garion2003
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Post by garion2003 on Sept 10, 2020 9:58:57 GMT -5
I am wondering if I should have my mother's coverage updated. She doesn't drive much - only locally and only during the day. But she can be careless, her car is all scraped up, and last fall she took out a side mirror on a car parked on the street.
I am not an expert on coverage and would love some suggestions or things to consider. Her current coverage is as follows:
1. Bodily injury to others: $20,000 per person, $40,000 per accident
2. Personal injury protection: $8,000 per person, no deductible
3. Bodily injury caused by an uninsured auto: $100,00 per person/ $300,000 per accident
4. Damage to someone else's property: $100,000 per accident
5. Optional bodily injury to others: $100,00 per person/ $300,000 per accident
6. Medical payments: 0
7. Collision: $500 deductible. Actual cash value (she has a 2013 Subaru legacy that is pretty beat up)
8. Limited collision: none
9. Comprehensive: $300 deductible. Actual cash value
10: Substitute transportation: none
11. Towing and labor: none (has another service)
12. Bodily injury caused by an underinsured auto: $100,00 per person/ $300,000 per accident
The biggest impacts on the policy cost are, in order of highest: 7,4,1,9,5
As a widow, she and I are listed as drivers. She qualifies for a low mileage discount (even more so since the pandemic). She has no assets to speak of, just a small savings account with a few hundred. What is in her checking goes to pay living expenses. Income is SS and pension. No house, 401k , etc. So I think someone coming after her for liability would only be able to get something from her income.
On my car, which is 14 years old I have waived comphrensive and collision, preferring to "self insure". But she doesn't really have that option.
Thank you!
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billisonboard
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Post by billisonboard on Sept 10, 2020 10:09:04 GMT -5
Does she live where a hired driver option would be available?
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Blonde Granny
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Post by Blonde Granny on Sept 10, 2020 10:39:39 GMT -5
Ask Miss Rigby, she just gave up her car and is 80 y/o. I still drive, have a new car and I'm going to be 76 in Dec. My car insurance is $1132 per year.
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jerseygirl
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Post by jerseygirl on Sept 10, 2020 10:43:50 GMT -5
Uber and Lyft access with smartphone would be cheaper and still allow her independence safely Are these available? Or a local taxi company You could gift these to her (use your cc) and this might overcome any reluctance to ‘don’t want to spend money just to go a mile’
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oped
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Post by oped on Sept 10, 2020 10:48:20 GMT -5
If she insists on still driving, I’d keep all the injury and property ... sorry it’s not about what a person ‘can get’ it’s about covering any damage she might do to others... and drop comprehensive/collision... if it’s totaled she should probably be done driving.
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garion2003
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Post by garion2003 on Sept 10, 2020 11:15:18 GMT -5
Does she live where a hired driver option would be available? If I win Powerball! She's a pretty good driver overall, and values that independence. At some point she may need to give it up, but I don't think we are there yet. But I do feel she's in a higher risk group and want to make sure her coverage fits that situation.
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alabamagal
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Post by alabamagal on Sept 10, 2020 11:52:07 GMT -5
Since she has no large assets, just drop everything to minimum coverage. For a 7 year old car, dip the collision and comprehensive also.
Why are you listed as a driver on her vehicle? Do you live with her? If not you don’t have to be listed, that can add cost also. If you do not routinely drive her vehicle and do not live in the household you don’t have to be listed if you have a separate policy.
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Sept 10, 2020 12:26:28 GMT -5
Uber and Lyft access with smartphone would be cheaper and still allow her independence safely Are these available? Or a local taxi company You could gift these to her (use your cc) and this might overcome any reluctance to ‘don’t want to spend money just to go a mile’ I keep trying to get my Mom to start using Uber so she gets used to it. As I was working to convince her my sister said "When I got in a car accident, it was with an Uber". (a) it was a fender bender, and all her damage was covered and (b) so what? Well, that was enough for my Mom to bury the idea. However, she did say she might consider a car service - which would probably cost more, but that is fine. She has money.
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garion2003
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Post by garion2003 on Sept 10, 2020 12:52:32 GMT -5
Thanks for the suggestions! She doesn't have a smart phone and I'm not going there with her. She has a flip phone which she can generally manage to make and receive calls and texts. Anything beyond that strains her. [She was upset that no one was calling her back until she realized she had 17 voicemails. She had turned her ringer volume to silent (accidentally) and so missed hearing all the calls come in).
