Just north of us a bill titled "An Act to Promote Safe Driving" is being re-filed with the Massachusetts state legislature, and the bill includes a requirement that anyone renewing their licenses after the age of 85 must pass a vision and road test every 5 years while those under 85 are only required to take a simple vision test every 10 years.
Everyone has their own opinion, but this seems like relatively blatant age discrimination to me. Please note that Massachusetts law prohibits discrimination by reason of age with regard to licensing.
Without a doubt, there are some elderly drivers who shouldn't be licensed because of problems with vision and reflexes. However, there are certain individuals under the age of 85 who have no business being on the road because, unlike most elderly drivers, they like to speed and are more willing to take driving-related risks like driving in bad weather. So I don't know if a strict age standard is the right approach.
It looks like this same issue is being debated in Australia as well. Click here for an article I ran across.
For what it's worth, click here for a brief but interesting article on how the number of car crashes among seniors in Britain has dropped.
And here for an interesting website called "Driving Safely While Aging Gracefully" which addresses the above issue.
And here for some suggested approaches for adult children of elderly drivers who can no longer drive safely. This site was created by The Hartford insurance company.
Thanks for sharing us information about other countries. This will help me a lot in my thesis. Thanks!
Posted by: driving school Bromsgrove | June 19, 2011 at 02:11 AM
Great article. Elderly should take more care in driving. We should always be careful and alert. Thanks for sharing!
Posted by: driving school hereford | June 19, 2011 at 06:01 AM