Mom’s been dying to get her California driver’s license so she can run down the street to Longs drug store to pick up odds and ends. We have a new running joke in our family these days "Have you been to Long’s today?" It seems like almost every day we’re running Mom to Longs because she forgot something. While it would be great to let Mom drive the 200 yards to Longs so we don’t have to, it scares the hell out of us to think of her behind the wheel. Mom is very forgetful these days and she’s never driven in California. She did very little driving in Philadelphia so we’re afraid to let the drive alone. We were counting on the DMV to deny her so they could be the bad guys.

Mom scheduled her appointment at the DMV to take her written test and her eye test. She doesn’t see well so we were thinking she wouldn’t pass the eye test. If she passed the eye test there’s no way she would pass the written test. I drive Mom to the DMV and we check in for her exam. They ask for 2 forms of ID and she only brought her Pennsylvania license. We have to reschedule for another day when we have her passport!

We return a few weeks later and Mom is ready to go. She’s been studying the DMV manual and taking practice tests online. My fingers are crossed that she won’t pass!! The clerk has her read a few lines of the eye chart with both eyes. She reads everything perfectly. They she has to cover her left eye and she can’t read anything. The clerk has her try a few more lines and she still can’t see them. I’m getting excited that she won’t pass!! The clerk says "It must be the glare. Come over to this machine and we’ll check you out." Damn it if the clerk didn’t miraculously let her pass the eye test!

On to the written exam at another station. The clerk hands her the written exam and Mom heads off to take the exam. I’m thinking she can’t remember what she had for breakfast so there’s no way she’ll remember the stopping distance of a car traveling 60 miles per hour. After about 20 minutes Mom heads back to get her test corrected. I see the clerk marking off a lot of the questions. Either Mom got a lot correct or the clerk is marking off a lot of incorrect answers. The clerk hands back the test and tells my Mom to answer 3 of the questions again. Mom gets those 3 right and the clerk passes her even though she missed many of the questions on the other side of the test! Damn it!

Mom was really excited and proud of herself. It was nice to see her so happy but inside I’m thinking there’s no way I can let her drive. She’s going to get hurt or hurt someone else. Now we have to somehow keep the car away from her and convince her that she shouldn’t be driving alone. She wants her car delivered to her apartment tomorrow so she can drive to Longs! Wish me luck and watch out for those gold Buicks!

Tags: seniorcitizen driving, DMV, driver’s test

Clear the freeway! Mom is on the road again!