Elder Drivers

I think it would be prudent for not only Florida but the United States as a whole to adopt mandatory testing of drivers over the age of 65. It is unsafe for not only the elderly but the rest of the population. There are many different factors affecting the skill of the elderly in their driving. The elderly are less likely to drink and drive, speed, or drive without a license. They also wear their seat belts more than the rest of the population. This is not sufficient though. They may try the hardest to be safe but many have physical factors that prevent them from driving safe. This is why skills tests should be administered to elders, some are fully capable of driving while others are not.

Elders have vision problems. They range from cataracts to presbyopia to glaucoma. They also suffer from more chronic illnesses and uses of medications. They have medications for strokes, dementia and other illnesses that can cause impaired judgment and diminished reaction time. They also have problems with mobility from skeletal degeneration like osteoporosis which make it hard for them to turn their head. They also have a high tendency to be on sedatives or painkillers which can impair reflexes and cause drowsiness and confusion.

One of the reasons this initiative is not more widely supported is because someone is going to have to transport these elders around if we are taking their license away from them. There will be a huge burden to make sure that our elders are not trapped in their homes when they are no longer allowed to drive. Many places have very minimal forms of public transpiration. Many elders live alone and still need to go shopping and to doctors, how will they do this without a car? I think this is the real reason no one is taking their licenses from them. We would have to create a way to fix this problem before we can think of removing licenses from the elderly. 16-year-olds are not good drivers either, and it is not even necessary that they are able to drive because they are living with family at this age but we still allow it. I think people need to just understand that if they are out on the roads they should be driving defensively and that there is a risk factor just for being out there.

I hope we can come up with a solution to this problem so we are able to save lives without severely diminishing the quality of life our elders live.