Driving tests and the Elderly

Grimmerick

I really think that elderly people after a certain age should have to take mandatory driving tests. I know it's hard to convince them after driving for so long that some of them lose their reflexes and reaction times as well as their vision, but this just really needs to be done. I have known several people that have been hit and injured by elderly drivers. The most recent elderly driver was 86 and didn't even know she had hit this womans car on the interstate and kept driving. This woman had just recently had back surgery. The elderly womans only concern was that now she was going to be in trouble with her children because she had gotten into another accident! I know it's not convenient and most elderly people like my grandmother would pass but I still want her tested for her safety as well as that of others. I know the argument is that they still need to get around but I am only suggesting pulling the licenses of the ones that don't pass the test, I think that is fair and safe for everyone. What do you think?

rml_16

I live in Florida. I SO agree with you!

TheRoadDog

Define elderly. And who is to say that elderly is the defining parameter. There are sure plenty of younger people on the road that shouldn't be.

I'd rather have grandma coming at me at 5 miles under the speedlimit than 20 year ould Susie Q who's busy texting her BFF about the Double Chocolate Low Cal Machiata that she just got at Dutch Brothers on sale.

LuckyLeprechaun

In order not to be ageist, what if we retested all drivers every five years? If you can't pass, you can't have a license renewal?

Grimmerick

Define elderly. And who is to say that elderly is the defining parameter. There are sure plenty of younger people on the road that shouldn't be.

I'd rather have grandma coming at me at 5 miles under the speedlimit than 20 year ould Susie Q who's busy texting her BFF about the Double Chocolate Low Cal Machiata that she just got at Dutch Brothers on sale.

I would leave defining elderly up to the lawmakers and professionals after they do research on what age most of the population loses vision,reaction time and reflexes. As far as the younger population goes we aren't talking about that right now. But that would still fall under my belief that texting while driving should have more serious consequences for any age, not just little susie Q.

TheRoadDog

In order not to be ageist, what if we retested all drivers every five years? If you can't pass, you can't have a license renewal?

I like this idea.

Grimmerick

In order not to be ageist, what if we retested all drivers every five years? If you can't pass, you can't have a license renewal?

I could go with this too, but to save time and money maybe we could make it so people with records of being prone to causing accidents or people with lots of driving infractions take it every five years and everyone else maybe every 10. I don't know I haven't formed a plan just saying this is a real problem happening everyday. Working in the medical field I am probably more aware of it than others because I see it everyday

rml_16

In order not to be ageist, what if we retested all drivers every five years? If you can't pass, you can't have a license renewal?

This I could go with this too, but to save time and money maybe we could make it so people with records of being prone to causing accidents or people with lots of driving infractions take it every five years and everyone else maybe every 10. I don't know I haven't formed a plan just saying this is a real problem happening everyday. Working in the medical field I am probably more aware of it than others because I see it everyday

I had to schedule an appointment for my daughter's road test and it took three weeks to find an open slot. Imagine the backlog if we tested everyone every five years.

Marig0ld

I live in Florida. I SO agree with you!

Bless your soul!!! :laugh:

LuckyLeprechaun

In order not to be ageist, what if we retested all drivers every five years? If you can't pass, you can't have a license renewal?

This I could go with this too, but to save time and money maybe we could make it so people with records of being prone to causing accidents or people with lots of driving infractions take it every five years and everyone else maybe every 10. I don't know I haven't formed a plan just saying this is a real problem happening everyday. Working in the medical field I am probably more aware of it than others because I see it everyday

I had to schedule an appointment for my daughter's road test and it took three weeks to find an open slot. Imagine the backlog if we tested everyone every five years.

imagine how many extra people the DMV would have to hire (hello job creation!)

Also, Maybe if you can prove you've had no tickets or accidents, you earn the right to bypass the driving test, but if you have anything on your record at all, then you have to test.

rml_16

In order not to be ageist, what if we retested all drivers every five years? If you can't pass, you can't have a license renewal?

This I could go with this too, but to save time and money maybe we could make it so people with records of being prone to causing accidents or people with lots of driving infractions take it every five years and everyone else maybe every 10. I don't know I haven't formed a plan just saying this is a real problem happening everyday. Working in the medical field I am probably more aware of it than others because I see it everyday

I had to schedule an appointment for my daughter's road test and it took three weeks to find an open slot. Imagine the backlog if we tested everyone every five years.

imagine how many extra people the DMV would have to hire (hello job creation!)

Also, Maybe if you can prove you've had no tickets or accidents, you earn the right to bypass the driving test, but if you have anything on your record at all, then you have to test.

I could get behind the unblemished driving record thing.

But I can't get behind the "job creation" thing because it's government bloat and will only cost more money out of our pockets for something that probably isn't necessary just to be PC.

GFreg

Define elderly. And who is to say that elderly is the defining parameter. There are sure plenty of younger people on the road that shouldn't be.

I'd rather have grandma coming at me at 5 miles under the speedlimit than 20 year ould Susie Q who's busy texting her BFF about the Double Chocolate Low Cal Machiata that she just got at Dutch Brothers on sale.

