Published in Pawtucket Times on August 4, 2003
Not seeing the posted sign, 86-year-old Russell Weller drove onto a street closed to traffic and mowed down 50 pedestrians with his car, ultimately killing 10, in a Southern outdoor farmers market.
Just nine days later, Louis Nirenstein, 70, plowed into pedestrians at a local farmers market in Flagler Beach, Fla., injuring six people.
Both of these accidents follow on the heels of the tragic death of longtime R.I. state Rep. Mabel Anderson, who was killed while pushing her carriage at the front entrance of the Home Depot parking lot at the Bristol Place Shopping Center in South Attleboro.
A magistrate’s hearing to determine if vehicular homicide was committed by an 88-year-old Pawtucket driver is scheduled for Aug. 14 at the Attleboro District Court.
According to a report released by the Road Information Program last month the number of older drivers – ages 70 and above – killed in crashes nationwide increased by 27 percent from 1991 to 2001.
The latest data finds older drivers have not only lost their ability to manage complex traffic situations, but are more likely to have problems making left hand turns and understanding small signage that alerts motorists to upcoming changes in traffic patterns.
The aging process guarantees your driving skills will not be as shar as you get older. Poor vision, caused by cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration, poor hearing, lack of flexibility, limited range of motion and reduced rection time make the complex tasks associated with driving more difficult for older motorists.
As older driver facilities increase and the death toll tied to older-drivers accidents sky-rocked, a growing number of states are looking at licensing restrictions as a way to delicately approach this complicated problem.
AARP and other aging advocacy groups will say not all seniors are equally affected as they age. One may lose the skills needed to drive safely at age 60, while another will not lose those skills until 90.
For many seniors, losing your driving privileges translates to the loss of independence. Meanwhile, public transportation may not be readily available.
States are grappling with this age-charged issue, not wishing to stir up the wrath of seniors. Aging advocates oppose any blanket solution to this problem, calling for licensing restrictions to be made on a case-by-case basis. They say age should not be used as a predictor of unsafe driving.
In Rhode Island, the Department of Motor Vehicles has decreased its renewal cycle from five years to two years for persons age 70 and older. At license renewal time, some states require vision screening and road tests for older drivers. Certain medical conditions or a succession of accidents my restrict your driving privileges in other states.
Even the limiting of driving hours or the types of roads driven on are examples of license restrictions that states can attempt to reduce age-related accidents.
The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, the American Automobile Association, AARP and the National Safety Council, have recognized the thorny issues surrounding restrictive licensing and have developed special training courses to help older motorists drive more safety.
On the other hand, even if an older driver enrolls in one of these courses, they may choose not to recognize age-related limitations that impact on their driving.
With a growing age population, R.I. state officials must tackle this problem head-on. Why not consider mandating a battery of tests to examine an older drivers’ field of vision, flexibility and range of motion, reaction time, along with the person’s mental or cognitive abilities?
Intersections can be improved by widening left-lane turn lanes, adding overhead street signs and adding luminous lane markings.
Finally, street and highways can be improved by creating longer merge and exit lanes, making curves less sharp and using rumble strips to warn motorists when they are running off the road.
If the state chooses not to act, the result will allow a growing number of unsafe senior drivers on the road.
Ultimately, the burden falls on the family and physicians who must take the keys away from the driving-challenged senior.
Sometimes you just have to yank the keys away from an older family member, like my family needed to do several years ago. When my father could not stop my mother with dementia from driving, the only solution appeared to come from making a call to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TDMV) by my family.
Mother’s deteriorating driving skills were reported and as a safe measure, the TDMV officials called her in for testing – where she failed the test thy gave her three times.
As difficult as a decision this was for my family to make ultimately, my mother, who was in mid-to-late state dementia, didn’t even realize that she had lost her driving privileges and her keys.
Sadly, we will continue to read about age-related traffic accidents and the death of innocent victims until states move to tighten driving licensure of older adults.
For information about AARP’s 55 Alive Driver Program for older people call 1-888-227-7669 or write them at 601 E. Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20049.
Herb Weiss 