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Senior News March, 2003 Vol. 22. No. 3
Published by the Humboldt Senior Resource Center in Eureka, California. HSRC is a non-profit community-based organization offering services for senior citizens, multi-generational families and caregivers.
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Humboldt Senior Resource Center Back issues Table of Contents
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Think About It To drive or not to drive? by Ruth Mountaingrove By the time this Senior News is in your hands I'll be 80-a milestone, but not impressive these days. A lot of us are becoming 80. While friends think 1923 was a good year to be born, I counter with, yes, but not for driving a car. The DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) has an ageist attitude and gives me the impression they would like to have us 80-year-olds off the road. The only problem with that is that California has such an abysmal public transportation system. There are large areas between small towns where walking is not feasible such as between Eureka and Fortuna or Arcata and McKinleyville. Yes, there is Dial-A-Ride, and buses in Arcata run every hour during the week, every other hour on Saturdays and not at all on Sundays. They start at 7 a.m. and run, when college is in session, till 10 p.m. And there are friends who might be willing to take me grocery shopping if I asked. I'm fortunate in that I live three blocks from a market, but trips there aren't feasible in heavy rain. Still, I'm debating giving up my license. My decision is complicated by a disability I've had since birth - nearsightedness - and now cataracts, though they do not interfere with my vision. I can still read perfectly well and see distance with corrective lenses as I have all my life. In order to pass the drivers test for another year I have to make an appointment with an opthamologist and, after testing, get a signed a piece of paper that gives me another year of driving. Of course they could give me more than a year, but ageism comes in here too. Since I turned 71 I have had to take both the written and the driving test almost every year. We are brought up on independence. Self reliance. Not expecting other people to do for us. That's hard to give up. Ruth Mountaingrove has been writing our Electronic Highway column since 1994. She is still exploring the Internet and is happy to receive questions at her e-mail: ruth3@humboldt1.com. |
Senior News 