Should elderly drivers be allowed to drive?

[Phatfish]

After the horrific events in Santa Monica, I wonder if you all feel elderly driver be allowed to drive? I live in South Florida so elderly drivers is a big part of living hear. I feel if you over the age of 16 and don't have any restrictions to your record (DUI's, felonies, etc.) you should be permitted to drive IF you past the neccessary tests. I feel all drivers should be retested in person every 5 years until the age of 45. Then it should be dropped down to 3 years and eyesight, reaction time, and other important abilities need to be tested as well. Thats how I feel. Do you think the current system needs to be changed?

[TXlib]

1. Yes, elderly drivers should be subject to more frequent testing

However, one problem with this plan is that most cities in the US don't have an acceptable alternate public transit system.

Before this becomes a serious item, we need heavy infrastructure in public transit.

[SoCalDem]

3. What you said.....and........................

since families are spread all over the place these days, older folks do not have access to shopping and socializing without transportation.. In past times, neighborhoods were different and there WAS mass transit available to older people. Localities also had lots of places to shop, spread all over town.. Now, places to shop are not convenient to lots of older people..

I am not quite old yet, but as my eyesight fails, I can foresee a day when I won;t be able to drive..:( I rarely go places as it is, but as contrary as I am, when it's impossible for me to drive, I will all of a sudden WANT to go places :(

[supernova]

4. Agreed

Though, the guy in question, at 83(?), had a valid license.

I think elderly folks need to be tested more often that the 10 years we have here for license renewal.

And no, I don't consider 45 to be "elderly." lol! Perhaps around 65 or so. :shrug:

But many elderly folks still drive precisely b/c they have no other options. There is no one they can ask to drive them around for daily tasks. I wish we had better public transport in the US. I see many elderly folks (and everybody else) taking advantage of the wonderful public transport in Europe.

[SoCalDem]

5. What you said.....and........................

since families are spread all over the place these days, older folks do not have access to shopping and socializing without transportation.. In past times, neighborhoods were different and there WAS mass transit available to older people. Localities also had lots of places to shop, spread all over town.. Now, places to shop are not convenient to lots of older people..

I am not quite old yet, but as my eyesight fails, I can foresee a day when I won;t be able to drive..:( I rarely go places as it is, but as contrary as I am, when it's impossible for me to drive, I will all of a sudden WANT to go places :(

[supernova]

6. Agreed

Though, the guy in question, at 83(?), had a valid license.

I think elderly folks need to be tested more often that the 10 years we have here for license renewal.

And no, I don't consider 45 to be "elderly." lol! Perhaps around 65 or so. :shrug:

But many elderly folks still drive precisely b/c they have no other options. There is no one they can ask to drive them around for daily tasks. I wish we had better public transport in the US. I see many elderly folks (and everybody else) taking advantage of the wonderful public transport in Europe.

[Pillowbiter]

2. This wouldn't be a problem

If the US had developed public transportation more thoroughly instead of kowtowing to the auto and oil industries to build more roads instead of tracks.

PB

[bicentennial_baby]

7. Funny story

My mom was out with my grandma this AM, and they were talking about this story with the elderly man. My grandma's 86, but she's totally with it and drives fine (never had an accident or a ticket in her life!). My mom asked her what she thought about it, and my grandma says "People that age should'nt be allowed to drive!" Of course the man in question is younger than my grandma, so needless to say, my mom just rolled her eyes :eyes:

[Generic Other]

8. Should teens be allowed to drive?

Statistically, they are the most accident prone group on the road, and they cause the most fatalities. Should all teens be banned from driving?

Deciding who can and can't drive should be determined on am individual basis. Make seniors and teens test more often, but don't penalize all for the problems of a few.

[trof]

9. My 2 cents at age 62

As much as I'd find it a pain in the butt, I think more frequent testing would help.
Even at this relatively "young" old age I know my reflexes have slowed a little. My night vision is not what it used to be and I am more easily momentarily blinded by the headlights of oncoming cars. Interestingly enough (at Mrs. t's urging) I started taking Bilberry and that's helped the night vision quite a bit. I still prefer not to drive at night.

Because of my training/experience and career as a pilot, I still think I'm better than average (doesn't everyone?). Experience can compensate for reflexes, to a degree. I was always taught to stay "ahead" of the airplane. Try and foresee situations before they develop. Be prepared. "If this happens, I'll do that. If that happens, I'll do this."

I stay aware of what traffic is doing several cars ahead of my immediate area. If it looks like a problem is developing a mile ahead, I begin to plan how to deal with it. I do find that interstate driving requires a high degree of concentration for long periods of time, and that's more physically tiring for me than it used to be.

One of the problems I see with increased situational testing is location. I live in a small town, not a lot of high-stress traffic. Most seniors can get around OK, if a little slow. This is a far different situation than trying to merge into bumper-to-bumper, 75 mph traffic on an interstate.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

10. Factors

I know some scary drivers in my own extended famliy, but you have to understand that commercial interests in the U.S. spend billions in advertising telling people that driving is one of life's greatest pleasures and that the American dream is a detached house in a subdivision in the middle of nowhere. So people buy into that dream, wihch means that they have to drive everywhere, using a quart of gas to buy a quart of milk. There is nothing within walking distance and no public transportation.

In such an environment, an elderly person with no car might as well be under house arrest. It's no wonder that even half-blind elders fight to retain driving privileges.

The ideal place for an elderly person to live would be in a city with good public transit, but the mass media overdramatize urban crime, so that a lot of elderly people are afraid to even set foot in the city limits.