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garion2003
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Post by garion2003 on Sept 10, 2020 12:55:49 GMT -5
Since she has no large assets, just drop everything to minimum coverage. For a 7 year old car, dip the collision and comprehensive also. Why are you listed as a driver on her vehicle? Do you live with her? If not you don’t have to be listed, that can add cost also. If you do not routinely drive her vehicle and do not live in the household you don’t have to be listed if you have a separate policy. We occupy separate units in a 2 family house. As my dad dealt with dementia over the past few years, I took over driving for longer trips (like to see relatives). When we go out together I often drive my car. For instance, I drove her car for an oil change recently. And if we were going anywhere with others (like bringing church people some where - more common Pre-COVID, of course) I would take her car as it's bigger. I don't drive her car routinely but neither does she! So I figure better safe than sorry. I have a good driving record Good idea on the comp and collision, I do the same for my vehicles when they are that old. I am hoping this car will last as long as she does, but not sure what to do if something happens. I am thinking a used car would be the best solution, both practically and financially.
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alabamagal
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Post by alabamagal on Sept 10, 2020 15:55:55 GMT -5
Since she has no large assets, just drop everything to minimum coverage. For a 7 year old car, dip the collision and comprehensive also. Why are you listed as a driver on her vehicle? Do you live with her? If not you don’t have to be listed, that can add cost also. If you do not routinely drive her vehicle and do not live in the household you don’t have to be listed if you have a separate policy. We occupy separate units in a 2 family house. As my dad dealt with dementia over the past few years, I took over driving for longer trips (like to see relatives). When we go out together I often drive my car. For instance, I drove her car for an oil change recently. And if we were going anywhere with others (like bringing church people some where - more common Pre-COVID, of course) I would take her car as it's bigger. I don't drive her car routinely but neither does she! So I figure better safe than sorry. I have a good driving record Good idea on the comp and collision, I do the same for my vehicles when they are that old. I am hoping this car will last as long as she does, but not sure what to do if something happens. I am thinking a used car would be the best solution, both practically and financially. But if you have insurance on your own, you are covered if you borrow someone’s car, or loan your car to someone as long as they are not a prohibited driver on your policy. For instance, when we fly to visit my mom she will let us drive her car during our visit. As long as you are living separately you don’t have to have double coverage. It may not be a lot, but still don’t need it.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2020 17:41:20 GMT -5
I am going the opposite direction of everyone else, but I'm going to suggest umbrella insurance. A million costs me $150 a year from the company that insures my house and car. She doesn't even have a house (but maybe renter's insurance?).
That is if you still think she can drive. Some people can at 80 . . . at least for short distances. A lot can't.
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kadee79
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Post by kadee79 on Sept 10, 2020 20:50:09 GMT -5
My only suggestion is talk to an independent insurance agent. They can guide you on most of it & come up with a plan that won't cost a fortune.
I'm 75 & DH is 74 and we insure 3 trucks...one is just a couple years old so higher premiums for it...but our yearly fees are about what Blonde Granny is paying for just one vehicle. And all of ours are big Ram trucks. We also live rural & only near a small town...so that helps with keeping our costs down too.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2020 9:39:37 GMT -5
We pay $2,200 a year for a DH's 2019 VW Beetle and my 2018 Subaru. Houston premiums are notoriously high b/c our drivers are notoriously bad and a huge number are uninsured so my coverage for uninsured/underinsured is a big part of my costs.
With collision repairs so high these days, I would be concerned if someone with so little coverage hit me. For example, replacing DH's Mini Cooper windshield 4 years ago was $1,100. The rims on his Beetle are $500 each. The bumper on my KIA was $1,500 (that went under my uninsured motorist coverage because the woman that hit me wasn't on the owner's policy). And medical expenses add up really fast too.
Edited to add that I'm 72 and DH is 80.
