Seniors: Largest Group of Drivers On the Road

As you probably know by now, I live in what some folks might call the rural South, mostly because we don’t have an interstate highway anywhere near us. 

This means no mass transit system. Not even a bus line, other than Grayhound and they don’t exactly run a local route. I’ve noticed a couple of those cute passenger vans running around town, for taking people to the senior center or medical appointments. Leastways, I think that’s what they do. They could just drive aimlessly around town since we seem to have a lot of traffic during the hours when working age people should be at work.

Since I still drive I haven’t had to check out the van system.

I’m not the only senior out there driving around. Seems nationwide we’re reluctant to give up our cars. Unlike the youngsters who are either giving up their car or not bothering to get one in the first place. I read a survey that reported seniors are driving more miles than the Gen-Yers (kids between the age of 16 and 34). 

The article gave all sorts of reasons for this, but my guess would be the economy. If you’re living at home with mom and dad and have a real crap job, would you be able to afford a car? Why not just borrow mom and dad’s car?

Then again, some of the young ‘uns claim they’re trying to reduce their carbon imprint by riding their bikes or using public transportation. Of course that means they live somewhere besides here where Bubba thinks bicycles are moving targets and no public transportation exists.

On the other hand, these kids could just be plain smart since another survey found that people 70 and older now make up the largest group of drivers on the road. Which is pretty scary when you think about it. I know lots of seniors who take lots of medications and I’ve yet to find medication that has no side effects. Drowsiness being high on the side effects list. And we all know how hard it is for seniors to stay awake under normal circumstances.

Sounds like a good reason to stay off the roads,.

But wait, there may be a plus side to more seniors on the road–seniors don’t tend to drive and text. Mainly, because they can’t see the little bitty keyboard on their phones when they’re not driving, much less when they are driving. 

Think about it, seniors need their reading glasses to text and they’re wearing their seeing glasses to drive. Since they can’t see the letters on the phone, they can’t text. 

Words of wisdom here. No matter what your age, stay alert when you drive. Forget about texting or talking on the phone and concentrate on getting from Point A to Point B. If you don’t pay attention, Point B becomes a cemetery.


With luck, automated cars will be here before you know it. Everyone will be happy then. Old folks can nap and young folks can text.

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