To Drive or Not to Drive

I am reluctantly forced to face this question now. My 1993 car needs some expensive repairs. I ask myself, "Do I need to drive?" It is just about a given in California that everyone needs a car. Unreliable and inconvenient bus schedules back this up. I have elderly neighbors who can't see well, hear well, or turn their heads easily who still drive. In their 80s, 90s, and even 100s (yes, it's true), they can't understand why a reasonably fit 66 year old would voluntarily give up driving without a fight. The most told jokes in my retirement community have to do with seniors driving.

I survived very well without driving for many of my nomadic years in China, Taiwan, Macau, and Korea. But, of course, they had significant alternative forms of transportation. My local transportation options around where I live are hourly buses around the community and surrounding stores where I live, and a subsidized taxi voucher service where $40 buys me $100 worth of rides within my county. Then, there is the well-known Bus 11 (as it was called in Israel) which meant walking where one needed to go. I did do a lot more walking when I didn't have a car. And I like walking. Hmm! At this age of my life, would walking as transportation help or hurt my arthritic knees?

I'm not foolish or brave enough to ride a bike sharing the same roads as cars. But what about an environmentally-friendly motorized tricycle that would allow me to carry home groceries? Weather isn't particularly a problem where I live. I could cross the busiest streets and get to most of the places I go rather than riding along them. Or, a popular option where I live would be a golf cart. We have special paths just for golf carts, and our city is planning more. But it wouldn't get me everywhere I regularly go.

Although I got my license at the age of 16, I've never enjoyed driving. My father's words to his newly-licensed daughter -- "Remember, you have a murder weapon in your hands" -- have had a chilling effect upon me to this day. And, although I hear well and can easily turn my head to look behind me, I know my vision and my reaction time are not what they were. Until recently, I was aghast to see night lights radiating like colorful sparkling diamonds. But then, I found out it was a coating on my glasses that had become scratched and was distorting everything. Better now, but still not the sharp night vision of yesteryear. Talking to a friend today about an elderly driver knocking her mother's walker right from under her in a parking lot reminded me once again that I live in the most dangerous driving (and walking) radius possible because of all the elderly drivers who won't give up their keys. I definitely don't wish to be one of the ones who lives to regret not giving up driving earlier.

What to do?