Should the elderly be required to take yearly driving test?

[Blahr 0]

You should have added a 3rd option labeled "Hell yes!"

[Galen 0]

No shit something just happened down the street from me two days ago. An older man was pulling his Blazer into the garage. His wife was standing inside the garage waving him in and guiding him and she was standing against the wall looking toward the husband and car. From what I understand she put her hands up to signal him to stop and he got the pedals mixed up and hit the accelerator instead of the break and crushed her. They airlifted her to a hospital. I don't think she made it. The guy is unable to take care of himself so she had been taking care of him.

[Stacy 0]

i think in florida they shold be tested every 3 months. yikes. some scary scary drivers here.

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[Jib 0]

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i think in florida they shold be tested every 3 months. yikes. some scary scary drivers here.

Stacy, that's a little extreme. I think it would be fine twice a year: you know, when they cross the Florida-Georgia border.

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the depth of his depravity sickens me.
-- Jerry Falwell, People v. Larry Flynt

[Stacy 0]

that makes it scariest! they drive the length of the eastern coast twice a year! UGH!

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[suz 0]

I voted no. Only because I feel it is discrimination towards the elderly.
I feel that whenever you renew your licence, you should take a driving test. It's alot fairer that way.

But I do agree that the elderly can be a bit concerning on our roads. When I use to work as a chicken girl, this little old man used to come and buy four chicken dinners every Tuesday. He'd travelled all the way from his aged care nursing home to collect lunch for himself and three other residents. I'd be watching him, and it'd take him 10 minutes to get from his car to the front counter, where I was standing...His car was parked right in front of the shop window...roughly 10 metres away
He'd shuffle his way to the door, stop for a breather, and then soldiered on again. Then collect his lunches, shuffle his way back to his car and drive off doing no more then 20kph.

Don't bother me, I'm living happily ever after

[wmw999 2,150]

One thing to consider, in the same vein as (ducking and running) swooping, is education to balance regularion.

There is an excellent class "55 and Drive Alive" or something like that. I'd say that taking it should exempt you from getting a physical test for at least some period. One of the things it teaches you is dealing with increasing reaction times.

Elderly folks very often drive slowly -- in a rural setting, that's not a big problem, and people who would be incredibly dangerous in the city keep driving for years out in the toolies. In a large number of cases, it also reduces the severity of the accidents that do happen.

It's extremely hard to give up your driver's license. My dad did, and it was an acknowledgement that he was no longer independent and self-sufficient in many ways; that he was no longer capable. That's hard to do.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[wingnut 0]

just posting at the end of the thread..no one in paticular........


i think it is just a cultural thing....... when i lived in germany, the only thing you had to worry about wer the othr american drivers.... all the german (read aslo european) were very good drivers. reason??? well they spend a large amount on thier lisc., take an extreamly hard test (1 hour with the examiner and one mistake and you fail) and they have to be 18 to get it with a 1 year probation where if they screw up it gets taken from them........ yes they do have an excelent pub. trans system where you never have to get a car if you don't want to (my friend in switzerland is 28 and has never had a drivers lisc.) but i think it's a whole mentality on driving and such........... you would think that driving 120mph on the autobahn would produce alot of accedents, but it really doesn't.... it's all about the driver and the mechanical stability of the vehicle..... funy thing i'v noticed.. in germany speed determened right of way on the freeway, here it's vehicle size/mass.........

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"i have no reader's digest version"

[aero04 0]

Absolutely. Someone said driving is a PRIVILEGE, not a right. I think this is of utmost importance. Fact is, for *most* folks, the older you get, the worse your eyesight, hearing, reflexes, etc. are. The same things you need for safe driving. So I believe a test would be a very good idea for the elderly.

On the same subject, I think some of the laws should be changed with regard to new drivers. It scares the hell out of me to see young drivers every day. Just hang out at a high school one day when classes let out. (Had to pick up my sister one day, don't think I just sit around a high school) I saw shit that I couldn't believe. And to know that my brother and sister ride around with the yahoos. Scary.

[nacmacfeegle 0]

"I say yes. But then again, in the past 2 weeks I was almost hit by two different elderly drivers (how they miss seeing my big-f***ing truck is beyond me). "

Not necessarily every year, what about every 5 years or so? I reckon everyone should sit the test every ten years or so anyways....
But then again...you let them carry weapons don't you?

