Hi. Could you please bring this back to cars? Thanks.
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[quote=âRandomTroll, post:79, topic:100498â]
Which would include a lot of Republican CFOs. [/quote]
So what? How is that even relevant? I mean, even if I were a registered Republican: you break the law; you go to jail. That would be like me worrying about how many of the CFOs were Lutheran: beside the point.
And itâs not the case. Corporations default on their pension obligations through bankruptcy; many do - nobody goes to jail.
Try not to BS somebody who knows what theyâre talking about, Troll. I was a âLabor and Industrial Relationsâ major in college; I still remember a thing or two re: ERISA. Rule Numero Uno is: you co-mingle retirement funds with âdaily operatingâ funds, you GO TO JAIL. No passing go; no collecting $200.
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You keep on taking particular stances (on red light cameras; here on retirement funding) and attempt to âpoliticizeâ it. Which is pointless! I mean, be it retirement savings, or be it DUI, you apply the law across the board! Lady Justice is wearing a blindfold, remember? I certainly wouldnât change my views on DUI if I found out a disproportionate share of offenders were porcupines, now would I?
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Actually, in the mid 30âs men lived to about 60 or 61, women to 65. Social Security was planned to support the ones who got older than that. It was also planned to get old people to quit working so younger people would have jobs. Today people live to be 83 or so, and thereâs no incentive to quit if you wait until your full retirement age (66-68).
And they (we) keep driving after that. So now we have a different set of conditions. Not worse, just different.
Caroline - if we had to work all day instead of drawing our Social Security we wouldnât have time to yak about cars. And other stuff. Blah, blah, blah. Sadly, weâre not as clever as Tom and Ray were on Car Talk, but weâre trying.
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Iâm sorry for your motherâs loss, and for that of the others. However, confusing one pedal and for brake isnât limited to old people - it is cited as the main explanation for âunexplained accelerationâ affecting drivers of all ages and the several people I know directly who will admit it are all well below old age.
Were we talking about cars? At this point I canât remember.
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Yup!
The wacky 40-ish woman who T-boned my friendâs Accord while I was a passenger told the cops that, âThe harder I pressed the brake, the faster the car wentâ. The copâs response was, âYeah, thatâs what usually happens when you mistake the gas pedal for the brakeâ.
Act like an old person and youâll drive like an old person!
As people age they need to resist aging, donât just sit there and take it. Fight back!
Old or older and wanting to drive safely?
Do at least 30 minutes of fairly strenuous cardio every morning. It supplies needed oxygen to the brain. (I give myself a Stress Test every morning. Itâs either going to make me more alert as a driver or kill me, in which case I wonât be a hazard on the road.)
Eat a healthful diet, high in protein and fruits and vegetables, low on saturated fat and stuff that causes lethargy and irregularity.
Dump that boring car thatâll put you to sleep! (Ever notice that the old people that drive into a store front or restaurant are driving Buick LaSabres (think about it)? Get something fun to drive!
Blast some good old Rock nâ Roll on the car stereo! Nobody could ever start drooling and mistake a gas pedal for a brake pedal while listening to Mick Jagger and the boys pumping out Canât You Hear Me Knocking.
Stones not your style? Try Danger Zone by Kenny Loggins. Find something thatâll get you singing along and keeping the beat on the steering wheel!
Act old (ball on antenna and park close to store entrance) = Drive old + Crash.
Probably not everybody will agree with me. Whatâya think?
CSA
Mostly, I agree with you, and I follow most of those guidelines. My taste in music, however, isâŠvery different.
One of your observations that resonated the most with me is the âball on antennaâ comment. When my aunt began doing that (actually, it was a really garish plastic flower that she taped to the antenna), I asked herâŠWhy? Her response was, âSo that I recognize my carâ. 
While I didnât say it, my thought at that point wasâŠIf you donât recognize your own car, it may be time to stop driving.
A few months later, she bought a new Malibu and upon arriving home with the car, she took a steak knife and cut the seat belts and shoulder harnesses out of the car. When I quizzed her about that move, she told me, âIf I crash and my arms are broken, I wouldnât be able to open the belt, and I could burn to deathâ.
When I pointed out to her that, if her arms were broken, she also wouldnât be able to open the door, she angrily accused me of beingâŠimpertinent.
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That type of music is just one of many I enjoy. I appreciate most music genres. I like music that keeps me alert while driving.
CSA
Oh, I forgot that⊠I make an effort to exercise my mind (for speed and accuracy), too. I wouldnât accept the fact that I had trouble identifying my car. I agree with you, that would be the time to give it up ⊠or⊠exercise oneâs cognitive âmusclesâ until itâs possible.
Like I said, I believe one has to resist aging and work at it a bit. Use âitâ or lose âit.â
CSA
Are couples 80+ years old listening to the Stones or Kenny Loggins? More like Elvis or lounge singers like Tony Bennett I believe. I think you might be referring to the under 80 crowd.
My motherâs unfortunate death reminded me of similar accidents I had been âcloseâ to. I told the story with the intention of getting people to think again about this fraught issue. I was conflicted: I thought she was a dangerous driver, she thought otherwise, I wasnât going to go so far as force her to give up driving. Our decisions endangered innocent others. I chalked it up to the risks we all take. I donât know that Iâm right.
As for the technicality of âcomminglingâ funds, it doesnât make a practical difference to an employee whether she loses her retirement savings because a corporation defaults on them legally through bankruptcy or illegally because of commingling.
OKâŠ
letâs try Thatâs All Right, Mama by Elvis, from KWKHâs Louisiana Hayride in, I believe, 1954. I have the Collectorâs CD (The whole album has Elvis Rock from 54 - 56, some real classics with the original recordings), one of my favorites!
Thatâs a real toe-tapper and itâll get you another 15 years. Eighty year-olds were listening to that as teenagers!
CSA
itâs possible for both problems to be addressed at the same time, saying fix one before thinking about the other usually means â ignore the one that effects MEâ and Iâm a geezer too, and strongly in favor of testing us at renewal time, too many crashes by people who shouldnât be driving any moreâŠ
I wrote:
âExpensive, you say? Factor the cost of hospital bills, rehab, police, ambulance, fire, road workers, etc. Not to mention deaths. What is THAT cost?â
I generally donât listen to the radio when I drive, I like to pay attention to the other traffic. My wife sometimes asks me, when I slow up just before someone does something stupid in front of or along side of me âHow did you know they were going to do thatâ My answer is, millions of miles watching idiots and a strong dislike of filling out accident reports.
I, and friends that we go out to dinner are the elderly drivers some of you were referring to. My reflexes are still faster than the average person but not as fast as when I was younger. When I retired from trucking after 40 years, and started driving a school bus they tested my gas to brake times and kept throwing out my best times because I must have âguessedâ when the red light was coming on. Even with that I was the quickest of the 80 some drivers.
None of us at the lunch table drive at night unless it is necessary, I donât make long road trips in the winter anymore because it would mean driving in unfamiliar territory in the dark.
We have one friend who is 98, drives all over and doesnât need glasses. It all depends on the person.
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