If you go to Tokyo (which probably has the world's best public transit infrastructure), you'll see really frail-looking old people, sometimes in groups, riding the trains and subways, going out shopping or visiting or drinking or whatever. An elderly person who loses driving privileges there is perhaps miffed, but not seriously affected in his or her ability to get around town.

So I would say that if you are seriously interested in the problem of older drivers who have "lost it," start working now on having better public transit and better community planning (i.e. stores and services in walking distance of housing). Then you won't have to worry about being confined to your home when YOUR driver's license is taken away sixty or seventy years from now.

(By the way, 45 is NOT old. If you can say that, you must be very young.)

[SOteric]

16. Exceptional post, LL.

And yes, the Japanese, and many other cultures treat their older citizens with more respect and dignity than do we.

I think retesting drivers from time to time is not a bad idea, but better still, put in place better transit systems, better access to shopping and a social life and the issues will be far less pressing.

And no, 45 is not all that old. Certainly not a point where I would think that the loss of eyesight, cognitive ability and reflex response would be a factor.

[MaryBear]

11. The driving, not the driver,

should be judged. It's not about age, necessarily. I knew a man who at 74 couldn't find his way home if he didn't drive exactly the same route every time he drove to the store. He should not have been driving. I knew a woman who at 90 knew her limitations and only drove during daylight, non-rush hours, within a small radius, by her own decision. She did fine.

[thermodynamic]

12. Include these tests

Tests where the car is bugged with audio and visual aids. Allow the teen to drive. Give him/her a couple of months.

If the teen speeds, drives recklessly, or does ANYTHING wrong, revoke the license for 10 years.

A year ago, a teen with his buddy were on highway 94 trying to get people in adjascent lanes to swerve into traffic in their adjacent lanes by playing pranks.

As far as I'm concerned, the minimum age should be 26, period.

You teens can hate me all you want, I just think that given drunk driving and reckless driving statistics, the younger crowd are as much of a menace as the oldsters who drive too slow for everybody else to tolerate.

[Archae]

13. Elderly drivers, (those over 65,) should be tested.

Not a written test.

A driver's test.

From 65 to 74, every 3 years.

From 74 to 78, every 2 years.

After 78, every year.

If they fail, they fail.
If they lose their liscence as a result, BFD.

The consequences of elderly impaired drivers is just too high.
Here in Sheboygan, I was at Norhtgate shopping center once, and was heading out of the parking lot on my bicycle and heard a horrible crashing, crunching noise.

Seems a 80-some year old woman, who could hardly see, but still had her liscense had driven at 25-30 mph right INTO one of the stores.
Her companion had to physically reach over and turn the keys off, the engine and tires were still going even AFTER the crash.

Fortunately no one was hurt seriously, just cuts and bruises.

Oh, the woman? She wasn't charged with anything, and kept her liscense.

States and the feds are cracking down on drunk and stoned drivers.

Teenage drivers are facing more and more restrictions on when they can get their liscense and how they can drive.

It's LONG past time to put a curb on this form of impaired driver.

Driving is not a "right."

It is a priveledge that is earned and can be taken away.

[number9]

14. I know it would be a hassle but

I have to renew my license every four years - only take the eye test. I wouldn't mind the inconvenience of a driving test. I mean, after all, every single year for the past 18 I've had to go through the entire CPR recertification training. Maybe if the testing is done more often for drivers, I wouldn't have to do the CPR so often. Less accidents, don't you know.

[realFedUp]

15. My step-dad

is 93 and still drives unfortunately, even after taking a driver's test, and after a stroke...the DMV gave him permission, although
he can't turn his head to look around. My mother doesn't let him drive on freeways but locally to get a haircut etc. It's kind of a male thing with male drivers I think. It's their area of independence and wives don't want to take it away from them. I hope a lot of people are now rethinking this...Weller will be sued to his last dime because of the deaths he caused.

I was hit in the parking lot of a market by a very slow driving old man in a large car. Since it didn't damage my car, I let him go, but these guys need to find another way to get around if they don't have the ability to see or react.

[slackmaster]

17. I think there should be stringent performance testing for all ages

In California a driver over 70 can keep the license indefinitely as long as he or she can pass a simple eye chart test every four years.

Here are some of the things that are not tested:

- Peripeheral vision
- Depth perception
- Hearing
- Hand-eye coordination
- Reaction time
- Physical strength
- Limberness
- Cognitive skills (judgement, etc.)

All of those and more deteriorate with age at different rates in different people. Some people are not capable of driving safely at any age. This isn't a rap on disabled people. I have a lazy eye, but I compensate well for it - Extra rear-view mirrors, top-quality correction for my good eye, and driving extra carefully. I also rely more heavily on hearing than most people, so I don't play loud music or tolerate noisy passengers.

I think the test to qualify for a license should be MUCH tougher than it is now.

[geniph]

18. I think everyone should be retested every five years

and I mean EVERYONE - and that would include the on-the-road test, the written exam, and the regular eye tests and such. I'm constantly amazed at the number of people I meet who've been driving for decades who have NO idea what the rules of the road are. They wouldn't pass a written exam.

I think the tests are too easy, and the DMV clerks too inclined to let previously licensed drivers slide. I'm thinking back to my last renewal four years ago, when they let the little old man at the counter retake the eye test, again and again, and finally said, "oh forget it, here's your license anyway." Shudder. The guy could not SEE and they renewed his license!!! He's on the road somewhere!

I looked very carefully around for him before I pulled out of the parking lot!