Can you take away the licenses of elderly people?

This is a response to the "Stop the elderly from driving before they wreck all the cool cars" thread.

What is your opinion? Can you take away an elderly persons "right" to drive?

(I put "right" in quotations for a reason).

as per the state, driving is a privilege not a right

In Illinois, after a certain age, they have to take the road test every 2 years (it should be every year or 6 months). It should be the states responsibility to not pass those who shouldn't be driving, and yet, the driving tests are wayyy to lenient. I still cannot believe that my great aunt passed.

They're the ones that vote.

mtn wrote: In Illinois, after a certain age, they have to take the road test every 2 years (it should be every year or 6 months). It should be the states responsibility to not pass those who shouldn't be driving, and yet, the driving tests are wayyy to lenient. I still cannot believe that my great aunt passed.

ALL driving tests are wayyy too lenient, no matter what age

My Late Great Grandmother drove until she was 90.. no accidents, quite a few tickets for speeding.. She was the original little old lady from pasadena.

What got us.. at 91, she was riding her bike to go square dancing.. and got hit and badly hurt by a 75 year old fellow who should NOT have been driving. She never did recover from that accident.

I will admit, she was the exception to the rule.. very much with it until the day she was taken off of her bicycle. She square danced three nights a week, rockhounded, made jewelry, and drove her Mercury Comet up from Florida to NJ every summer

I'll be 66 in August and still race SCCA Nationals. There are many people ypunger than me who shouldn't be driving due to physical impairment, lack of skills etc. I think it is a very subjective thing. I would have no problem with testing after a certain age, but I might show up with my racecar for the test!

I fall in the "the test should be WAY more strict for EVERYONE" camp.

I remember when all my friends and I were turning 16, the main thing everyone was worried about was parallel parking.

I can't even remember the last time I had to do that!

z31maniac wrote: I fall in the "the test should be WAY more strict for EVERYONE" camp. I remember when all my friends and I were turning 16, the main thing everyone was worried about was parallel parking. I can't even remember the last time I had to do that!

+1!

Related anecdote: To avoid all of that obscure, difficult parking nonsense, I traveled to the limit of our shire and took my driving test in a little country town, with an easygoing Policeman instead of a grizzled driving instructor, (as they were in the 'city', where some of my friends had failed their tests.)

This meant wide, empty streets, making parking a breeze. Plus, the cop riding shotgun was a cool guy. Edging me on to push it a little harder, then laughing when I locked up the brakes (in the wet), and totally understanding when the wipers quit working (on my Fiat.)

I have not been "allowed" to ride in a car with my Grandfather driving in 24years, which coresponds with when I got my license. It was my parents decision to ask me to drive myself and my sister rather than ride with him at family outings. He is now over 90 and does not drive due to inability to get behind the wheel with out help, but while he was driving he was a terror. It seems he got much worse with age, but some people are just plain bad driver's.

I live in a fairly popular retirement destination in the summer and I do wish there was a good, fair way to regulate driver's of an older age. It is the lack of awareness I see in older drivers than scares me. They just don't seem to know that they are left of the centerline, that there is in fact a car coming, and or that there is a car (usually me) behind them that is trying to get to work at a resonable time. I have found these badly piloted vehicles going 20 under the speedlimit can be just as dangerous to me as a badly piloted vehicle going 20mph over the speedlimit on the same road. I come around the curve going at or just above the posted limit in my work truck and bam they one is either coming at me squarely in the middle of the road or tootling along at 20 under in front of me srtadling the centerline. I guess I shouldn't rant too much as a car guy I dread the day I can no longer drive my own toys and have to settle for having someone else drive me around in my own car.

Taking someone elderly and no longer competent to drive off the road usually involves getting the person's doctor to affirm that they should not be driving. A lot of the elderly get pissed off when concerned family members do that, however.

What about a driving test every 5 years for everyone? You fail, you can try again at the next appointment. Fail twice however, you can try again in 6 months and must take an education course. Fail that and rinse and repeat.
Of course then we should raise all speed limits by 10 mph (except in school zones) and the interstate by 20 mph.

Old age and treachery will overcome youth and skill.

RossD wrote: What about a driving test every 5 years for everyone? You fail, you can try again at the next appointment. Fail twice however, you can try again in 6 months and must take an education course. Fail that and rinse and repeat. Of course then we should raise all speed limits by 10 mph (except in school zones) and the interstate by 20 mph.

That would be awesome.

The toll roads in OK would jump to 95mph speed limits!

I think in my area you can anonymously report those who may no longer be competent to drive due to deteriorating health and they should get a notice to come in and retest.

Note this does not work if the person was not competent to drive in the first place. The DMV doesn't have that much spare time.

I am well into my senior years. I still do an occasional autocross, hill climb, track day and ice race. I still drive faster than legal but discretion has become more important. I just enjoy showing the younger guys how it is done.

Then again, My 85 yr.old sister got upset when I ddin't renew her drivers license.

After seeing this:

(92 year old takes out a Lotus Dealership)

make them take a test.

1988RedT2 wrote: Old age and treachery will overcome youth and skill.

Everytime

Most states have what is called "Driver Improvement" program that is aimed at incompetent drivers. Based on your driving history, you are invited to meet with a driving instructor who goes over your history and discusses how to get better. I represented an elderly man who made a wrong turn in front of a county deputy and got reported. Luckily client was having a good day and impressed the DMV representative.
I have been wrestling recently with my mother over some of these issues and have been trying to move her from her Toyota Solara convertible to somethiing that has better all-around vision. I have followed her thru town and you cannot see her in the car so I am quite sure that she cant see out herself. It is however her self-declared dream car so I am not having much luck with her. She is a "snowbird" and keeps a 4 door Camry in Fla but enjoys the convertible here in Tn all summer. You are just as likely to meet her with the top down as not on a hot summer day. YMMV