codyg1985’s Think Tank

…well, maybe not exactly. However, after seeing a car with an Alabama handicap license plate, it is almost guaranteed that at least one of the following things can be readily observed:

1. The handicapped motorist will be driving along in front of you at least a quarter slower than the posted speed limit.

2. The motorist will whip right out in front of you from a side road that is at the most 500 feet from you, then commence to do #1.

3. The driver of the car will slow down, turn it’s right turn signal on, and maintain the slow speed down the road. Later, about a half mile later, the driver will slow the car again. About 500 feet later the car almost makes a complete stop in the middle of the road. The drives makes a right turn.

4. The driver will make a whiplash-style stop in the middle of the road then turn right. Guess all that sudden stopping somehow disabled the use of the turn signal.

5. The car will be sitting in a handicap parking place with at least two tires outside of the parking space. An even more common site shall consist of at least half the vehicle sitting outside of the parking space. I guess those stripped off areas are meant to be extra space or something.

6. The angle the length of the car makes with the solid blue line of the parking space that the car straddles shall be greater than 0 degrees; preferably 5 degrees or more.

7. It is almost a certain guarantee that the car will barely be in working condition. Busted taillight here, smoking jalopy there.

Why do I write this? I see it all the time in the hunky-dory patch of the country I used to call home. Most people that have the handicap license plates are the elderly. The elderly have slowed reaction times, impaired vision, weak strength, or a combination of the previous. What results is a motorist that isn’t as prepared to deal with sudden driving decisions that a younger, experienced driver.

Alabama currently has no policy regarding elderly drivers. Once one has a driver’s license, only excessive traffic violations or health issues that could jeopardize one’s ability to successfully operate a motor vehicle can cause a motorist’s right privilege to drive to be suspended or revoked. As a driver continues to age, he/she continues to enjoy full driving rights privileges. Drivers that have handicapped abilities to react and see are a danger to everyone on the road.

Drivers that are under the influence of alcohol are obviously a danger to everyone on the road. Punishment for a DUI can be exacting and stringent. Alcohol reduces the reaction time and (in extreme cases) vision of a motorist. Sound familiar? Reduced reaction time? Impaired vision? If drivers’ rights privileges to drive are revoked for extreme cases of sensory deprivation, then surely it would be in the best interests of drivers everywhere if motorists with mild to moderate cases of sensory deprivation be kept in check?

After a driver of the state of Alabama gets that piece of plastic saying that he/she can operate a motor vehicle, that driver should be tested every five years to see if he/she can still successfully operate a motor vehicle. Part of that testing shall consist of a vision and reaction time check. If that driver fails one of the two what I call first-level tests, then the driver must have an occupant in the car at all times until a new test is administered. If the driver fails both tests, then the driver’s right privilege to drive shall be suspended for six months until a new test is administered. The other portion of the test shall consist of a driving test that will demonstrate the driver’s ability to operate a motor vehicle, similar to the official driving test used to acquire a driver’s license. Conditions for pass/fail shall remain the same as the initial driving test.