Offshoreonly.com - MIA: my dad

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DAMN Tim I had no idea when we talked earlier today. Glad he made it home ok.

There are a few devices that may help track him that I know of. I will see if I can get you any info. However as has already been said it may be time to take away the keys. I remember when I actually told my mom it was time to take them away from her father. She did not want to do it but I kind of pushed her to it.

Jon

Cord,

I have been following this thread, and am very glad to hear your dad has returned safely.

May I suggest that you honestly evaluate his capabilities for driving a motor vehicle. We had an incident last year in which an elderly man killed nine people and injured 55 people when he mistakenly thought he was pressing the brake, and was actually pressing the gas pedal. From your descriptions, it sounds like your father may be nearing that point.

I know this is one of the hardest things a son or daughter has to do, but think about the consequences, because they can be much worse. Now the elderly Santa Monica driver has to live with knowing he killed and injured so many people. He is being prosecuted for manslaughter. I'm sure he is devastated, and certainly the families of those who were killed or injured are. There were warning signs about his driving abilities long before the Santa Monica incident, and no one did anything about it. The result was tragedy.

In some cases, you can report elderly drivers to the DMV, and they will mandate a driving test. It is probably better though, just to convince the elderly relative that it is time to give up driving. Try to setup alternate transportation for him. There are senior citizen transportation services in many areas. Taxi's are always available. Relatives driving them to shopping and other activities are another option. Being lost for two days may be a good starting reason to make your case.

Good luck!

Michael

Tim, glad to hear he is fine. Scary situation.

All this makes me thankfull (it's Thanksgiving time, right?) that my middle 60's parents are still sharp as tacks. My father is one of the only drivers I can ride with in traffic without hitting that imaginary brake peddle on the passenger side. And he is about the only one I can manage to fall asleep while a passenger (I can fall asleep driving myself any day!! LOL!).

Now, navigation is NOT one of his strong suits! Used to end up in alley's and parking lots on family vacations as a kid. We ended up on the docks BEHIND a fish cannery in Boston once while trying to find the harbor. Talk about a fishy smell!!! Traffic circles.... round and round we go! Felt like we were making the movie "European Vacation" or something!! LOL!!

I feel the same way as Michael1... My brother and I finally clipped our mother's wings... she was pissed off.... but she was starting to park by the braille method. She had totaled one car and had two minor accidents within one year... So... we... along with the astronomical insurance premiums .. finally convinced her to stop driving. She did pretty well unti she hit 84.. Then her driving skills went downhill fast.

Since he drives a GM vehicle, perhaps they could add an OnStar system. That way all you'd need to do is contact them and OnStar could always locate him. Also, very easy to operate, just push a button and your in contact with the OnStar rep.

YES, do something if you plan on leaving the driving to your dad.

On-Star is good, but VERY expensive to both install and the monthlies are large.

LoJack sucks. This only works in large metro areas, and many parts of these do not have the LoJack radios. Forget this option.
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Something to consider, is the system from On-Board Communications ( www.on-boardcommunications.com ).

I designed the system they are selling while a part of eTracker, Inc. Sadly, On-Board bought eTracker, and thusly all my technology, and proceeded to screw me out of most all the money they promised to pay. BUT, I still believe in this system.

It will work in the middle of absolute nowhere, you can get the location from the web, and if installed, you can even disable the starter, honk the horn, and unlock the doors.

You can do all this from a cell phone as well....

I don't know what they are selling systems for now, but we sold them for around $399 quantity one, with monthlies as low as $3.99. Once you start tracking, the charges were about 25 cents per position report, and about 75 cents to command the unit to do something....

Kent

Good to hear that he is ok...

My dad is still living independently in a different state. I have the feeling that he'll loose his driving abilities in a couple of years, but so long as he doesn't range far from home he'll be ok. Don't forget, that his motor skills are still good. He still is able to apply common sense and I feel is a safe driver. I promise that the moment that I can't say with conviction that he is a safe driver, that I'll take the keys away. At that point he'll have to sell the house and move up here. What is currently the problem is that he has lost his short term memory. His long term is great. He has been telling a bunch of stories from his younger days. The problem is that he can't remember having told the story earlier in the day so you have to listen to it again. And again. And again...

Mudball, no that sounds more feasible. I really can't justify spending a couple of hundred plus a monthly fee for something that will only be used a couple of times. I'll be looking into the service.

The onstar is a great idea. He won't think to use it, but to page him remotely would work well. Unfortinatly, his truck is pre-onstar. I'm sure that GM would rather have you buy a new vehicle than offer a retrofit kit. He'll never wear this one out, so that won't be happening.

I have gained power of attorney over his credit cards. I'm not going to take over his accounts. But next time, I'll be able to track him with the card. The credit card companies were actually very accomdating for this. This apparently is something that they have dealt with in the past and accept it as something they need help with.

Cord,

My sprint phone has tracking built into it. Not sure if it is GPS related but I believe it is. I have no idea how you get the phone people to run a track on it but you might want to check into it. Yes, you can turn the feature OFF on the phone, but it is several menus deep and once it is on (and mine is) then it would be hard for somebody to accidentally turn it off.

Sure, he would have to remember to bring it with him so that may not be so great.

So happy he is back at home.