Dear editor,
Since ICBC was privatized, it has declared war on our seniors.
It seems we have no recourse to the escalating bullying of the drivers who’ve paid for their insurance for 60 years or more.
It started innocuously by insisting 80-year-old drivers have a medical physical exam every two years. We went along like sheep with this, though we had to pay up to $125 for that paper.
The latest move against us is cause for a revolution. Now, the expensive medical must include some mental evaluation with varying degrees of difficulty — depending on the doctor.
If you fail this, you must take a computerized exam.
Many of us are not computer literate, so we fail this test, too. Your last recourse is to take a driving test — not in our home town, but in a large city hours away from home.
When you’ve lost permission to drive, you have lost your cherished independence. You’re basically put in jail.
Yes, the buses are there — if you can walk the several blocks to the nearest stop.
Just take a taxi. Fine for the affluent few, but for the majority of us who are on fixed incomes, not an option.
I’m willing to wager that most of these jailbirds have driven for many years, earning bonuses for being safe drivers with never an accident.
Do those youngsters who road race and cause fatalities lose their licences forever? What about the young drivers who are so impatient of traffic lines, driving at the speed limit, they pass on the right, then barge in front of you, gaining one space in the line?
We read of drivers who have had a number of DUIs. They are only given a limited jail sentence — maybe off the road for a year.
If our Liberal government is willing to allow this elder abuse, the Conservative party will be gaining a lot of votes at the next election.
Mary Gellatly,
Courtenay
