<p>She was NOT that old at all. We all have some health problems, old and young (maybe more in the last category, if you include addictions, as not many of addicts survive until older age). I would say, avoid driving at night as much as possible, but we cannot control flight schedules, maybe try to choose the more convinient ones if possible.</p>
<p>Highways are still safer than two-lane country roads, though. They’ve started installing strong cable guardrails on highways in Maine, so at least someone can’t drive from one side of the highway to the other - the cable would stop them. </p>
<p>We had a wrong-way driver the last month or so, on the highway just north of where we live. Really scary.</p>
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<p>She was 69. At 2:15 in the morning. I would definitely call that “an older woman,” and I think it is reasonable to wonder if she had some kind of health problem which contributed to her driving the wrong way down the highway for miles.</p>
<p>^There are many of us who are working passed 69 currently and traveling on expressway (some are as long as 1 hr one way) on a daily basis, which is very tiresome even at the younger age, done it, know what it is.
Not “older” any more. And it will be more and more because of new health law, who would want to retire and get very restricted services on Medicare. Just watch it hapen. Cannot say that 69 is old anymore, is USA President at 69 to make decisions that might result in many more deaths than 3? Historical facts attest to otherwise.</p>
<p>Davy Jones just died, he was 66. Ronnie Montrose just died, he was 64. Sorry, even though * some* older people will enjoy good health for decades, the fact remains that 69 years of age * is* “older”, & many by their late 60’s early 70’s, will have significant health problems.</p>
<p>…So, we should never ever have a president who is over 69 (or 62, or 55,…or), because he migh cause many people die, many more than 3. Also, we should all reture at what - 45? Then who will support us and who will pay our health bills? Suggesting that age of 69 could have caused this terrible accident is very ridiculous by current measures…should everybody loose a driver’s license automatically at 55 or 45 or when?</p>
<p>emerald,
using your logic, we should never get license since there are people who are diying of heart conditions in their 20s or older but not in 60s. How about pricess Grace? Some other celebrities, who are just like Davy were up to whatever they are doing in their lives (sport, performance) and then had heart attack and died. Very many young people now have diabetese and high blood pressure that can cause suddent health related event. So, we should restrict certain ages and maybe certain weights from having driver license.
Teh truth is as senseless and sad these events are, they are somewhat avoidable, but never 100%.</p>
<p>Good grief. No one is saying people over 60 shouldn’t get drivers licenses or be president, only that at age 69 (or any age of course but likelier as we get older) it is POSSIBLE that there was a health issue. It’s also POSSIBLE that the driver was drunk or on legal/illegal medication that affected her judgement. I think it unlikely that a mistake like emeraldkitty described was made because she drove the wrong way for so many miles and passed so many cars. I’ve almost gotten on a badly marked freeway the wrong way too but also realized my mistake quickly.</p>
<p>I feel terrible for these girls and their families. I agree rear seat seatbelts may have made a difference, legally required or not I wear them and make my (teenage) kids do the same.</p>
<p>But this accident was clearly not the fault of the girls. How horribly sad.</p>
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<p>You’ve said nothing that negates the fact that at 69, the wrong way driver was an “older woman.”</p>
<p>As to the rest of your post, nonsense. No one here has suggested that older people should be denied anything simply because they are “older.” It was suggested that due to her age, she may have had a health issue which may have contributed to her driving the wrong way down a highway, which are not the actions of someone who is healthy, alert, and competent. It is a fact that as we get older, the incidence of health problems increases. Whether she was drunk, had a health issue which impacted her ability to operate a vehicle, or was on medication which interacted with other medications or caused an adverse reaction (medication taken for her “health issue”), it’s tragic that this “older woman” was unable to drive her vehicle in a safe and proper manner that morning.</p>
<p>So, we should restrict certain ages and maybe certain weights from having driver license.</p>
<p>I didn’t say the elderly shouldn’t be driving ever. However, I do think it would be a good idea if periodically * everyone* was given the written driving test ( say every 20 years) & I think it would be a * wonderful* idea if everyone had to pass the driving test after about 40-50 years or so. We had several neighbors who drove well into their 90’s & while they stuck to short local distances, I also see older people on the freeway driving in a way that endangers themselves & everyone else.</p>
