Why Granny Can't Drive
The blue-haired menace:
We don't give teenagers the keys without proving they can handle driving---why do we let the elderly drive well past the safety point?
Treating senior drivers as if they were still in their 40s and 50s -- even when they're well into their 70s and 80s -- arguably makes about as much sense as treating teenage drivers as if they were in their 30s or 40s.
Both age groups require closer monitoring for their own safety as well as the safety of other drivers -- but we currently don't do nearly as much to protect the public from the consequences of "senior driving" as we do to limit the potential damage caused by inexperienced teens.
And yet, drivers over the age of 65 are the most likely to be involved in an accident after drivers aged 16-20, according to insurance industry data. The reasons may be different (youthful exuberance and inexperience vs. declining reflexes/vision/focus in older drivers) but the end results are often the same.
We don't give teenagers the keys without proving they can handle driving---why do we let the elderly drive well past the safety point?
posted by Teflon at 9:25 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Why? My mother's 91. She lives alone, and drives only when necessary, i.e. to senior center for exercise class, to clinic for med appts, for groceries, to church, and to the recycle center. She plots her routes to avoid dense traffic, knows her limits and stays within them, is not taking any meds or other substances that would diminish her capacities, and enjoys the freedom and independence her car provides her. The last thing she needs is some nanny state authority meddling in her affairs.
Well, my daughter's mother-in-law at the age of 72 just hit a mail box last week....breaking her wrist in two places and requiring surgery this morning. Thank heavens no one else was injured.
I had a horrific intersection accident when a 78-year old man blew threw a stop sign and sent my Eagle doing a 180 on the main street of my town.
While you can always find an exception to a rule, try driving in areas with large numbers of seniors...then we'll talk.
LT-
I suppose the answer is that if you can only drive in perfect conditions because your driving skills are so poor, you oughtn't be driving. People can get killed, you know. If a driver's license includes an expectation of ability to operate a motor vehicle under a variety of everyday circumstances, why would it be a bad thing to require elderly drivers to be tested on their driving skills? That way the 91-yr-olds with strong skills could continue to drive, while those without would be unable to do so. Good government and nanny state are not synonymous, you know.
Anonymous-
Sorry to hear about your accident. You don't even have to live in a graying area to see the impact of elderly drivers on the roads---just try living along a route between a cold state and a tropical one when winter comes and the snowbirds start to migrate.
We're living longer and less communally, so this is going to continue to be a big problem.
Teflon, et al,
I picked an argument I can't win. Anecdotal evidence won't prevail against the official reports and statistics. That doen't invalidate my own experiences. I've been T-boned in an intersection by a rancher's wife who ran a red light at the only stop light in the county. She was in her thirties or forties.
I'll grant you the need for driving competence assessment of the elderly. In the case of my mom, she has her vision tested regularly, exercises regularly, and has a clean bill-of-health. I can go on, but I'll spare you.
How do you test for judgement and behaving responsibly? That's IMO why so many young drivers crash. I would sooner drive among the elderly who know their limits and behave accordingly, than to drive among their children who seem to be in an irrational rush wherever they go. Sorry for the rant.
That government is best that governs least.
LT-
Drivers like your mother are a good reason why I wouldn't favor mandatory retirement ages for drivers. The aging process affects all of us differently, and some of us are very capable late into life (think Jack LaLanne).
However, more frequent driving tests (and by that I mean actual road tests, to uncover the behavioral and judgmental skills you reference) as we get older would seem to make sense.
As to statistical versus anecdotal data, it's not quite so simple as "data good, examples bad". For example, while elderly accident rates per hour driven are much higher than the corresponding rates for adults, they also tend to drive a lot less, meaning that the absolute risk is consequently less----they're not on the road much, and often only in good driving conditions. And while the stats may point to higher incidences of involvement in collisions, they are mute on accidents caused by traffic disruption because someone's moving much, much slower than the flow of traffic.
When my time comes, I hope that I'll have the good sense to throttle back on my driving as my skills erode. A periodic road test would help me to know when the time has come to hang up my keys and start calling my kids.
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