State debates older driver license requirements after recent accidents
Alexis Hauk
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In the last week since four-year-old Diya Patel was killed at a Stoughton crosswalk by an 88-year-old driver, the idea of greater restrictions on older drivers' license renewals has gained momentum in the State House. It was the third serious accident in the area involving an older person in a month.
In the last decade, the number of older drivers has increased by 18 percent, and in 2007 there were 38 million adults age 65 and older. The CDC reports that 41 percent of those over 75 reported activity impairment of some kind.
Currently, a handful of bills lie in wait for passage, each with its own solution to the problem that, as the Baby Boomer generation moves into retirement, is expected to worsen.
State Rep. Kay Khan's bill would allow doctors to report potentially "risky" drivers--those with bad vision or those prone to confusion--to the Registry of Motor Vehicles, without the fear of being sued. State Rep. Vincent Pedone's bill would require mandatory testing for anyone with a license every "even-numbered" renewal. State Sen. Stephen J. Buoniconti's bill would create a commission to recommend improvements to driving safety. And State Sen. Brian A. Joyce's bill, which he has proposed for the last three legislative cycles, would require a driving test at age 85.
When asked why that age specifically, Joyce Chief of Staff Jeff Perkins cited a Carnegie Mellon study that showed an increase in traffic accidents starting at age 85.
"To [Senator Joyce], I think it just seems like a common sense solution that we should be retesting people," Perkins said. "That getting tested once in your entire life for a drivers license is not enough."
But some argue that the issue of how to make roads less dangerous is a more complicated puzzle than setting a cutoff age.
Massachusetts state law specifically prohibits age-based discrimination in gaining drivers' licenses.
"Any time there is a horrific crash in the news, there is a human tendency to react," said gerontologist Elizabeth Dugan, who spearheads the coalition Safe Roads Now (SRN). "What we want to prevent is something that may be half a solution."
Joyce's bill, Dugan said, is "not a solution."
In a letter sent out Friday to Gov. Deval Patrick and the Registry of Motor Vehicles, Dugan and other SRN coalition partners, such as AARP, AAA and the Massachusetts Medical Society, urged that drivers get tested throughout their lives behind the wheel.