Discussion about this post

User's avatar
DJ_Wight's avatar

I am a senior who several years ago signed up to answer online polls for Leger. I would like to know who sponsored the poll I was offered to respond to over the weekend, which responded to my reporting of (60+) age and birthdate with a most unexpectedly enthusiastic "You're exactly the sort of respondent we want!" and then proceeded to run me through an extremely long and detailed survey asking questions about my driving behaviours. This first focused on the frequency with which I might commit a long list of distracted-driving offenses, then on the frequency with which I might witness other drivers committing them. One aspect of this being, that most of the offenses described, I don't know that I would have time or even be able to *detect* other drivers committing, in any ordinary driving situation. Then there was a short discussion of distracted-driving laws out there--basically asking was I aware of them, which was a some-I-believed-I-was,-and-some-I-couldn't-swear-I'd-ever-heard-of situation--and then rather an odd closing section that asked me to rate the original long list of distracted-driving offenses according to seriousness, within a framework of laws proposed for implementation. Eg., where might I rank talking on a phone vs using a headset vs putting on makeup vs having a loose pet inside the car as eligible for each of having 3 demerits for a first offense, vs. 6 for more, or having my license lifted for a week, or a month, or suspended permanently. By the time I'd muddled through all that, my head was pretty much spinning! I doubt my rankings were anywhere near consistent by the time I finished, which felt like it could in itself be a trap for me to show myself confused... And then those "new rules" came past in blog, which you are mercifully describing as a HOAX, which frankly made the survey feel like it was written to extract from me as a senior driver, a maximally elaborate confession to every damn last distracted-driving offense I might ever have committed, as a preliminary to implementing annual tests from age 70, designed to strip me of my license if I ever so much as touched my car's radio console to change stations! It felt like an almighty coincidence which might be pointing to a new government emphasis on stripping seniors of their licenses as fast as possible past 70. Very alarming both in light of my not having a whole lot of years to go until then, and a lot of my life and mobility depending on my being able to drive myself and others. As for a lot of seniors I know, who continue to be safe and careful well up into their 80s and low 90s... If the lesson was to threaten and throw a scare into elder drivers, it succeeded!

1 more comment...

No posts

Ready for more?