'S' plates for everyone?

I will readily admit that I'm a touch impatient on the roads.  My tolerance for other drivers is not as high as I (or I suspect, they) would like and I often become very frustrated with them.  However, knowing this about myself, I generally try to give other road users the benefit of the doubt and restrain myself from physically gesticulating, verbally abusing, or driving in an intimidating manner.  But living in this part of Geelong is testing, very testing, surrounded as we are by a high number of elderly resident-drivers, schools, and roundabouts at every third intersection.  Alright, every third intersection is a slight overstatement.  But there are lots.  And you really notice them when half the road-users do not appear to know sensible driving etiquette when approaching and traversing a roundabout.

Today was such a lovely, sunny, autumn day here in Geelong.  So what prompted this rant?  The beautiful weather must be what inspired the more mature-aged female driver in front of me in the Waurn Ponds shopping centre carpark to leave the safety of her own home.  God knows she endangered the safety of enough people while she operated her car today.  During the three minutes she was within my visible range, she very nearly caused three accidents, one of which was an incredibly near-miss T-bone, only averted due to the reactions of the other driver.  I shudder to think how the rest of her day went, but pray she, and all around her, have remained unscathed.

I know that my parents, closing in on their seventies, will be violently opposed to the following, but I agree with Dr Gowan's recent suggestion that there should be some form of indication to road users that the age of the person operating a vehicle is quite advanced.  The suggestion of an 'S' plate for seniors is contentious and I have no doubt will be opposed by many sectors of the community, as well as backed by several others.  Both sides have reasonable arguments for and against, however, should not 'safety of the majority' be the deciding factor?  Perhaps it shouldn't be decided by age, due to concerns of making those drivers more susceptible to attack from those looking to prey on the elderly, but surely there is a viable alternative.  A plate indicating someone is, for example, over a certain age would give other drivers the heads-up that this is a driver who may need a little more space and patience than is usually offered by the driving community.  The effect would (or should) be similar to a learner having an 'L' plate.  Other drivers know to give them a little more room and not harass them as they are not yet able to assimilate everything required of a road-user.  They need time to learn.  When we age our physical responses age with us.  Will I be able to see danger as quickly at 80 as I do now?  I doubt it.  If the way my body is ageing is any indication I’m not even sure I’ll be able to see anything by the age of 80.  Hopefully I will have the sense to remove myself from the traffic if that is the case.  And if not, I hope someone close to me is able to wrest my licence from me in some way.

What gives me the right to judge?  Well, nothing more than being a road user, first as a bicyclist throughout my younger years, then as a car driver (I hold a manual licence, for the record) since my 17th birthday, and also as a motorbike rider of more than 15 years.  As a medication-dependent diabetic, Vicroads requires my doctor check my capabilities and physical well-being at regular intervals.  I have to get a form completed otherwise my licence will be suspended.  Fair enough too.  As a motorbike rider, I am used to not being seen by car drivers and finding it necessary to take more precautionary actions than when in my car.  While on my motorbike, I have been squeezed out of my lane by car drivers who would rather risk my safety than wonder why they feel the need to carry out this foolish action and what it could possibly achieve.  I have come off my motorbike in traffic; I know exactly how much it hurts and how very fortunate I am to still be alive.

On top of this, a close family member died on the roads, due to an accident caused by alcohol consumption fuddling his abilities to operate his vehicle.  Several close and many not-so-close friends have died or been severely injured on the roads through various causes.  I am well aware that road accidents are not due to one cause or section of the community.  But the elderly gent living next door to my parents a few years ago caused at least two bad accidents by backing out of his driveway onto the very busy road, and he also put his car through his brick fence.  Each of these incidents he claimed no responsibility for, despite obviously being the cause.  He neither saw nor heard any other traffic.  He was in his eighties at the time.

Recently my grandmother had her licence taken from her due to her inability to pass a physical driving re-test.  My father ranted about the loss to the community since my very wonderful grandmother had a huge heart, and each week ran about the neighbourhood picking up other older folk to take them to Senior Citizens' functions, and to church, and the like.  He had a point, but what about the loss to the community if she had not seen a child walk out in front of her car?  Or had, but had not been able to react in time?  What if she had caused herself harm by causing an accident?  This, after all, was someone who would fall in her back garden and have to wait for hours for help to come, unable to help herself.  I loved my grandmother very much (she has since passed away of natural causes), and neither wanted harm to come to her, or for her to have to live with remorse from causing harm to someone else by accident.  Examples like my grandmother and the old chap living next to my parents are not unusual unfortunately.  Apparently, people over 85 are four times as likely to have an accident than their younger counterparts.  But according to Albert Bates, Victorian manager for National Seniors Australia, while there was a need for better information about driving on medication, 'S' plates could stigmatise older drivers and spark elder abuse on the roads.  He is concerned there could be road rage directed at these drivers.  Maybe from an ignorant few, but it would save the rest of us from getting upset at the person in front of us driving at 40 in a clearly marked 60 zone, or for taking forever to pull out into traffic at an intersection.  And if the 'S' driver is behaving totally normally, and coping in the traffic - kudos to you old-timer, may I be as in-control of my faculties at your age.

Sure, let's not segregate only the older drivers.  Perhaps we need other plates for other community sectors.  I mentioned schools being in my driving zone.  If I could see a plate on a car that showed it would likely pull out of the traffic into a non-existent parking space outside any school we approach in order to collect their offspring, well that would be quite helpful.  I'd also find useful plates defining the driver of the six or eight cylinder ute as a total idiot, likely to burn off from the traffic lights, and someone to be avoided as they will likely tail gate you even if you are doing 10kms over the speed limit.  As it is, I assume they all fit into that category, in order that I'm not surprised and shocked when it happens.  How exciting when I'm proven incorrect!  I'd be happy to have a plate on my car.  Maybe an 'R' for 'Road Rage Likely'.  Maybe everyone will steer clear of me then and I won't have any further cause to complain about other drivers.


http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/s-plate-could-put-clamps-on-gramps-20100501-u0de.html