- What's up Notification Squad?
It's your boy.
Get ready for the most dead ass, best, hashtag,
epic memes of the last week.
Because us millennials have goldfish brains
and can't concentrate.
YOLO!
Sick.
See that floss dude.
Okay, now that the old people
have stopped watching this video.
Let's talk about something serious.
One of the worst age related car accidents in history,
happened in 2003.
An 86 year old man was driving his Buick LeSabre,
around Santa Monica,
when he crashed into a Mercedes,
that has stopped to make way for pedestrians.
Instead of pressing the brake,
old George slammed on the gas
and rammed through the Mercedes.
He blasted down through road barriers
and straight into a farmers market.
Killing 10 people and injuring more than 70.
By the end of it, he had gone two and a half blocks
and hit speeds of 60 miles per hour.
He thought the gas pedal was the brake
and this wasn't the first time he had even done this.
10 years earlier, he had gone off-road
into a dense public area, but didn't hit anyone thankfully.
Fortunately, accidents this serious don't happen too often.
Most drivers over the age of 65
are just as safe as the rest of us on the road.
Which is why it's hard to draw the line,
when it comes to who should or shouldn't have a license.
I have to ask the question.
How old is too old to drive?
We're gonna tackle that, but before we do,
we're gonna go over some warning signs
that can indicate your driving is starting to suck.
We're going to look at what the numbers say.
Like, am I making all this up?
Or are there stats that prove,
older people are worse at driving?
And finally, I wanna figure out what can be done about it.
And before people come at me, accusing me of being ageist,
I'm just being real.
It's not controversial to say
that your senses deteriorate as you age.
It's a fact.
I'm sure people don't like being called old
and threatened with getting their licenses taken away.
- I'm not old.
- But look at all the things
millennials are being blamed for.
Okay we're killing restaurants, cars
and even the napkin industry.
So, go kick some rocks grandpa.
When you think of getting older,
usually the first thing that comes to mind,
is the loss of physical abilities.
About a year ago, I found out
I couldn't even touch my toes anymore.
And that's when I decided to go to the gym.
- [Man] Go all the way down and hold.
(groans)
- [Man] Hold.
- I am (loud flatulence) ah.
Some warning signs of drivers
with poor physical abilities are,
trouble getting in the car,
late and slow reactions
and minor accidents.
Aww, what the (beep).
The body isn't the only thing
that degrades with age, of course.
The brain does as well.
Some warning signs of failing cognitive abilities are,
running stop signs,
making poor decisions
and dozing off at the wheel.
It sounds like my cognition is degrading everyday.
Vision is probably the easiest thing to test for.
But eyesight can degrade a lot in five years.
Which is the average time a driver has in the US,
before they have to renew their license.
Some warning signs of drivers with poor vision are,
having to brake suddenly,
brushing up against objects on the periphery of the car
or having trouble with glare.
Prince Philip just recently crashed
and rolled his Land Rover because of sun glare.
That old ass is 97
and he refused to give up his license after the crash.
He got a new Land Rover delivered,
less than 24 hours after the incident.
Dude, you have more money than most of the world combined.
Just hire a driver.
Get a Rolls and just ball out on everyone.
Live our frickin dream.
Get off the road,
ya old guy.
You don't control me man.
We fought you back in 1776.
So going into this episode,
I broke down two very general requirements,
we have for someone to have a license.
One, are they capable enough to drive?
And two, are they responsible enough to drive?
There are instances when we deem someone,
no longer responsible.
Such as after getting a DUI or too many speeding tickets.
And in those cases, we take the driver's license away.
Generally speaking we chose the age
that young people can begin driving.
Based on the responsibility factor.
Many 10 year olds possess the motor skills
to operate a vehicle.
But we wouldn't trust many of them
to be responsible out there on the road.
However, for old people,
the question isn't if they are responsible enough,
it becomes are they capable enough?
As I first began researching these stories,
a lot of which were seriously tragic and heartbreaking.
My knee-jerk reaction was
that we should be taking away people's licenses
after a certain age.
We've picked an age for young people.
So even though it doesn't feel totally right or fair,
setting an age for the elderly,
doesn't really seem like a totally ridiculous proposition.
We would just look at the numbers
and find the most logical age.
Right?
But, that's when I found out
I was completely and totally wrong.
Ahh.
In particular, I looked at these two graphs released by AAA.
The first shows the car crash injuries,
to the driver, the passenger and to others,
broken down by the age of the driver.
And well, even if old people are terrible drivers,
according to this data,
a 75 year old driver is less likely to hurt someone
than a 35 year old driver.
The second chart is even more interesting.
It shows the number of deaths broken down in the same way.
Although older drivers are a bigger hazard to themselves.
When you compare 80 year olds
to drivers in their late 20s, such as myself.
80 year olds are less of a danger,
when it comes to harming others.
That means I am more likely to kill someone,
in a car accident than an 80 year old.
Go figure.
So if we go back to my initial idea
to create an age limit based on the numbers.
Well, if we created a cut-off at 80 years old,
by that same logic,
no one should be allowed to receive a license
until they turn 30.
Old people do cause plenty of terrible accidents
because sometimes they're not capable
of safely operating a vehicle.
But, they're not alone.
People in every age group are causing accidents
and hurting each other.
And if you're under 30,
you've got a higher chance or being involved.
My solution would be stricter license requirements
across the board.
If you're able to drive,
then you should be allowed to drive.
But only after you prove that you can handle it.
Tell your grandma to like this video.
If she doesn't know what that means, that's all right.
Take that frail hand in yours and click that like button.
Get her an Instagram profile
so that she can follow me @NOLANJSYKES
and also follow Donut @DONUTMEDIA.
Be nice to old people.
I'll see you next time.