausea as a side effect of medication, and reduced mobility from a hip replacement. b. George hit the back end of a Mercedes and after doing this he began to accelerate around a corner 1. He went through a road closed sign signifying that there was a farmers market going on and then proceeded to drive at around speeds of 40-60mph for about 1,000ft The only reason his car finally stopped was from bodies being under it. 2. Killed 10 people . Injured over 70 people in his Buick 1. Mistook the accelerator for the break 3. Too old to go to jail – charged for manslaughter a. Fined $101,700. b. Five years of felony probation. 4. Aftermath: a. As of May 22, 2008 the City of San Fransisco has paid out over $21 million to settle dozens of civil suits from the families b. The man that caused all this grief and devistation is confined to his house for the rest of his life receiving 24 hour nursing care 5. Scary part beside s the obvious a. His DMV record was almost spotless, besides one accident that occurred almost 10 years prior b. The accidents were almost identical to.While he didn’t cause any harm that time the fashion of crash was almost the same with his car driving off the road for no reason and then him getting out looking dazed and confused. iii. Elizabeth Baldick a. Age 84 b. Drove her car though a Sears from entrance 1. Completely mauling over a register counter including the employee behind it 2. The only thing that stopped her car was a cement support beam in the store 3. If it wasn’t for that she may not have stopped for a while a. Even after the crash had happened her foot was still pressing down on the gas and you could hear the tires still trying to move 4.The only reason she could give for all this happening was because she was currently on some medication IV. Some Solutions: i. Federal Law Passed. a. Every 3 years get re-tested 1. Check eyes and reactions ii. Doctors should work closer with the DMV a. By having doctors work closer we can get people off the road that shouldn’t be driving b. If someone comes in with a seizure, eye problem anything that could impair there driving abilities the doctor should take it upon themselves to let the DMV know c. Or a doctor giving out medication that has side effects that could do the same the DMV should know about these things . On a personal note my cousin lives in California and is currently going through some medical problems, while he was driving a couple months ago he had a seizure. He had no history of seizures or anything of the sort but after going to the doctor he was not allowed to drive for the next couple months while he was under observation so it wouldn’t happen again 2. Before he was allowed to drive again he had to get written consent to provide to the DMV from his doctor saying he is allowed to drive again. 3. My cousin is in his mid 40’s, why aren’t we doing th is to people that are twice his age and are still driving? ii. Increase profit a. Government will make more money with retests 1. Lower down the debt iv. States that passed this law a. 23 states require periodical visits to DMV b. Only 16 of those states require visual tests v. More precise tests a. Make the eye exams for any situation 1. Florida has enacted a new more strict eye exam for the elderly (80 and over) 2. Because of it 20% of the over 80 crowd don’t even go to try and renew because they don’t think they’ll pass. b. Make sure the medication won’t interfere c. Make it harder than the normal driving test vi.Urge your elderly family members to go and get checked out again, or tell them the next time they need to go somewhere to call you and you’ll take them. V. Conclusion: i. Everyone get in accidents, but with age the increase just keeps getting higher and higher ii. Pass a Federal Law to try and stop this easily avoidable problem from hap pening a. If Seniors want to drive that bad then they will have to follow the rules for doing so iii. Everyday a Senior citizen takes a chance while driving, who knows who could be next to fall victim to it. Works Cited: Davis, R. , & Debarros, A. (2007, May 2). Older, dangerous drivers a growing problem. Editorial]. USA Today, p. 1. Retrieved November 02, 2010 from the World Wide Web: http://www. usatoday. com/ news/ nation/ 2007-05-02-older-drivers-usat1a_n. htm. Press, A. (2007). Older Drivers, Elderly Driving, Seniors At The Wheel. Retrieved November 07, 2010 from Non-Profit Organization, Smart Motorist: http://www. smartmotorist. com/ traffic-and-safety-guideline/ older-drivers-elderly-driving-seniors-at-the-wheel. html. White, M. (2006). Senior Driving. Retrieved November 07, 2010 from Non-profit organization, Helpguide. org: http://www. helpguide. org/ elder/ senior_citizen_driving. htm.