Elderly Drivers II
posted in - Dobbs, - General |Reported in the NST:
An 80-year-old man in his vintage Morris Minor, was travelling along the North-South Expressway (NSE) at 60kph yesterday afternoon. Nothing unusual about that.
Except that he was driving against the flow of traffic for almost 30km, and when stopped by highway officials, he had two questions: “Why are there so many cars on the road these days and why were all of them flashing their headlights at me?”
He had driven from his his house in Bagan Samak, Kedah to Parit Buntar, Perak using the trunk road, to pay his assessment fee. He was on his way back when he realised that the road leading to his village was closed due to repairs. Trying to find his way home he turned into the NSE and drove for 37km until he reached the Taiping rest area. It was then he realised he was going in the wrong direction and made a U-turn. He drove for 30km against the flow of traffic in the fast lane, oblivious to the honking and flashing of headlights from oncoming vehicles, before being stopped by PLUS officials. Read the whole report – it’s absolutely mind boggling. It was nothing short of a miracle that he did not crash into anyone along the way. It’s no surprise that the officials who stopped him suggested he ask for a lift from his children the next time he goes for a drive! I sincerely hope his children takes away his car keys and stops him from driving after this incident.
Related MMR blogpost: Elderly Drivers
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June 27th, 2006 at 10:27 am
The police should take away his license.
June 27th, 2006 at 10:55 am
buhahhahahahahah
June 27th, 2006 at 12:19 pm
I am serious about revoking the license. If anyone can drive for over 30Km on the wrong side of an Expressway and not realise that something is wrong suggests something is wrong with his mental faculties. How can the police just dismiss this as a “genuine mistake”? This man is a hazard on the road!
June 27th, 2006 at 1:41 pm
O_O
It’s a miracle no cars crashed into him… especially since cars on the north-south highway usually go quite fast.
June 27th, 2006 at 1:43 pm
Actually it was not the police but the PLUS officials who dismissed it as a “genuine mistake”. Still I do agree that his driving license should be revoked and he be stopped from endangering himself and others on the roads.
June 27th, 2006 at 5:46 pm
Perhaps the reason no one smashed into him could be due to the roads being straight and visibility, good.
I think that if the weather was bad, things could have been very different.
Plus officials must report such matters to the police so that drivers like him will be banned from driving.
The tough question is how to enforce the ban!
June 27th, 2006 at 7:42 pm
he did notice something wrong, with al the flashing and honking. just couldn’t put his finger on it. to laugh or to cry?