Darienite (https://darienite.com/tag/road-transportation)
Five words I never thought I’d write: “I feel sorry for Dannel Malloy.”
Sure, we’ve had our differences. And yeah, the governor does have the personality of a porcupine and the disposition of a bully, sometimes. But the man is not evil and he doesn’t deserve what’s happening to him now. Nor do we. Our governor is a lame duck.
None of us is getting any younger. Which is why we should all start thinking now about the challenges that seniors face when it comes to “getting there.”
That’s one of the top priorities of the SWCAA, the Southwest Connecticut Agency on Aging. Because, to maintain an independent life, seniors need to be able to get from their homes to doctors appointments, social engagements and even volunteer work. And their care-givers need to be able to get to their clients’ homes. In the SWCAA region (Greenwich to Stratford) 20 percent of all residents are over age 60. By 2020 that proportion will be 25 percent. And with aging come issues of vision and cognition, especially behind the wheel. Giving up your private car is a much-feared rite of passage for seniors, usually prompted by coaxing from their kids who start noticing dented fenders. The DMV has no mandatory retirement age for driving, though if you accumulate enough points on your license you may need re-testing.
“Here in my car, I feel safest of all
I can lock all my doors. It’s the only way to live, in cars.”
— “Cars”, Gary Numan 1979
You may feel that your car is your last private refuge in this busy world. But there’s someone along for the ride: Big Brother. And you’d be surprised what he knows about you, thanks to modern technology. CELL PHONES: Your cell phone is constantly transmitting its location, and services like Google Dashboard’s location history can show exactly where you were at any date in time. Don’t want to be tracked? Turn off your cellphone. E-ZPASS: Even when you are nowhere near a toll booth, E-ZPass detectors can monitor your location. Want to stay anonymous? Keep your E-ZPass wrapped in aluminum foil in your glove box.
Tired of driving on potholed roads? Who isn’t? We may not (yet) have tolls, but the terrible condition of our highways takes its toll on our vehicles with bent rims, alignments and other repairs. There are more than 10,000 lane miles of state highways in Connecticut, of which only 300 are repaved each year. But that work involves more than just slapping a new layer of asphalt on those roads.