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garion2003
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Post by garion2003 on Sept 11, 2020 10:35:18 GMT -5
I am going the opposite direction of everyone else, but I'm going to suggest umbrella insurance. A million costs me $150 a year from the company that insures my house and car. She doesn't even have a house (but maybe renter's insurance?). That is if you still think she can drive. Some people can at 80 . . . at least for short distances. A lot can't. I have an umbrella policy for me. My mother has no assets, but does have a renter's insurance policy (I carry insurance on the 2 family house that we share). She's a pretty good driver, and only goes short distances, to familiar places, in the day time. I am trying to think through all the scenarios (and maybe I just worry too much). The auto policy was something my dad set up years ago and I doubt it's been reviewed - he passed in April so I called to update the insurance company to remove his name and coverage. Lots of good suggestions and ideas, I appreciate everyone's input.
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bookkeeper
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Post by bookkeeper on Sept 11, 2020 10:38:34 GMT -5
My mom is 83 and still driving. She has a winter place in southern Texas. She sold her last hunk of junk car in TX and is planning to buy a different one next month. I really wonder if she will be able to purchase insurance. A few years back, the renewal came for her car insurance in TX and she threw it in the trash, because she wasn't going to be in TX in the summer. That's when she learned all about being continuously insured. Since she let her insurance lapse for non-payment, she got to pay some higher rates. We will see how this all plays out. I just wish she would take a cab or figure out the senior transport bus.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 11, 2020 12:46:55 GMT -5
My MIL scraped up her car probably a dozen times over a period of 2 years. It got bad enough that she stopped putting repairs through her insurance company because she was afraid they'd drop her. In her case, it was because of poor judgement in distancing where she was and most of her scrapes were getting in and out of the parking garage at her condo (which does have really tight corners and lots of pillars in weird places).
In 2018, she bought a new model 2019 with all the bells and whistles, including backup cameras and driver's assist. In the last nearly 2 years, she has been accident free. Now, whether it is due to all the safety features in her newer model, I can't be sure. However, there was a time that I suggested to TD that he might want to talk to his mom about giving up her license. Her getting a new car has kicked that can down the street a bit longer, but there will come a time where even those features will not help her out quite so much. Luckily, she is on a bus line and in a location where there is a plethora of stores, shops and restaurants in a 4 block radius of her condo.
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seriousthistime
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Post by seriousthistime on Sept 11, 2020 13:43:23 GMT -5
If she insists on still driving, I’d keep all the injury and property ... sorry it’s not about what a person ‘can get’ it’s about covering any damage she might do to others... and drop comprehensive/collision... if it’s totaled she should probably be done driving. I have to agree. If I am at fault for a significant personal injury, I would want my insurance to cover that injury to any reasonable extent. It is as much ethical as financial. About umbrella insurance, I have it too ... but my insurance company required me to have pretty significant auto coverage before they would issue me an umbrella policy.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 11, 2020 14:58:50 GMT -5
If she insists on still driving, I’d keep all the injury and property ... sorry it’s not about what a person ‘can get’ it’s about covering any damage she might do to others... and drop comprehensive/collision... if it’s totaled she should probably be done driving. I have to agree. If I am at fault for a significant personal injury, I would want my insurance to cover that injury to any reasonable extent. It is as much ethical as financial. About umbrella insurance, I have it too ... but my insurance company required me to have pretty significant auto coverage before they would issue me an umbrella policy. I'm here too. If she insists on driving, you need to increase her levels for both bodily injury to others and property damage. $20K in hospital bills is squat if she causes an accident that injures another person.
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TheOtherMe
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Post by TheOtherMe on Sept 11, 2020 14:59:37 GMT -5
BIL's mother started getting in accidents. Started with the parking lot type accidents. But she hit a person walking in a parking lot. The next accident she was driving alone and wrapped the car around a tree. She survived but had a long road to recovery (at my sister and BIL's house).
BIL kept trying to get her to agree to give him the keys to her car. She refused. He had POA so could have done it anyway but didn't want to do that. She called early one morning. She had received her insurance bill. It was twice her SS and she told BIL to come right then and get the car.
He was barely awake, but he went and got the car. Got her to sign the paperwork and gave car to his sister, which is who MIL wanted to have it.
I am glad my dad gave up driving when my parents moved here and he was lost all the time.