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He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

[D22369 0]

hell YES they should have to take mandatory tests to maintain their drivers license, my grandfather drove till he was 82, we witnessed him pulling across one adjacent lane and two oncoming lanes full of rush hour traffic at 45 mph to get home, no one got hit but that was due to the other motorists having great reflexes.......that was it for him, he argued with us that he had the right to do what he wanted.....and that he wasnt afraid to die.......... we tried to get him to understand that maybe the other people were .......... so we took and sold his car for him.........he was extremely pissed off at us for a while, but it kept him from killing someone, and I have no doubt that would have occured..
Roy

They say I suffer from insanity.... But I actually enjoy it.

[ScottishJohn 25]

It may be worth noting that here in the UK the following rules apply;

Age is no bar to the holding of a licence. DVLA requires confirmation at age of 70 that no medical disability is present, thereafter a 3 year licence is issued subject to satisfactory completion of medical questions on the application form. Notwithstanding, as ageing progresses, a driver or his relative(s) may be aware that the combination of progressive loss of memory, impairment in concentration and reaction time with possible loss of confidence, suggest consideration be given to cease driving. Physical frailty is not per se a bar to the holding of a licence.

For new drivers the following rules apply;

If the number of valid penalty points shown on your driving licence total 6 or more during the two year probationary period immediately following your first driving test, your full driving licence will be revoked by DVLA until such time as you pass a further driving test.

NOTE - if you are caught speeding you will get 3 penalty points.

It is also worth noting that older people (i think it is over 60) get a state bus pass which allows them to get cheap bus fares.

in my personal opinion I don't think mandatory retests for older drivers is about discrimination I think it has more to do with public safety

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If you think my attitude stinks you should smell my fingers

[kingbunky 3]

i wish there was a sort-of selection in the poll...

i have a class 1 license (i get to drive big trucks!) and as a result, i am required by law to take a complete physical every 5 years. starting soon ( i don't know the age), that will drop to a 4 year interval, then continuing down to when i am 60 ( i think) when it becomes a yearly thing. tack on a driving test to the physical, and make it accross the board (not just truckers, that's discrimination as well isn't it?) and we would have a good system.

i am sure that when the time came for them to pull my ticket, i would kick and scream, but if i can't pass the test, i have no right to be on the road. i have the right to be tested, and perhaps re-tested if i feel i have been wronged.

"Hang on a sec, the young'uns are throwin' beer cans at a golf cart."
MB4252 TDS699
killing threads since 2001

[JeffD 0]

I live, and Ride a motorcycle here in Florida and have had many run ins with elderly.

1) Making a left turn at an intersection across 2 lanes of traffic. I was timing it so I would go behind the car and got across one lane of traffic and the car STOPPED!! so it stuck me standing in the middle of traffic as this little old lady was doing 3mph over the curb.

2)Heading 45mph down a two way road and an elderly man turned from an off street onto my lane of travel and started doing 20mph, I had to swerve around him (legal pass) otherwise I would have fit into his trunk

And chuteless (I dont know you and from what you say I would not be afraid to share the road with you) but if you say "what would they do, hang me?" no but they could take away most of your property/money/ and prevent it from getting to your heirs.

[AggieDave 6]

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But then again...you let them carry weapons don't you?

And you have to requalify for that privlage every 4 years.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[thethinker 0]

We have to look @ this logically. Yes the thinker actually said logically. When people age....senses go bad. Their vision goes, feelings goes, everything goes. If young kids are being forced to take a drivers test (as they should) Then the elderly should be forced to take a drivers test just as a check up. Its nothing personal against them...but since our society claims to be attempting to make roads safer..this is definately the way to go. Besides it pisses me off when i see an old bitty in a dodge viper

We do not have to visit a madhouse to find disordered minds; our planet is the mental institution of the universe.
-Johann von Goethe

[Iflyme 0]

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But that's not due to their inability to quickly react or from problems with old age. That's from being young and stupid. There are already PLENTY of laws that help curb these sorts of things.

Agreed! btw, I didn't suggest young men should be tested frequently -- just pointing out where the danger on the road lies... those guys I talked about in mypost who died in a high speed crash -- police estimate the driver was going around 150 kilometres/hour .. that's more than 90 mph in a 30 zone.

[ChileRelleno 0]

My personal opinion is that at 60 years of age drivers should be required to test yearly for vision, hearing, reaction time and driving skills. I also think that anyone recieving a moving violation should have to renew his license and undergo driving skills testing/education within 6 months. Even more so for us professional drivers (truckers) and people driving RV's and towing vehicles/trailers.
Driving is serious business, life and death quite literally, it is not a right it is a privelige and needs to to be treated as such.

ChileRelleno-Rodriguez Bro#414
Hellfish#511,MuffBro#3532,AnvilBro#9, D24868