Elderly Seniors Behind the Wheel – Should The Elderly Be Re-Tested For DMV Licenses?
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The Pros and Cons of Older Drivers
"The amount of accidents and fatalities caused by elderly drivers has increased and will continue to increase as the baby boomers hit age sixty-five. What makes it more interesting is most cases are without citations or jail time. Even when a fatality has occurred, senior citizens don't seem to do any jail time. If it was you or me, you can pretty much count that we would be locked up. I can not understand why State Governments have not stepped up to change our current requirements for the privilege of driving a motor vehicle."
From the time you start reading this article until it's completion which is about one and half minutes about 88 auto accidents would have happened and 18 of them would be directly related to the elderly. That is just in the US if you factor in worldwide numbers then the numbers are astronomical. Also one motor vehicle death occurs every 15 minutes.
Elderly drivers account for a nearly 19% of all automobile accidents. This number is indeed staggering enough to have many people asking, should older drivers be allowed on the road? And if so, should they be retested more often than younger drivers? For some, the answers to these questions are quite clear. For others, they are subjects of much debate.
Some have proposed that older drivers should be required to retake the driving test at age 65, and then again every few years. This proposal certainly seems reasonable, given the current accident statistics. Where problems may occur would be in the fact that there is a fee to take the driving test. This fee helps to pay the salary of the driving testers. It may not be fair to ask senior drivers to pay this fee more often than others.
Another problem may be that the number of individuals needing to take a driving test would increase. This could place extra burdens on testing spots that are already extremely busy. Wait times could increase, and even those who are for more frequent testing for senior drivers could very well find themselves inconvenienced. Some may be willing to endure longer wait times, while others would not.
Would this be some form of discrimination? Again, there are people on both sides. Laws are in place to protect people. However, not everyone will agree with the laws that are supposed to protect them. Seniors that cling to the ability to drive for their very survival will certainly consider any such law a form of discrimination.
The solution may actually lie somewhere in the middle. It may be possible to ask that any senior driver that has been involved in an accident to retake the driving test. Obviously, this possible solution also has flaws, as who is to say that the individual will survive a serious accident. This could also come to late to save the life of others that may be involved in the accident as well.
It is unclear as to whether or not the government will get involved in this debate. It may be that this decision will need to be made on a state or even local level. In a perfect world, seniors that realize that their driving skills are not up to par would relinquish their drivers license voluntarily. However, many do not realize that this is the case until it is too late. Clearly, there is no easy solution to this complex problem.
Do You Think Seniors Need To Be Re-Tested To Save Lives?
See results without votingJust To Stress The Point
As amusing as you might think the video is...the people that died, or were injured don't think it's all that funny. It is our responsibility as son's and daughters to take the keys away from our parents. Yes, they will hate you, they will get angry...but they will get over it.
Why Take a Driver Safety Course?
Because driving has changed since you first got your license, and doing so could save you money on your car insurance.
Many Organizations are stepping up and trying to educate people, especially the elderly about safe driving. AARP is one of those Organizations that offers these courses. Not only does it keep you current on new and changing road laws but after completion may lower your insurance premium. Read more at http://www.aarp.org/home-garden/transportation/info-05-2010/why-take-a-driver-safety-course.html
Check out your options
It's better to prepare ahead of time for safety, than to wait for something unfortunate to happen first.
RESOURCES
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov
American Occupational Therapy Association
http://www.AOTA.org
Car Fit-- 12-point check list to ensure senior drivers are sitting properly in their own vehicle and that seat, seat belt, mirrors, steering wheel, head rest, gas/brake pedals, and other controls are positioned properly.
American Automobile Association AAA
http://www.aaa.com
Association for Driver Rehabilitation Specialists
http://www.driver-ed.org
Senior Drivers Organization
http://www.seniordrivers.org
AARP American Association for Retired Persons
Driver Safety Program
http://www.aarp.org
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Thank You Scarlet23,
The story is becoming much to common and many people are paying the price. Nothing is being done because I believe seniors have a huge amount of voting power and it would be political suicide to touch the subject. 79% are registered voters and 71% voted during the last election. How many more lives are going to be lost? I agree other age groups and drunk drivers also kill and cause accidents. But we can remove some more statistic from the equation by simple re-testing. This also includes people that were involved in accidents. Driving is not a right, it is a privilege...Thanks again
-Nicolas
Interesting, especially since I turn 65 today. However: I have been driving for 49 years, and just had my first accident last month (a 22-year-old ran a red light and hit me). No, I don't confine my trips to the store and back. I have driven all over the eastern half of the country showing dogs. I have had exactly one speeding ticket, but lest you think I am a turtle -- my husband calls me "The Stealth Bomber" because I am heavy-footed and never get caught. I passed the eye exam without glasses on my last license renewal. Go ahead test me -- I dare you!
Happy Birthday Careers4,
This Hub is really only to bring awareness to the growing problem. As mentioned, when the baby boomers hit 65-70 in in few more years the statistics go way up. Will it be to late to save a life if we only test after an accident. I recently took my mothers keys away from her, she is 74 and she thinks she drives perfectly and never understood why all the cars were honking and yelling at her to get off the road. Until last year she drove okay, slow but steady. Then I started noticing a lot of dings and scratches on her car from concrete barriers, paint from other cars. She always said it was from other people until one day she was leaving my driveway which slopes up hill, she accelerated right into the wall of our neighbors house. I made the choice to stop her from driving before something major happened. It is also true that I was involved in one accident in my life that involved a youngster, guess around 20 also.
