Seniors and Driving

After reading about a terrible tragedy in which two teens were killed while racing to a friend’s graduation in Ventura, I can only shake my head when I read about concerns regarding seniors’ driving. Granted that seniors (myself included) may be involved in accidents, but I cannot envision any senior guilty of road rage or speeding on an offramp to pass cars and then swinging back onto the freeway. I cannot picture seniors making dangerous lane changes without signaling or failing to stop at intersections where a stop sign is posted.

There was a terrible tragedy in Santa Monica in which a senior ran over a pedestrian and didn’t realize his tragedy until he arrived home and was confronted by the police.

In another tragedy some years ago, a senior backed up his car, mistaking reverse for the accelerator, and killed a pedestrian.

Granted that seniors need testing, as do teenagers (and truck drivers and road rage drivers), but I don’t think seniors are as guilty as the population at large for the hazardous driving on the roads. If adequate public transportation was available, seniors wouldn’t be slaves to the gasoline engine. Nevertheless, I mourn the teenagers who were killed and the other teenager who was injured in the terrible crash June 12.

Samuel M. Rosen

Newbury Park