DRIVING IS NOT A RIGHT.(NEWS)(Column)

Although I'm only 47, I'm not as nimble as I used to be. So last fall, when a station wagon came rushing at me in a parking lot, I had time only to jump away from the car and sacrifice my cart full of groceries. I am tall, and it was a clear, beautiful day. I and several other bystanders saw the driver heading for the empty parking space I was crossing and yelled at him to stop, but he seemed unaware of us.

In fact, after he hit my cart, he backed up and pulled in again, fast. My cart, which could have been me, was wrapped neatly in half around a light stanchion.

We gathered around the driver and it was clear he was (a) elderly and (b) confused. A store employee who had seen the incident came to check on our welfare and at my insistence called the police and life squad.

Yes, I pressed charges. The life squad said he had medication problems (he was 90) and while I appreciated his desire to have the independence provided by a car, I didn't want to learn later that he had caused a fatality. The officer thanked me for getting involved.

Driving is a privilege, not a right. I had to take a test to get my driver's license; it wasn't handed to me on my 16th birthday.

But not all people seem to see it that way.

I have Meniere's Disease, a progressive illness that will eventually rob me of my driving privileges. I belong to an Internet group of fellow patients and the subject of driving while actively ill or under medication arose. This started one of the most furious fights in the group's history.

Some people's comments reminded me of those old gun-lobby slogans that said I could have their guns when I pried them from their cold, dead fingers. Tough.

I'm glad MADD's feisty mamas made this country get serious about drunk driving, but there are a few more drivers we need to get rid of, besides the ones I've mentioned. How many times have you received medication that had a warning label that said it could affect your ability to operate machinery? Did it occur to you that meant a car, or just an ocean liner? Worse still, did you drink an alcoholic beverage at the same time, which usually increases the drug's potency?

Then there's just plain sleepiness. Maybe you had to work late, stayed up with a sick kid, whatever. But are you alert enough to be on the road? The National Sleep Foundation estimates that sleepiness affects 51 percent of the population.

My particular pet peeve these days concerns the monster vehicles that are eating our highways and fossil fuels - the SUVs, vans and minivans and pick-up trucks.

For one thing, those of us who drive cars which are not fed steroids can't see around you so we can't properly anticipate what's ahead, or if it's safe to turn. I also wonder why it's possible to own one of these behemoths without having to pass a special driving test to show that you can handle its weight, height and other inherent qualities.

I have two simple answers for this mess.

Doctors should be mandated to write ''Do Not Drive'' prescriptions for patients when they have certain illnesses or are on special medications.

Establish periodic, mandatory, driver re-testing.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this column, I know my reflexes aren't as good as they were when I was 16 and got my license. I'm sure a serious look at accident statistics vis-a-vis causes and driver ages would suggest a time pattern. This is one government service that should grow and can pay for itself with testing fees.

(In Ohio you can take action against a driver you believe should be off the road. Send a letter to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, to the attention of the medical department. However, if they are asked, they will tell the person being investigated who made the complaint.)

Attitudes and licensing laws have to change. But so does public transportation, and the notion of sharing rides. Very few cities, including ours, have convenient mass transportation systems, so people feel forced to drive. We need to expand our transportation choices.

Think about ''road rage.'' Could it really be about impaired drivers? Let's take action and make the roads safer. I'm sick and tired of close calls when I venture beyond my driveway.

Barbara Pinzka is a writer who lives in Mt. Lookout.