This I got cataract surgery this spring. The most noticeable difference is how I see color, as my cataracts were very brown. It is amazing how bright colors are now. My vision had deteriorated to the point where I could not have passed the drivers license vision test, and even after the surgery, probably could not have until I got new eyeglasses. So my drivers license, which required in-person renewal with vision test due to my age (74) expired. I had been pondering whether to renew my license. I last drove in 2020, as part of work, before retiring. Though I appreciated the possibility of driving, ‘just in case’, I didn’t think it likely that I would. I hate cars, and don’t even like being in them, let alone driving them.

So, expired license. What to do? Well, I had no identification for a while, and in fact got challenged about that once. I was staying a place that would not accept my expired license, though expiration really has nothing to do with identification, and would not accept my passport as identification, even though it is a legal form of identification. Grrr. It took quite a while to get this straightened out.

So, I went to DMV, and got an ID, rather than drivers license. No vision test required. And no more driving.

How do I feel about this? Great! I am happy to be done with that part of my life. Free of the expense of driving (my ID was free). Free of participation in the culture of car dominance. Free! Of course not owning a car since 2011 was one of the best decisions I ever made in my life, financially, morally, environmentally. This is just the next step, logical step, to really being free.

Though I’m not generally in favor of hard rules, such as making people give up drivers licenses at a certain age, I do think that there are way too many old people still driving who should not be driving. At the same time, there are many, many people of all ages who should not be driving. The sociopathic and moral failings of privilege, impatience, and “I’m a much better driver than others” should have no place.