Yesterday afternoon I watched as an elderly woman driving a Mercedes stopped completely in the left lane of Six Forks Road, put her turn signal on, and then (waiting for traffic to clear) drove right through two lanes of traffic to get into Costco (no, it wasn’t that lady). As I followed her car in the parking lot, I watched as she approached a crosswalk where a couple were waiting to cross. She slowed down to the point where the people began to walk through the crosswalk, only to have to back up when the woman kept driving on through. The couple angrily stared at her as she drove on, inching up to the next row of cars and stopping for 20 seconds before slowly rolling to the next row.
She was obviously no longer able to drive safely. I shook my head and remembered the moment it became obvious to me how elderly drivers in Raleigh are completely screwed when the day comes that they are no longer able to drive safely. So much of Raleigh was built in a car-centric manner that these poor folks have no alternative than to drive beyond their ability to do so safely.
I was wishing there was a way I could alert the drivers’ loved ones that she was a danger to her herself and others. There are a few services out there but nothing that seems to exactly fit my needs. If anyone finds one they like, let me know.
I could go years without owning a car….oh wait, I already did that! 🙂
It’s not that hard, Mark. Even in Raleigh.