The main differences between a younger driver and a someone in there 70's is response time, ability to adapt to changing road conditions, and usually better depth perception. Another factor is younger drivers know when they are have caused an accident and stop. So many older drivers, don't even realize what has happened and continue on driving. Insurance companies also know these facts and have always had in place an age cap of sorts, when you hit 75 your premium goes up, it's a numbers and statistics game, not discrimination, not anything against older drivers. Truthfully, I don't care if a lot of people get upset, think its discrimination, or a conspiracy of some sort. As long as lives are saved and entire families are not wiped out, dads or moms can go home to there kids. Then that is what matters.
We already have in place policy's for drunk drivers, pretty severe, So now we have to worry about making teens better drivers and make sure that older drivers are safe also. Doesn't seem to unreasonable.
Enjoy Your Birthday and send me a slice of cake.
-Nicolas
Cake on its way to you! I truly do understand the need for retesting, but I think all drivers should be retested on some kind of regular schedule -- even if it is only every ten years for the younger ones. if you worry about seniors behind the wheel, don't ever be admitted to a hospital. There are many, many nurses over 65, and even into their 70s, who are working full-time. How about response (to a code) time, ability to adapt to changing patient conditions, and the kind of perception that tells us a "perfectly fine" patient may be circling the drain?
Here's a thought: my Dad was a judge, and Massachusetts had a mandatory-retirement-at-70 policy. Then, they would call back individual judges whom they still wanted on the bench. My father was called back, at 70, 72, and 74 -- but retired at 75 to move south for a longer golf season! Perhaps licenses could be reissued person-by-person after a certain age (though I would think not 65). Families, too, bear a responsibility to report parents or others who are clearly no longer able (for whatever reason) to drive. Some of the very people who are demanding this retesting might be the ones who would be too afraid to offend their parent to demand the car keys when necessary.
Many thanks for the birthday wishes.
Thank You Career4,
Yes, I agree that ALL drivers should be retested, lets say every 5 years or so. I don't particularly worry about seniors behind the wheel, lets just say that I know what people are going to do before they do. As it turns out, I work in a very busy hospital on the 9th floor ICU and down in emergency...many dedicated and very capable group of people. Another point is, people are living much longer and age is a strange thing. People don't look or act what there physical age is. Me, 46 years old look around 30ish. I do notice that people that stay active and exercise the brain seem to stay sharp and healthy. Once again Happy Birthday and thanks for the cake...
-Nicolas
Very interesting article. Depending on where you live, you may find drivers of all ages driving as though they´ve never taken a test.!!!! l do see your point , though. Many elderly drivers are a danger to themselves.
And to be fair Dim Flaxenwich,
All drivers should go and be re-tested every 10 years or so, but the article was focusing on the elderely. Thanks for your comment.
-Nicolas
There have been a lot of crashes involving elderly people in my city last year and one even caused the death of a little girl. However, most of the crashes involved drivers who were not elderly. I don't agree with seniors having to take a test again because not all elderly drivers are bad, but I think some physical or response test should be taken when they get a certain age to avoid potential crashes.
Hi Angela Kane,
Could the little girls life have been spared if the driver was tested? I agree, not all elderly drivers are horrible and many accidents involve young drivers. It is more about taking some measures to control the possible outcome. By re-testing or at least as you mentioned, some physical or response test should be in place. Thanks for your comment.
Your article makes many valid points. I think the biggest problem is response time and being aware of those around you. I'm 64 and still pretty good on the road ;) However, I have an 89 year old relative who thinks he should still be driving. Retesting might be an expense the elderly cannot afford and as far as discrimination goes that just doesn't apply when you're talking about safety issues. Maybe they could institute a type of physical the older person's doctor could perform to denote whether or not they need to be tested or to say flat out their reflexes are too slow and they shouldn't be driving. My parents asked DMV to take my 92 year old grandfather's license away and they complied. Well written hub and great videos. Voted up. Thanks for SHARING.
Thanks for your comment Tillsontitan,
Complicated topic and one with no wonderful answer. I like the idea that doctors should give the green light on elder drivers or not. But I see patient confidentiality issue's with this. The burden and responsibility should fall on the family, son's and daughters should follow your parents lead...
Great hub. I understand that the seniors feel like we are taking away their freedom, however, they don't realize how dangerous they are. I had to take the keys away from my mother years ago. I believe they should be re-tested every 2-5 years after a certain age. Would you want to put your children's life at risk. We wouldn't let anyone else drive that was driving impaired in any way. I think it is the families responsibility to do what ever they can to keep dangerous relatives off the road.
Thank You for your comment Sgbrown,
Exactly right on all your points, family members have the responsibility to make sure dangerous relatives stay off the road. Just yesterday an elderly couple came into our job site looking for someone and they could barely walk or navigate entering the front door, really think they were blind. The scary thing is, they drove to the shop...
scarlet23 5 months ago
yes, definately.. recently where i live an elderly woman, crashed and killed a 21 year old student,woman was basically blind.