My grandmother is 84 years old. She is an independent woman who runs her own business in Jackson, Miss. She has been a widow for about six years. She goes to church and loves life. From this description, this could be anyone’s grandmother.
Last week, she paid her insurance bill. She pays almost as much as I do for her insurance. Granted, we both drive sports cars, but somehow that just doesn’t seem fair. After all, she has been driving a lot longer than I have.
The insurance company’s reasoning was that she was “old” and therefore more of a hazard. Sometimes when I’m driving behind an old couple when I’m late for class, I’d agree with them, but these people have most likely fought in wars, survived the Great Depression, paid all their taxes, raised children and generally been upstanding citizens. They have paid their debt to society 10 times over. Why should they be punished for longevity?
As people age, I can see how insurance companies would feel as though they were more of a liability. Vision isn’t as acute, reflexes aren’t as sharp, and so on. However, with the cost of living today, it is almost impossible to get by without working. Everyone knows Social Security doesn’t pay enough to live on, and often what little money a senior citizen managed to save up goes to pay for his or her deceased spouse’s funeral.
So, if a senior citizen is required to work just to be able to afford the mortgage payment and groceries, she probably can’t afford the hike in insurance rates, especially since she has a perfect driving record and feels that the hike is unjustified. What is she to do?
My solution is to let the insurance companies do their studies and keep their likelihood-of-accident rates intact. After all, almost all companies are out to make a buck or two-we shouldn’t single out this group in our criticism. However, in leaving the insurance companies alone, there must be something that allows our respected elders to get around in this high-speed society. The “something” that I am talking about is federal- or state-funded public transportation.
Many would say that we already have this sort of thing. I disagree. Sure, there may be public transportation in big cities, but that doesn’t help small towns like this one, and, often, large cities have a safety problem in the public transportation systems. Towns should have public transportation systems with security guards riding on the routes to ensure safety.
This would allow senior citizens to live and work in relative independence. Sure, we’d have to pay a little extra in taxes, but don’t these people deserve to be able to live out the rest of their life doing what they want to do, unimpeded by insurance rates or slightly dulled reflexes?
We should be more than willing to pay a few extra dollars to give our senior citizens, whose lives molded this nation into what it is today, the chance to live and work in peace, without the hardships of impending poverty. For the seniors, the tax increase would be far less than the insurance rates.
Furthermore, a public transportation system would not benefit only senior citizens. Other possible beneficiaries would include teenagers who do not yet have their driver’s license, people who can’t afford a car, disabled people and so on. Also, with the rising prices of gas and the possible imminent war on Iraq, I think everyone would welcome a public transportation system.
Perhaps my grandmother and others like her could put the money previously spent on extraordinarily high insurance rates into her bank account for groceries or maybe in an account for grandchildren’s educations. The possibilities are endless. Public transportation embodies the American dream of self-sufficiency and independence. Who doesn’t want that?
JanaZ Hatcher is a junior political science and psychology major.