photo taken from drdriving.org
Should the elderly be allowed to drive?
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I believe that once you hit a certain age, there should be some tests on your driving capabilities, because we can't take chances with other lives on the road.
Once you hit a certain age, the tests should be rigorous.
Okay folks . . . at which age do you consider one "Elderly"?
I know a lot of folks much older than I who are better drivers than those in their "Prime" years.
And Brad . . . just what do YOU consider a rigorous driving test?
For Jared . . . Which do you consider more dangerous? A "young" person driving with the boom box blaring while texting or a 65 year old driving while listening to Mozart?
What papwdawg said. We need to determine credible tests to ensure that an individual is able to drive safely. The rap and hip/hop playing so loudly the "music" shakes my car scares me far more.
Those folks should have their license revoked for a fair period of time. Once, when I was driving, one of those A-holes were right next to me, giving me a headache, and also completely obliterating the sound of a fire truck horn. That's damn dangerous.
As far as the elderly driving, we have to ensure that if they don't have access to public transportation, the community or private organization creates a system on which people can travel to get food and other necessities. It's also important they get out of the house and interact with others.
How do we define elderly? I'll rais my hand…
We should not discriminate against a person based upon their age, so yes, if they have a license they can drive. Any renewal tests or restrictions must apply to drivers of all ages, not simply the elderly.
It's not a matter of discrimination, it's a matter of safety on the road. The elderly have a slower reaction time than teenagers, so they are the bigger problem.
Drivers over 65, along with new teenage drivers, have the highest accident rates per miles driven. So, I don't think it's discrimination based on age…After 75, the risk of driver fatality increases sharply, because older drivers are more vulnerable to both crash-related injury and death. Science shows that their reaction times are longer, which could mean life or death in a car. Thus, I think after 65, drivers should be required to take a driving test every 3 years.
My Pa at 65 was an old goat who couldn't even find his glasses on his own head. He could barely walk with a walker.
I am over 65. I am in a thousand times better health than Pa ever was. I have taken care of myself, beat my alcoholism – (I have been sober for over thirty years) – I no longer smoke as I quit that over twenty years ago.
My wife and I cruise around this country in our Dodge Deisel pickup towing our fifth-wheel trailer (all 7 tons of it). I have more miles under my belt than a lot of OTR truckers and the last time I was in a fender-bender I was 28 years old.
I have regular medical checkups -(something Pa never did)- And I hope and pray that when the time comes to stop driving I will do so willingly.
So, what makes YOU the expert on my driving or not?
I don't think taking away drivers licenses totally is warranted, but there's lots of physical and mental deterioration that occurs as the body ages which afflicts the driver's ability. Since that occurs in different levels, but with significant average effect on public safety, some sort of more frequent observation of the aged population's status might be warranted. It could be as simple as vision tests (more frequent past 65-75) or it could be less invasive like a voluntary drivers course which would reduce insurance rates if completed (and probably signal to those that can't pass that they should drive less, if at all).
You can handle it, but some can't.
It's not old drivers I am worried about.
It is college students who drive under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
I think that an elderly person on the road driving slow and taking their time creates more dangers for others on the road. First off they have a much slower reaction time and most of them have a medical problems and wear glasses (they dont always go for eye exams, and you have what 5 years where you have to renew the licence and in that time frame how many stubborn old people go for the eye exams?? i’m sure there sick of being proded and poked at there age so I don’t blame them for that!) so for a young person with a boom box, I don’t think that they are a concern, that doesn’t slow down their reaction time. And as for the texting. they made the law NO TEXTING. By the time you are 70 you should have to go through tests that cant determine your ablilities to be safe on the road and if you fail to meet the test requirements then it’s time to give up the licence!
Sorry to be so blunt but this is my opinion and I don’t think it’s fair that us “young” people get a bad rap of being bad drivers when the elderly are just as much to blame.
what does it matter what you are listening to? young people and the elderly both have high risks of accidents. the difference is that while teenagers are learning to become better drivers, elderly people decreasingly get worse and should at one point not be allowed to drive.