wants an extra parking spot. Some people feel isolated and depressed when they stop driving, but planning ahead can keep you connected. A bus pass or a taxi ride is cheaper than car ownership, and if you offer to pay for their gas, a car-driving friend might enjoy your company for a jaunt to the mountains.
Life in an area without ride-share companies or public transit( like my dad on the farm) can make having a car more necessary. Or perhaps you simply still want to drive. Lucky for us, many cars now offer helpful features, such as online maps and sensors that apply the brakes or warn about a vehicle in the next lane. I love my backup camera and the guidelines that show how I’ m lined up in a parking spot. My seat adjusts comfortably, and the seat and steering wheel are heated. The trunk opens and closes with ease.
Just ensure that you keep your car and tires in tip-top shape, your medications don’ t affect alertness, and you give yourself ample time to reach your destination. If someone else in your household does all the driving, consider taking the wheel more often, for practice. Is your insurance up to date?
I plan to put many more kilometres on the road. I like to think I’ m a much better driver than when I passed my driving test at age 16 in Milestone, Saskatchewan. Fifty years later, after countless fill-ups at the gas station, changing many flat tires, struggling with fold-out maps, and with experience driving a wide range of cars( and trucks and tractors), I still feel bullish about the open road. Who knows? Maybe someday I’ ll“ drive” my own self-driving car.
And I’ ll try to face the music about my driving skills long before my kids have to gear up for“ the talk.”
Sheila started out driving her brother’ s Chevy halfton with three-on-the-tree and a bench seat. Her first“ own car” was a brown 1973 AMC Matador station wagon. Brutal.
Men outlive their driving careers by an average of seven years, and women by ten years, according to the CAA. Visit caa. ca / driving-safely / senior-drivers to find:
• Requirements for licence renewal as you age
• Signs that your driving skills are declining
• How to have“ the talk” with an older relative
• Refresher courses
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