Old road warriors speak out
For news and opinions on auto racing, read McDonald’s blog online. I barely had time to take in my copy of the Saturday Star last weekend — yes, I’m a subscriber and have it delivered just like you do — when the phone rang and it was my old pal Jim Bray.
I knew exactly why he’d called. He just turned 80 and, like several other people who emailed their displeasure, was not happy at suggestions I’d made, quoting others, that people his age be banned from driving on 400-series highways in Ontario and that they should have to pass periodic driving tests as well as the written tests they do now.
“As someone who logs 60,000to-70,000 ks a year,” said Mr. Bray, who was the second Canadian to race in the Daytona 500 back in 1964, “I’ll challenge anyone who suggests I need a driver’s test.
“As you know, I continue to be involved with my two-car NASCAR Canadian Tire Series racing team and I also fly my own airplane. I’d take some of those critics up for a ride, but I’m not sure they would be emotionally capable of handling the thrill.”
I didn’t — and don’t — blame Bray and others for being angry. The assumption that anyone is incapable of doing certain things because of age is abhorrent to my way of thinking too.
But society, rightly or wrongly, makes all sorts of rules for people based on age. In Ontario, the age of majority (the age when you are legally considered an adult) is 18. And yet you can’t purchase cigarettes or alcohol until you are 19. Cross the border to New York and you have to be 21.
Thousands of children in Ontario, tens of thousands across Canada and millions in North America know how to drive because they are competitive go-kart racers by the time they are 10. And yet society says a minor child can’t drive on the road until they are 16 — and even then there are restrictions.
It that fair? Of course not. But that’s the way it is.
Meantime, there is no denying that we degenerate in varying degrees and ways as we get older. Professional athletes usually retire between the ages of 35 and 40 because they’re not fast enough to play the games any more. It’s a fact of life. It has nothing to do with knowledge, desire or past performance. They just can’t do it anymore.
And various forms of dementia are now so commonplace they are almost epidemic in nature.
For older drivers, reaction time is a concern. And yes, there are 80-yearolds out there (Jim Bray’s one, probably) who can react faster than — say — someone who’s only 60.
A test would prove that and if someone over 80 is as mentally and physically sharp as always, then they should be able to continue to drive. Otherwise, they should not.
We are taught from a young age to plan for our “golden years.” That’s why most of us contribute to RRSPs and make other financial investments to protect our economic well-being when we can’t work for money any longer.
Hard as it is to say, we should also start to plan for our future mobility. There will come a day when many of us won’t be able to drive any more. We should all be prepared for that eventuality.
Those of you thinking about attending the Celebration of Life for the late Bob Armstrong in Ottawa next Saturday can still get it in on the bus trip that some of his Toronto friends are planning.
Ralph Luciw is making arrangements. He says there are still seats left. Email him at: countryroad@andrewswireless.net. nmcdonald@thestar.ca