Gray Hair: Use Extra Caution

[6ZeroZeroR]

EDIT: I am not trying to insult all persons with gray hair, but I guess that is what it sounds like. I simply mean to see it as a flag for the possibility of a driver that may be beyond their ability to drive safely due to physical impediments. Damn, this is just sounding worse. Please do not be offended as I mean no harm. I'm only trying to warn riders of the circumstances of my near miss today. We all know the majority of older, more experienced(OK, now I'm grabbing for brownie points) riders are excellent riders. We also realize that some older drivers are too stubborn to know when to quit.

I went for a ride on my RED bike wearing my RED/white/black jacket this morning and pulled up behind a white Ford Crown Victoria--I'll leave the whole political affiliation aspect out of this--at a red light. I decided to stay behind the car b/c I wanted to go for a slow cruise. Perfect. I'm cruisin' along well behind the car and I notice the man driving is fairly old. So when traffic clears in the left lane I pull to the left slowly and I'm cruising where I can see the driver's face in his left side mirror. Since I'm going to turn left at the approaching intersection I start to accelerate in case the older gentleman ahead of me decides to do the same. After riding behind him in plain sight for a couple miles, I pull forward and as I do he drifts into my lane and forces me into the center turning lane(between the two sets of yellow center lanes). I lay on the horn right beside his door and he doesn't acknowledge me. I pull ahead and keep my eye on him in the mirror and he acts like nothing happened. For whatever reason, he should not be driving.

EDIT II: I believe a good solution to this would be mandatory testing when a person reaches the age of 65. Then tested every 7 years onward.

[jeffs99vulcan]

EDIT EDIT EDIT... did you get some razzing by any chance, or just being proactive?!

[6ZeroZeroR]

Originally Posted by jeffs99vulcan

EDIT EDIT EDIT... did you get some razzing by any chance, or just being proactive?!

Proactive. When I saw the title I realized some may take offense to it.

[jeffs99vulcan]

LOL... should have gone with the old "blue-hair" standard... odds are good there are a few of "us" on here with a grey or two, but I doubt the blue-hairs are reading a biker forum! (Sorry, did I say biker? I meant poser...)

[MagicNinja]

I agree. There are too many older people out there that have no business driving. I'm also not saying ALL older people are bad drivers but yes, there should be continued testing.

The majority of my close calls have involved older drivers in HUGE vehicles.

[pappie]

I've had bad experinces with older drivers not paying attetion but just as many from everyone else too. Pappie

[trikebubble]

Originally Posted by jeffs99vulcan

LOL... should have gone with the old "blue-hair" standard... odds are good there are a few of "us" on here with a grey or two, but I doubt the blue-hairs are reading a biker forum! (Sorry, did I say biker? I meant poser...)

We do the same thing when we see any license plate from east of the Rockies!

[Chondro]

If the driver is wearing a beret-type golf cap, LOOK OUT!!

[jbsmd]

They drive well, just not around other people. I think most, don't consider the hazards that they may be creating. They want to go somewhere, so they go. It's a way of being independent. Driving is hard to give up. I also believe, the way most people drive today, are more of a threat than a few old buzzards on the road.

[nvbirdman]

A young girl made a left turn in front of me a few days ago. I think we should watch out for everybody. BTW I don't have any grey hair, but my fathers hair was going grey when he was half the age that I am now.

[airforce1]

UH OH!
So, 57 year old cruiser rider was headed home Monday here in "river city".
18 year old kid pulled out in front of him.
Now the biker, who has been riding "forever" is in the hospital with a mangled leg.
Gray hair is not the factor.
We seem to be living in a culture where anyone over 30 is considered ancient and incompetent. It's not ok to criticise anyone for being black, brown, yellow or some religion, but it's ok to hammer anyone with gray hair?
That's intolerance.
Yep, the "oldies" have slower reaction times, but they mostly drive pretty safely, just not at the rate that some g...s yapping on cellphones in their Hondacars would like.

[SixFiveOh]

I keep my gray hair neatly tucked under my full face helmet...

[jeffs99vulcan]

Originally Posted by trikebubble

We do the same thing when we see any license plate from east of the Rockies!

I was going to pretend I was all insulted because I'm East of the Rockies, but I figure we're already so far apart that I'm WEST of you if you go around the earth the other way!

[anrfknm]

Originally Posted by MagicNinja

I agree. There are too many older people out there that have no business driving. I'm also not saying ALL older people are bad drivers but yes, there should be continued testing.

The majority of my close calls have involved older drivers in HUGE vehicles.

the majority of close calls i have come from young women who just don't give a damn. there are drivers out there that see you, but don't care. they use that 4000 lb car to do what and go where they want and if you're there, tough.

[Lobocop]

Hey, I have gray hair (whats left of it anyway) and I suggest you stay out of my way while I am riding ...

Okay, is the road clear enough now where I don't have to worry about bubblegum chewing, cell phone talking, text messenging idiots with purple mohawk hair cuts?

[07Ninja250]

Here, drivers of advanced age are just aggravating to be behind, so I blast around them before they've had a chance to decide they want the lane I'm in.

The two groups who are most dangerous around here are 1) teenagers who haven't learned yet that you have to 'negotiate' traffic instead of just jerking the wheel in the direction you want to go in, and 2) pretty much anyone else using a cell phone. There are days (such as 2 mondays ago) where I was nearly killed twice in the same day, by the exact same set of circumstances. People here are bad about assuming that because their mirrors were clear 2 minutes ago, that must mean it's still clear. YOU HAVE TO ACTUALLY EXERT SOME EFFORT AND CHECK OVER YOUR SHOULDER BEFORE CHANGING LANES!!!! It's a shame that some people don't learn this until after they've killed someone.

[Scrambler81]

A lot of older folks move too slow, so they get on my nerves at times. However, I find younger people, especially the 30 - 50 range, a lot more dangerous. They seem to be much more self-absorbed, like they are the only ones that matter out there. Feel like getting my buddy's Deuce and running them over.

[6ZeroZeroR]

FYI, folks, I have a few gray hairs myself. I just worded to title badly and was unable to change it. If I had just posted my experience with a different title no one would have been offended. Why can't we edit the title?

[jeffs99vulcan]

Originally Posted by 6ZeroZeroR

FYI, folks, I have a few gray hairs myself. I just worded to title badly and was unable to change it. If I had just posted my experience with a different title no one would have been offended. Why can't we edit the title?

Don't worry about it... you'll probably just get a PM from a mod with your first warning, and maybe grey-listed for a while. After your probation, you'll hardly even care that you're on a "watch list", and once you get through that, all of your unedited posts will probably start making it into the forum again.

The initiation of going through the "Welcome newbie" threads is easy enough... just hope you don't have any serious bike problems over the next two years.

[Lobocop]

Originally Posted by jeffs99vulcan

Don't worry about it... you'll probably just get a PM from a mod with your first warning, and maybe grey-listed for a while. After your probation, you'll hardly even care that you're on a "watch list", and once you get through that, all of your unedited posts will probably start making it into the forum again.

The initiation of going through the "Welcome newbie" threads is easy enough... just hope you don't have any serious bike problems over the next two years.

This Mod found his post funny