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States Under Pressure to Restrict Older Drivers
SHILOH, Ill. After an 84-year-old driver plowed through an
elementary school lunchroom this week, killing an 8-year-old boy, his mother
pressed lawmakers to bar the elderly from getting behind the wheel.
"We very much support a mandatory limit on the driving age for seniors," Amanda
Wesling wrote in a missive directed at driver Grace Keim, who authorities say
was en route to a driving class at a senior citizen's center Monday when she
struck Ryan Wesling.
Wesling's plea raises new questions about how old is too old to drive, an issue
state legislatures continue to grapple with in the wake of similar tragedies in
recent years. While many states have enacted or are considering tougher testing
for older drivers, they're weighing those changes against the rights of millions
of older people to have the independence a license allows.
Among the incidents prompting calls for change:
— In November, an 89-year-old man whose car hurtled through a farmers market in
California in 2003, killing 10 people and injuring more than 70 others, received
five years of probation because a judge deemed him too ill to go to prison.
— Last August, a sport utility vehicle driven by an 89-year-old man plowed into
pedestrians and vendors at an open-air public market in Rochester, N.Y.,
injuring 10 people.
— In October 2005 in North Dakota, an 87-year-old woman on her way to a doctor
appointment smashed her car into the hospital's lobby, injuring five women.
At least two dozen states and the District of Columbia have laws singling out
older drivers for special attention, from required road tests to vision
examinations, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
In Connecticut, there's a legislative push to require automatic retesting of
anyone over 75 who has had more than two wrecks in a calendar year, according to
the National Conference of State Legislatures. In New York, a pending measure
would halve to two years the renewal period for anyone over 70.
"Different states are doing different things, but they're addressing the issue,"
said Anne Teigen, a research analyst for the NCSL. Still, she says, legislatures
are trying to balance safety concerns against the unwavering fact that older
Americans want to drive.
Illinois has some of the nation's toughest restrictions on older drivers,
joining New Hampshire in requiring a road test for renewals after age 75.
Illinois also is among at least 15 states that have an accelerated renewal
schedule for older drivers, requiring renewals every two years from ages 81 to
86, and then every year after that.
Democratic Illinois state Rep. Kurt Granberg says setting an age for drivers to
hand over their keys wouldn't be appropriate because "everyone's different." But
he says he wouldn't be surprised if Ryan's death prods lawmakers to revisit the
state's requirements for older drivers.
Advocacy groups for the elderly urge states not to overreact to each incident,
noting that accidents happen in every age group and that taking away an older
person's license could rob them of their independence.
"The issue is not age; it has to do with the person's physical and mental
limitations, and that goes beyond age," said Beverly Moore of Illinois' AARP.
Older drivers, she says, still tend to be more cautious behind the wheel, and
family members can be involved in helping decide when a driver should give up
the keys.
Studies have shown that vision, reaction time and other driving skills can
diminish as drivers age.
Statistics from the Insurance Institute show that older drivers generally are as
safe as other age groups until they reach 75, when they tend to have more
accidents. Drivers 85 and older are about as likely to be involved in a fatal
crash as those ages 16 to 19, but they're more likely to die than others in car
crashes because their bodies are frailer, according to the institute.
Keim's license was up for renewal March 3, her 85th birthday, and her driving
record shows no citations, according to state records. Investigators have not
said what caused her to drive up a dead-end drive and never stop, hurtling
through Shiloh Elementary's cafeteria, killing Ryan and injuring two
schoolmates.
While sympathetic to Ryan's family, 67-year-old Joan Juergens considers his
death "totally a freak occurrence" that shouldn't require stiffening Illinois'
licensing requirements for older drivers.
"I don't think you can broadbrush one age group and say it can't drive anymore.
It's unfair," Juergens said.
Others aren't so sure. At 66, Mary Baum says she wouldn't mind state lawmakers
taking a fresh look at Illinois' licensing protocol after an elderly aunt of her
husband's flunked a drivers license test, then admitted to the family that her
vision was failing from age-related macular degeneration.
"Something has to be done," Baum said. "Some are qualified to drive, some are
not. And I would not want to be on the road if I'm not." |