<p>( granted I assume there are young people which I could say the same thing about, only I couldn’t testify they were young because they drove by too quickly for me to see their face!)</p>
<p>Some people are old at 69, while others aren’t old. I’m betting the time had something to do with it. Bars close at 2am here in Ohio and this happened shortly thereafter. I hate driving after midnight for this reason.</p>
<p>Given that the accident happened at 2:10 in the morning, just after bars close, I think DUI is a definite possibility. </p>
<p>I agree that a 69 y/o is ‘more likely’ to suffer a health condition that could affect their driving than someone much younger. There’s no question about it. This doesn’t mean they shouldn’t drive and there are no doubt some 69 y/o who are better drivers than some 29 y/o but certainly as a group they’re more likely to be taking prescription medication, have heart attacks, and other health conditions.</p>
<p>It’s reasonable to wonder why else the 69 y/o lady would be on the road at 2:10am other than returning from a bar. I was once told by a cop at around that time (who had pulled me over) that there are usually 3 groups of people on the road at that time - people returning from bars, bad guys up to no good, and people with weird work schedules (I was the latter at the time - and I didn’t receive a ticket). </p>
<p>I imagine they’ll eventually figure out what might have caused this lady to drive this way.</p>
<p>Edit - cross-posted with ‘Toledo’</p>
<p>At the risk of sounding gruesome, it sounds like the 69 year old woman was engulfed in the flames when her car caught fire despite one emergency worker using 2 fire extinguishers. Is there any chance of getting adequate samples to determine some type of DUI?</p>
<p>…but again, would it be more likely that much younger person is driving “under influence” after bars are closed than 69 yo? This is the fact that accedint was casued by 69 yo, but is there atatistics that more intoxicated drivers are around 69 or statistics tells us that intoxicated drivers tend to be younger? If intoxication caused the accident then why there is discusson about age and being intoxicated? The discussion seems to be skewed (but this is my perception, it apparently is different from others who think that intoxicated person is more likely to be 69+).</p>
<p>What kind of health problems will make you go the wrong way? Vision problem?</p>
<p>I was thinking if not DUI, “weird work schedule”. I guess we’ll find out soon enough.</p>
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I don’t think that’s the discussion. I think the question is ‘why the lady drove the wrong way on the freeway’ and that the possibilities are that she was drunk or that maybe she had some other health problem and a 69 y/o is more likely to have a health problem than a much younger person. It’s an either/or, or possibly something else, not that the combo of drunk AND older is the issue.</p>
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Any condition that causes one to take certain prescription meds that might affect their ‘ability to operate machinery’ if you will. This is why some meds have disclaimers to not drive while taking the meds. I’ve heard of other people, normally older ones, who’ve done similar things because of the meds. Health conditions can also cause some people to get ‘confused’ and not really know what they’re doing. There have been a number of cases where confused people, normally older people, are driving the wrong way on the freeway. Surprisingly, even after passing many vehicles that are all going the other way and despite having honking horns and flashing lights some of these people just carry on driving the wrong way without comprehending they’re doing anything wrong.</p>
<p>Surprisingly, even after passing many vehicles that are all going the other way and despite having honking horns and flashing lights some of these people just carry on driving the wrong way without comprehending they’re doing anything wrong.</p>
<p>Mr. Magoo?</p>
<p>It looks like she worked nights.
[Aurora</a> woman among 3 college students killed in Ohio crash with wrong-way driver - Break News - Ohio](<a href=“http://www.ohio.com/news/break-news/aurora-woman-among-3-college-students-killed-in-ohio-crash-with-wrong-way-driver-1.268119]Aurora”>http://www.ohio.com/news/break-news/aurora-woman-among-3-college-students-killed-in-ohio-crash-with-wrong-way-driver-1.268119)
At 50+ * I’m * an older driver. 
[Night</a> Vision and Driving: How Safe Are Older Drivers?](<a href=“http://www.allaboutvision.com/over40/night-driving.htm]Night”>Night Vision and Driving: How Safe Are Older Drivers?)</p>
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<p>Entering freeway the wrong way is not operating machnery. It is more of a judgement issue.</p>
<p>^^^^Well, numerous health problems can cause problems with judgment. As said before, adverse effects of medications, medication interactions with other medications, dementia, Alzheimer’s, complications of diabetes-either hypoglycemia or effects of high blood sugar, stroke, active systemic infections, etc.</p>