Cleanup in Aisle 70

Castro Valley Trader Joe's after the crash (Chron)

My late father gave up driving at the age of 90. His reflexes and eyesight, especially his night vision, had deteriorated to the point where he knew that there was too much of a risk to himself and others if he continued to drive.

Unlike Dad, some older drivers don't have the self awareness to quit:

The man who rammed his car through the front window of a Castro Valley Trader Joe’s on Thursday, injuring eight people and spilling debris across the floor, was a 90-year-old Hayward resident apparently trying to park.

The accident left a bizarre scene, a 2005 gray Toyota Avalon sitting among red shopping carts and racks of colorfully packaged organic cereal. The eight people injured included a 5-year-old child and a Trader Joe’s employee. Four were taken to hospitals by ambulance, while the other four were treated at the store.

Though the man is not facing criminal charges, the incident represents a growing concern on Bay Area roads, which the California Highway Patrol has begun to tentatively address: the ballooning population of older drivers...

A spokesperson for the California Department of Motor Vehicles did not immediately respond to questions about requirements for older motorists; state law mandates drivers who are 70 and older to renew their license every five years, and take a vision and written test, but not a behind-the-wheel test.

Your humble blogger hasn't reached the point where he (thinks he) is even close to being unable to drive, and unless forced not to do so, I'll keep my license as long as I can. The plan is eventually to use the car only in case of emergency and switch to public transportation or taxis for normal transportation needs.

Maybe in ten years owning and/or subscribing to a driverless car will become reality, and that will be another option.

In any event Trader Joe's will have nothing to fear from me.