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tskeeter
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Post by tskeeter on Sept 12, 2020 16:18:13 GMT -5
I am wondering if I should have my mother's coverage updated. She doesn't drive much - only locally and only during the day. But she can be careless, her car is all scraped up, and last fall she took out a side mirror on a car parked on the street. I am not an expert on coverage and would love some suggestions or things to consider. Her current coverage is as follows: 1. Bodily injury to others: $20,000 per person, $40,000 per accident 2. Personal injury protection: $8,000 per person, no deductible 3. Bodily injury caused by an uninsured auto: $100,00 per person/ $300,000 per accident 4. Damage to someone else's property: $100,000 per accident 5. Optional bodily injury to others: $100,00 per person/ $300,000 per accident 6. Medical payments: 0 7. Collision: $500 deductible. Actual cash value (she has a 2013 Subaru legacy that is pretty beat up) 8. Limited collision: none 9. Comprehensive: $300 deductible. Actual cash value 10: Substitute transportation: none 11. Towing and labor: none (has another service) 12. Bodily injury caused by an underinsured auto: $100,00 per person/ $300,000 per accident The biggest impacts on the policy cost are, in order of highest: 7,4,1,9,5 As a widow, she and I are listed as drivers. She qualifies for a low mileage discount (even more so since the pandemic). She has no assets to speak of, just a small savings account with a few hundred. What is in her checking goes to pay living expenses. Income is SS and pension. No house, 401k , etc. So I think someone coming after her for liability would only be able to get something from her income. On my car, which is 14 years old I have waived comphrensive and collision, preferring to "self insure". But she doesn't really have that option. Thank you! I’d argue that the damage that your Mom has done to her car and others cars is not carelessness. I suspect that she is having vision problems. Particularly with depth perception. She may also be experiencing slowed reaction time as her aging brain takes longer to process visual information. (I saw this with my Dad. He tried to compensate for his vision and reaction time challenges by driving slower. He was becoming a rolling traffic obstruction.) The first step would be a vision exam. If the fender benders and scrapes continue, I’d take it as a sign that it’s time for Mom to give up driving. It’s not about Mom and her independence. It’s about the hazard your Mom‘s driving presents for others. How would your Mom feel if she ran over a seven year old who dashed out from between some cars? How about how the driver of another car would feel if they killed the little old lady who pulled out in front of them.
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TheOtherMe
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Post by TheOtherMe on Sept 12, 2020 18:28:16 GMT -5
Before the move, my dad had started compensating for his reaction time decreasing by only doing right turns. He was driving all over to avoid left turns.
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Sept 12, 2020 18:30:04 GMT -5
Shouldn't andi9899 be part of this conversation?
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andi9899
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Post by andi9899 on Sept 12, 2020 18:42:33 GMT -5
I saw the OP when it was first posted. My thought was she shouldn't be driving if she keeps hitting things, so I left without comment.
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justme
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Post by justme on Sept 13, 2020 2:17:28 GMT -5
To be blunt she's not a pretty good driver if she's scraped the hell out of her car on top of taking off the mirror of another. I've gotten into accidents, but aside from that (4 accidents with 3 determined by police to be not my fault, and the other I'm not quite sure how it wasn't mine but 🤷♀️) the only damage I've done to my car was when I was driving home with a migraine in the parking garage at home (9 ramps to get to my parking spot) and I didn't realize how much it was affecting me until I clipped a pole turning into a ramp. I've since been able to get my migraines under way better control and only have one ramp to my parking spot now, but when I was still up high I learned to park in guest parking space if I had a migraine that bad though honestly I learned more to high tail it home at first symptom before it took hold.
While financially she might not need higher limits (I'm not sure if you can garnish SS checks or not), I think morally if she continues to drive she needs coverage large enough to compensate those she might injure. Which means at min not lowering her limits and possibly increasing them.
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stillmovingforward
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Post by stillmovingforward on Sept 13, 2020 11:22:32 GMT -5
My mother is 82. She only drives locally but sure as goodness doesn't hit or scrape anything! I think it's time to re-evaluate your mother's driving ability. Get her eyes examined too. My mother needed cataract surgery in both eyes.
