Reply to Life Lesson: MILs that dont drive

Forum Index » Family Relationships

Reply to "Life Lesson: MILs that dont drive"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]More MILs need to not drive. Elderly drivers are a threat to themselves and others. Mine doesn't drive but is great at using the bus and subway, and I'm more than happy to keep it that way. Then she won't end up like my grandfather with Alzheimer's who refused to give up the keys and it was just sheer dumb luck that he didn't kill someone.[/quote]
OP here. Agree that older drivers present another set of challenges. The issue is not use of mass transit but rather I didn't realize that even at a young age MIL could not live anywhere without mass transit and that meant we could not either nor would DW consider moving out of immediate area. Perhaps stating the obvious but you realize that extended family members life choices become your choices. And someone who doesn't drive, is afraid to drive, is very limiting. But I do get the flip side that you have to be able to take away the keys at some point.[/quote]

DH and I are happy in the DC area but 100% agreed that if we weren't, it would be a real struggle to move elsewhere since there are a very limited number of places MIL can have a life without a car and they're all super expensive. I know it wasn't the point of your post but I feel like this is one of the real downsides to the U.S. car culture/lack of transit. It forces families to make these unpleasant choices that wouldn't be an issue if we had proper mass transit. (eg when to take away grandma's keys, whether to live somewhere expensive or be grandma's taxi, etc)[/quote]

I totally agree.  My MIL also does not drive.  She tried to learn, failed her first driving test, and never tried again.  She is self-sufficient, but the problem is that she is poor and the safer areas she can afford to live in within a city are expensive.  If she drove, she could move to Ashburn, or some similar less expensive locale, that is safe. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics