[TorqueyTechie]

I came across this nice article from newsminute (original source from Abhishek Goyal twitter handle) about a 103 year old young man still driving around the roads of Mangalore, Karnataka.

Quoting some interesting bits from the article ,

Willy's, Morris Minor, Fiat, Austin, Ferguson, Mercedes Benz, Chevrolet, Volkswagen – these are just among the few brands 103-year-old CSR Michael D'Souza has driven.

A veteran of World War II, Michael has been driving for the last 85 years.

But giving up his car keys is simply not an option for him. "I enjoy driving and never got tired of it. I will continue to drive till the lord sends me his vehicle," he smiles.

Pray he gets his lifetime permit next year.

Michael got his first license in 1959, and he has renewed it constantly since then.

"On my last visit, the RTO inspector said in jest that should I make it for my next renewal in 2019, then he will award me the permit driving for a lifetime," Michael smiles.

Aptly sums up the driving manners of ours.

What does Michael think of drivers today? “Terrible!” he shakes his head. “People just don’t follow lane discipline any more. It’s horrible the way autorickshaws and two-wheelers switch lanes these days. One of the main reasons I don’t drive in the evening is how people thoughtlessly switch on their high beams even on well-lit roads. It can easily lead to an untoward incident.”

He has been fined only once in his entire 85 year driving career. Say what now??

In his 85 years behind the wheel, Michael says he has been fined only once for not wearing a seatbelt. "Three months ago, when I was fined, I went to the station to pay the fine. The inspector took the receipt, laughed when he saw my age and the fact I was being fined for the first time, and said he will pay the fine on my behalf and let me go," smiles Michael.

Kudos to Micheal for continuing his love of driving. I am not sure of any other active drivers at that age leave alone driving day in and day out. I am sure he is one of the oldest if not the oldest active drivers in the world!

Mods, please move to appropriate thread if necessary.

[AltoLXI]

Originally Posted by TorqueyTechie

103 year old young man still driving around the roads of Mangalore, Karnataka.

Going by the photo in the article does not look like 103 years for sure. Kudos to his fitness level as well

[dailydriver]

Thanks for sharing this. Its always good to see people who drive for and with passion. In the case of this gentleman age appears to be just a number and going by the article, he seems ready for many more miles of road - literally and figuratively too. Let us all wish him a healthy future.

That said, from the safety perspective of the driver and the passengers, the following words from the same article are hard to come to terms with:

Michael still works – he now drives for a local banker and his family.

[GTO]

He sure doesn't look his age and I'd like to see some more proof of his birth year. Nevertheless, quite an achievement. Hat's off to his passion. I hope some BHPians also live to see a 100 and come back to the forum to share stories of how cars used to be in 2018 .

Another article with more pics of him:

[The Rationalist]

Phew! Let's go out and ask him to join Team-bhp! We are sure to have a great time reading up all the years of automotive history through his eyes. A true bhpian by all counts. I hope to see him in the Introduce yourself thread. Long live you gentleman.

[Prowler]

Kudos to another Michael for his passion of driving. Driving at 103 ? I can't find a word to congratulate this driver. What is even more amazing is in all these 85 years behind the wheel there was only one fine incident. We must get him aboard Team BHP for his wealth of driving prowess.

[condor]

Originally Posted by GTO

He sure doesn't look his age ...

And that could be the reason that he's still driving around - a WW-II veteran, healthy still, and looking, feeling & living younger !

[srishiva]

What is the duration of license at that age ? The article has his identity cards for his age proof. He is also proof of eating to survive than the reverse and not what one eats ! If any of us survive, we will be talking about how we used to drive cars ourselves in 2018