School Bus/Dump Truck Collision-I-80 Near Mount Olive,New Jersey

Well that's good.

 

The only accident on my record was when a 23 year old hit my truck when it was parked and I was out of it. You hear me?? A 23 year old, I wonder where his reflexes were or maybe he had failing eye sight. Just yesterday morning, on our yard, a 38 year old, forgot to roll the landing legs up and took off, tearing both leg completely off the trailer, guess at 38 "forgetfulness" is setting in.

Now I take issue with the reporter who wrote this article, why did he even mention this man's age? If he had been a Africa-American, would the reporter wrote that the driver was "black'? Certainly not, so pray tell me why even mention his age.

As I have stated, I am not defending this driver, according to his driving record, he should have never been driving that bus, not because of his age, but because of his driving record.

 

it was a valid point to mention age, as in many accidents, age is mentioned. it's a part of the information given.

 

great..i was hoping he'd get charged with something like that.

do prisons have cells for the senior citizens?

 

Hard to dispute that fact. Age is provided in virtually every such news account just as a matter of routine. But it's hard to argue that at some point, age does not or should not become an issue around certain events such as this

 

i dunno, old aged truckers tend to forget if they hit something, or crapped in thier Depends.

 

i think it should be. i'd hope that sooner or later, some of our elected officials will WAKE UP and listen to the voters to make mandatory retirement of those in jobs that have control of large vehicles, just like the pilots are made to retire.

 

Would love to meet you, face to face.

 

I am not trying to stir the pot, hear me out as I weigh in on age.

First, age is just a number and we all age differently. Some folks should not even be driving their car at age 65 while others are more than capable to operate complex heavy machinery well into their 80's. Same applies to the younger drivers, I was a school bus driver at age 18, fresh out of high school and a CDL examiner/driver instructor at age 19. Very well supervised and had to prove my skills through hands on as well as having my instruction audited by school officials and other instructors. I spent most of my time teaching CDL skills (school bus specifically) to retirees and housewives and found many of the older folks more than capable, some even better learners than the young folks. So I support both young and older drivers, think the 21 year age limit for interstate is ridiculous as do I think the mandatory airline transport pilot retirement age is also ridiculous.

That said, I believe we all should have to re-certify our skills at set intervals. Our current licensing system is a joke, take the test one time (except haz-mat) and you are good for life. About the only thing most agencies re-certify is your vision, sometimes hearing. Now, if our medical examiners are doing their jobs they should be pulling the card for anyone that shows signs of age deterioration, sadly though most are hesitant to end someone's career.

I think we should all have to retest periodically, say every 8 to 10 years (every other renewal cycle) to prove we still have proficiency and our "experience" hasn't led us to take chances we don't even realize we are taking. I administer road tests often and in my opinion the more experienced drivers tend to have a harder time passing then the folks with 3-5 years of experience. Of course, the fresh out of school driver is the worst but many seasoned hands are not that much better.

To further compare us to airline pilots, as with the mandatory retirement age, pilots have to have regular check rides and take continuing education throughout their entire career. I firmly believe we as professional drivers should have to as well. So should our non-commercial drivers, continuing education and re-certification. Not just a written or oral test either but a physical check ride with a driver license examiner. Then there would be no need for a mandatory retirement age, and if age is a big factor we could shorten the gap between re-certification as we age. Say 65 and older re-certify every 4 years instead of 8 or 10?

I have to re-certify my skills as a CDL examiner and PA safety inspection mechanic to keep those credentials, have to take continuing education to keep my consulting credentials up to date, even have to re-certify my instructor credentials so why not my "professional license" aka my CDL?

 

Very true. Had my DOT Physical couple of months ago and the doctor asked what medications did I take. I said, I do not take anything other than an Advil once in a blue moon for a headache. The doctor almost called me a lair and said I do not believe a man your age is not on some medication. I said, call my personal doctor.