Subscriber Comments for
Benny Contreras Sentenced

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 321577	2012-09-18 03:27 PM
License suspended for 3 years? I have a feeling his road skills will not improve with his age...
COMMENT 321582	2012-09-18 03:47 PM
I respect elderly people to the utmost degree, and I don't believe in any discrimination based on random assumptions about groups. But let's face it, the likelihood of skills being impaired skyrockets from the mid 80's on. Why/how will this ever be addressed by the DMV? We don't let 11 year olds drive for a reason: Cognition and judgment are insufficient compared to what's required to drive safely. How many more accidents do elderly drivers with overly slowed reaction times, neurological impairment, or other conditions need to cause before we more adequately tackle this? The DMV, physicians, judges and families are just as, if not more, guilty for deaths like this than the drivers, who just want to maintain their independence. Who can blame them?
COMMENT 321598	2012-09-18 04:34 PM
Good luck trying to take the "rights" including driving rights away from an elderly person. Unless a doctor says they are mentally incompetent then they cannot be told what to do - well they don't have to listen. Don't blame the family ect because they can demand their elderly person stop driving but they can't make them stop. Don't ask the DMV to either - they don't care.
COMMENT 321612	2012-09-18 05:05 PM
With the elderly population so high in SB I urge everyone to use extreme caution when driving. Pedestrians and bicyclists, never assume a vehicle will yield to you. I know of many elderly local residents who are unable to drive due to various reasons, and still get behind the wheel. Until the laws become more stringent we are all at risk.
COMMENT 321636	2012-09-18 06:22 PM
I drive a lot for my job and I can tell you first hand most of the problems on the road are caused by people in a hurry. Tailgaters are mostly young women. The newest phenomena I'll call lazy drivers, who can't keep their car in the lane on curves. Nascar drivers they are not, but like to think they are. Every single day I avoid several potential head-on collisions from these clowns. The cell phone laws are having zero effect on getting people off the phone, this is as common as fleas. Line crossovers, speeders and tailgaters are the culprits no matter how old they are. When cars are less than one car length apart in the freeway fast lane, going 70, something is wrong and it's not old people, who are all in the slow lane with the Vons trucks going 55. And oh yeah, motorcycles who like to think they're at Laguna Seca, with the wheels in their lane but everything else in my lane like head, shoulders, body, handlebars, mirrors. Dead men riding.
COMMENT 321650P	2012-09-18 07:14 PM
Regarding elders driving and 582's post, manipulation can be used. Get a doctor evaluation; ask the doc or anyone you know to report the elder driver; bring the car in for "repairs"; heck, remove distributor parts to keep it from running. But you also must be prepared to take your elder shopping, to recreation, to doctor appointments, etc. But do something. Call on friends, neighbors, elder care agencies, Easy Lift. I agree with the problem and a hard-core solution. Heck, it's not even cognition, aches and pains can make people unable to view the road and other cars around them, and work the pedals. Better to fight over driving than deal with the legal and moral fallout from an accident -- or death.
COMMENT 321681P	2012-09-18 09:16 PM
Where can one find statistics on the ages of drivers causing accidents? There should be tests for driving ability of the elderly - but people vary significantly in ability as they get older. What if more younger people are causing accidents? What should be done about them?
COMMENT 321799	2012-09-19 11:35 AM
Agree with 636, but to say all old people are innocent of being bad drivers isn't correct, I just think you mean they don't *intend* to be. I really think the majority of the population consists of bad drivers. I see more cell phones, freeway tailgating, lack of turn signals, bad parking jobs, and just general lack of respect for the power of a vehicle. The worst part is, people have the idea that they are somehow safer in their car than any other activity, adding to the carefree nature. I cringe at the idea of getting in the passenger seat of some friend's cars when they sit a dozen feet off someone's bumper on the freeway. Its too much responsibility given way too easily in this country. Try to make it any tougher and you have someone saying you are impeding on their freedom. Its a lose lose.

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