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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Hi all, I was hoping I could mine the collective wisdom for ways to tell my dad he won't be driving my kids anymore.  He's aggressive and doesn't really pay attention.  My sister and her husband don't let him drive their daughter either for the same reasons.  Up until now, we've just had our own cars or made excuses for why we were driving and not him (when it's just him and my mom, he does ALL the driving).  But we have a trip coming up with them where I'll be out of the house working for a few days and my parents will be watching the kids on their own and taking them places.  I need to say up front to my dad that he won't be driving.  I plan to do this in an email because (1) it will give him time to process it without feeling embarrassed on the phone, and (2) his hearing isn't great, so phone calls generally go horribly with him because he gets so frustrated that he can't hear well.

[b]Before anyone starts in on me for "allowing" him to still drive.  He's in his late 60s, not his 80s, and he has no actual impairments that prevent him from driving.  No DMV would take away his license.  And honestly, if it's just me in the car, I'm not wild about his driving style, but I suck it up.[/b]  But my sister and I just don't feel comfortable letting him drive our kids.

Anyway, I was going to tell him that I love him and I'm sorry if this hurts his feelings, but I don't feel comfortable with him driving the kids because I feel like he doesn't pay attention enough and he is too aggressive, and I'd like mom to be the driver when they're in the car.

I'm sure this will result in lots of pouting and probably some defensive digs at my own driving skills, because he still thinks I'm 15.  But it is what it is.

Any suggestions for softening the blow?[/quote]

Great, so your kids can avoid him but everyone else's kids in cars on the roads with him can't.  [/quote]

I agree with you, but he's not impaired.  I can't just go take his keys.  He drives like a jerk.  A lot of people drive like jerks.  It's sad, but it's a fact.  As I said, his aggression generally doesn't rise to the level that he would get his license taken away or anything (though ONCE he got pulled over because of it - which I applaud).[/quote]

Sorry put my response in your message OP: 
No but you can talk to him about it. Over 30,000 people die in car accidents in the US every year. If he's bad enough that you don't want your kids in his car, that should send him a message. Neither he, nor your mother, nor anyone else out there wants to have to live with having killed someone or having lost someone due to that kind of driving. [/quote]

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