While I will agree that it is probably more dangerous to have a 16 year old on the road texting and doing all sorts of other stuff that will distract them, the issue is that with a road test administered by a third party, the person being tested (testee?) can alter their normal behavior in order to pass the test and then resume their recklessness when they are alone. We have to hope that the cops patrolling the roads catch these people and administer proper penalties.

Issues that you won't be able to temporarily alter such as coordination, vision, reaction time are usually brought on by age. I do think there should be a re-testing policy. I would propose that you are re-tested at 50 and there is a ten year period that your license is valid without requiring re-testing.

Just yesterday on my way home from work I had to call the Maryland State Police to report an elderly lady driving down an 8 lane highway. She was swerving between 2 lanes constantly and barely avoided hitting 5 cars and an 18 wheeler in the time that I was behind her. I reported it not only for my safety and for the safety of others around me but for her safety as well. I don't want to sound mean and say she shouldn't be driving because she is old. She shouldn't be driving because she didn't have the required skills to drive safely. When you are driving down the highway at 60 mph, even the smallest things can cause major accidents.

Edit: Fixed some grammatical stuff.

katatak1

In order not to be ageist, what if we retested all drivers every five years? If you can't pass, you can't have a license renewal?

This I could go with this too, but to save time and money maybe we could make it so people with records of being prone to causing accidents or people with lots of driving infractions take it every five years and everyone else maybe every 10. I don't know I haven't formed a plan just saying this is a real problem happening everyday. Working in the medical field I am probably more aware of it than others because I see it everyday

I had to schedule an appointment for my daughter's road test and it took three weeks to find an open slot. Imagine the backlog if we tested everyone every five years.

You're looking at it the wrong way... we'd be *job creators!* I agree though, for heavily populated areas that could become problematic.

EDIT: Oh :grumble: someone else had the same job creator attitude and I didn't read ahead. Oh well, great minds think alike! :laugh:

KimmyEB

I like the idea of retesting every 10 years, personally, but if you are a habitually horrible driver (tickets, accidents that were deemed your fault, etc.), then you ought to be retested every 5. Yes, these are just numbers thrown out there, but I like the framework.

CasperO

I like the idea of retesting every 10 years, personally, but if you are a habitually horrible driver (tickets, accidents that were deemed your fault, etc.), then you ought to be retested every 5. Yes, these are just numbers thrown out there, but I like the framework.

This ain't bad, but the logic is a little flawed. Drivers' test check skills. Many people with lots of tix and crashes have perfectly fine driving skills. Their problem is with their wisdom, prudence, and impulse control. They can drive just fine,,, they get the tix & crashes because they choose to do stupid things.

fbmandy55

We've had 7 incidents in the past 6 months in town (the news just ran an article) of people driving through stores/restaurants/houses with cars. 6 of the 7 drivers were over the age of 70. The other one was an Asian Purdue student learning to drive for the first time.

I was pretty inpressed with one. She managed to reverse out of a parking spot, past two lanes, between two narrow concrete pillars into the grocery store enterance and then angled through a second set of doors into the produce dept. She thought she had hit the brakes and not the gas.

BigDaddyBRC

I think everyone after the age of 50 should have to take the driving test every 2 years and the written every 5.

It's amazing how many people are oblivious to everything around them, not just the old folks. That being said, I was almost taken out by the "little lady from Pasadena" who cant see over the steering wheel driving a Ford Expedition that I swear she would have had to use a pulley system to get into.

fbmandy55

In my defense of the younger people, they still have a good reaction time, good vision and in my opinion, are still more safe than the elderly drivers. With age you lose hearing, vision, your reaction time and your brain is easily confused. It seems like common issues with the eldery are confusion (hitting the wrong pedal) and vision (pulling out in front of cars, not seeing signs and lights). It always amazes me that when the eldery cause accidents and tell the cop "I hit the wrong pedal or I didn't see X", they are allowed to keep on driving! If they have those issues now, they aren't going to improve!

castadiva

My feeling is that if you are going to drive over the age of 'say 70 (most people now remain in decent health until around that point), then you need to be having mandatory vision and hearing tests at least once a year, and perhaps a medical check-up on reflexes etc as well. Driving skills themselves aren't usually the issue. If you are driving, you are in charge of a lethal weapon, and I don't think it is reasonable to have people who can't see/hear/ react quickly putting others at risk. We wouldn't allow someone with un-corrected poor vision or similar issues to operate other heavy machinery, so why a car, when the potential for damage and/or death to the general public is circumstantially much higher?

jamk1446

In a society where individuals are dependent on driving (at least here in America), we need to have more resources in place for those who would lose their driving privileges. I’ve known several elderly relatives or friends of family that knew they really shouldn’t be driving anymore but they still need groceries, have errands and just plain want to get out. Not everyone has family or friends close by to help them out. Public transportation isn’t an option in many places in this country nor do many of us live where we can just walk to the things we need, which would really be better for us as we age anyway.