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garion2003
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Post by garion2003 on Sept 14, 2020 12:01:53 GMT -5
I think it's slowed reaction times, and/or slower reflexes. Her car is almost 8 years old, one can do a lot of scrapes in that time period, especially because her driveway is narrow and bordered by stone walls. I would say 95% of the scuffs and scrapes are from that. I HEARD one a few months ago, and went right outside to make sure she was okay. I am also afraid she didn't hear it due to her hearing aids. I now know when she has the TV volume up at 50 to have her check her hearing aid batteries or parts (after she adjusted her hearing aids, she had the volume at 8! *I* could barely hear at that level! My car has suffered a few impacts from those same walls (due to my own carelessness!). I do wish her car (and mine) had backup cameras. My next one will. Her vision will be tested this month at her license renewal, so that will be interesting information to have. justme I agree with you, if she is responsible for damage to another car or property etc., I want her to have enough coverage. (I want this for myself too!).
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Bonny
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Post by Bonny on Sept 15, 2020 10:58:28 GMT -5
I think it's slowed reaction times, and/or slower reflexes. Her car is almost 8 years old, one can do a lot of scrapes in that time period, especially because her driveway is narrow and bordered by stone walls. I would say 95% of the scuffs and scrapes are from that. I HEARD one a few months ago, and went right outside to make sure she was okay. I am also afraid she didn't hear it due to her hearing aids. I now know when she has the TV volume up at 50 to have her check her hearing aid batteries or parts (after she adjusted her hearing aids, she had the volume at 8! *I* could barely hear at that level! My car has suffered a few impacts from those same walls (due to my own carelessness!). I do wish her car (and mine) had backup cameras. My next one will. Her vision will be tested this month at her license renewal, so that will be interesting information to have. justme I agree with you, if she is responsible for damage to another car or property etc., I want her to have enough coverage. (I want this for myself too!). I would have a heart to heart with her doctor and have him/her be the bad guy. Your mom should get her driving ability tested.
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stillmovingforward
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Post by stillmovingforward on Sept 15, 2020 18:29:54 GMT -5
I think it's slowed reaction times, and/or slower reflexes. Her car is almost 8 years old, one can do a lot of scrapes in that time period, especially because her driveway is narrow and bordered by stone walls. I would say 95% of the scuffs and scrapes are from that. I HEARD one a few months ago, and went right outside to make sure she was okay. I am also afraid she didn't hear it due to her hearing aids. I now know when she has the TV volume up at 50 to have her check her hearing aid batteries or parts (after she adjusted her hearing aids, she had the volume at 8! *I* could barely hear at that level! My car has suffered a few impacts from those same walls (due to my own carelessness!). I do wish her car (and mine) had backup cameras. My next one will. Her vision will be tested this month at her license renewal, so that will be interesting information to have. justme I agree with you, if she is responsible for damage to another car or property etc., I want her to have enough coverage. (I want this for myself too!). Please have her vision tested by an optometrist, not at the DOL. My mother's car is over 20 years old and the garage where she parks is tiny. She doesn't hit stuff so it's not scuffed up. And she's driven it a lot!
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tskeeter
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Post by tskeeter on Sept 15, 2020 21:40:28 GMT -5
I think it's slowed reaction times, and/or slower reflexes. Her car is almost 8 years old, one can do a lot of scrapes in that time period, especially because her driveway is narrow and bordered by stone walls. I would say 95% of the scuffs and scrapes are from that. I HEARD one a few months ago, and went right outside to make sure she was okay. I am also afraid she didn't hear it due to her hearing aids. I now know when she has the TV volume up at 50 to have her check her hearing aid batteries or parts (after she adjusted her hearing aids, she had the volume at 8! *I* could barely hear at that level! My car has suffered a few impacts from those same walls (due to my own carelessness!). I do wish her car (and mine) had backup cameras. My next one will. Her vision will be tested this month at her license renewal, so that will be interesting information to have. justme I agree with you, if she is responsible for damage to another car or property etc., I want her to have enough coverage. (I want this for myself too!). Please have her vision tested by an optometrist, not at the DOL. My mother's car is over 20 years old and the garage where she parks is tiny. She doesn't hit stuff so it's not scuffed up. And she's driven it a lot! Agreed. Shortly before my Dad passed away, I learned that the last time he renewed his driver’s license it had taken him three tries before he remembered enough of the eye chart, or guessed well enough, to pass the exam. That explained why, at highway speeds, he would crowd up three or four car lengths behind the car ahead of him before relatively abruptly changing lanes. Unbelievable that under those circumstances they renewed his license for four years.
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