...Should Driving Privileges be Taken Away from Senior Citizens? Christine Kelly Miami Dade College Abstract In recent years, it has become an apparent concern for law enforcement and the community regarding there is a serious problem with senior citizens causing too many fatal accidents. In Florida, legislation and/or policy makers have been considering changing the laws to see at what age “should the driving privileges” is taken away from senior citizens. The paper will show conclusively that senior citizens should be refused the issuance of a driver’s license based on the fact that they have diminished capacities and motor skills that can endanger the lives of the rest of the community. There is a lot of controversy regarding this issue but we must consider the ultimate result, which is saving lives in the long run. Laws should be changed in order to implement stricter testing of senior citizen’s motor skills and mental capacity to prove that driving privileges of a senior citizen should be taken away. By having stricter examinations of senior citizens at the time have to renew their license, we may be able to save a lot of lives in the future. Should Driving Privileges be Taken Away from Senior Citizens? In recent years, there has been a great concern over the high rate of fatal accidents involving the senior citizens especially those over the age of 70. The question that I impose to this problem is “Should Florida implement stricter laws prohibiting senior...
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...“Death, destruction, horror, and despair” this is what will happen if the elderly keep on driving. The elderly shouldn’t drive and I’m here to emphasize why. I think old people shouldn’t drive because they cause the most accidents, they are very slow when driving, and they put their own and other lives at risk. They are getting to be a big problem and I think that they should be stopped. How many more people must be hurt until our government finally comes to its senses. The first reason why old people shouldn’t drive is because they cause the most accidents. In my research I found that the elderly 75-85years old cause more accidents than young and reckless adults 16-21(U.S.A. Today). The pro-elderly might say that the elderly don’t know any better and that the government doesn’t require you to take a driving test once you become a senior but whose really to blame (U.S.A Today). The elderly shouldn’t be driving in the first place. Statistics state that as you get older you lose focus and that exactly what is happening they aren’t paying attention (smart motorist). The second reason why the elderly shouldn’t drive is because they are very slow. The speed limit clearly says 65 and they are driving at 15. It really grinds my gears. Studies say that the reason they drive slow is because they take medications that can make them sleepy or drowsy and they have little physical activity (smart motorist). So it’s not completely their fault. But that doesn’t make an excuse for the problem...
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...Mandatory License Testing: Requiring skills testing for all drivers Every year automobile manufacturers make improvements to vehicles in order to reduce the risk and severity of occupant injury in the event of a crash. They have added automated driver support features such as backup cameras, and blind spot warning systems. Recently they have introduced collision avoidance systems which automatically apply the brakes in order to prevent impacts or lessen speed in impacts have been added. These improvements do help but crashes still occur and the other vehicles are caught up in traffic jams due to blocked lanes or motorists slowing to see what happened, and sometimes additional collisions occur in those traffic jams; only making traffic conditions worse. All of these systems fail to address the core issue, the drivers which control the vehicles. Research would suggest that all drivers should be required to take knowledge and road skills tests as part of license renewal, because it will take too long for all vehicles to have safety systems, the current license renewal procedures target the wrong driving population, and do not remove unsafe drivers from the road. The NHTSA has required that all vehicles less than 10,000 pounds have a backup camera as standard equipment by 2018 (Barth, 2014), and 20 automotive manufactures and the United States government agreed to make automated braking systems standard equipment in all cars by the year 2022 (Chappell, 2016). These improvements...
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...experience of driving on the road, experiencing road rage from other drivers. Also seeing the elderly on their phones and driving. In my personal opinion I believe the elderly shouldn’t be allowed to drive over the age of 70. My grandfather is 67 years old; he taught me everything that I know. He taught me how to drive when I was 16 years old. In the past 2 years he’s been in 5 accidents and somehow he keeps passing he’s drivers test. The first accident was that he ran through a red light and hit the car passing. The second he wasn’t paying attention to what he was doing on the highway and tried to lanes and hit the car on this left. Need I say more? I love him, but here comes a time when the elderly need to admit that it’s time to give the keys up and start taking public transportation. Not only is my grandfather the worse elderly driver out there, but there’s thousands. I may be cruel for saying if you’re 70 or older you can no longer drive, because it is still their sense of freedom. I think if the DMV gave frequent drivers test and other physicals for the elderly there would be far less accidents from them. Although 25-42 percent of accidents are because doctors don’t give direct directions about driving on prescribed medications. Although the elderly do drive very slow and don’t cause as many accidents as a 25-30 year old would. It is aggravating when you have a time limit to be somewhere and the speed limit is 45 and grandma decides to drive 30! Also the elderly do lower...
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...road (Katherine Mikel 2008). Driving helps older people stay independent and mobile. And family members of these elderly parents and relatives usually feel too pushy and domineering to insist that their loved one is no longer able to remain independent. However, some older drivers do recognize their personal and civic duty to be responsible and take precautions when getting behind the wheel, such as only driving during daylight hours, taking well-known roads, and traveling a safe distance behind other drivers. In 2012, there were almost 36 million licensed drivers ages 65 and older in the United States. Per mile traveled, fatal crash rates increase noticeably starting at age’s 70‒74 and are highest among drivers age 85 and older. These octogenarians have a higher collision rate per mile traveled of any age groups except for teens, and their rate of fatal collisions per mile traveled is the highest of all drivers. The risk of injured or killed in a motor vehicle crash increases with age. An average of 586 older adults is injured every day in crashes. In 2012, more than 5,560 older adults were killed, and more than 214,000 injured in motor vehicle crashes. That amounts to 15 older adults killed and 586 injured in crashes on average every day (CDC 2015). The task of driving requires the ability to receive sensory information, process the information, and to make proper timely judgments and responses. Certainly, any person young or old can have difficulties with these functions...
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...either fear or are disappointed to reach old age. Our culture has a big influence on how the elderly are perceived has stereotyped this population, mostly seen through the media. Even in films, TV, books, and magazines old people are often portrayed as frail, weak, klutzy, or indecisive. We should look treat our elderly with respect for the fact that they are more associated with experience, knowledge, and wisdom than a younger population. Ageism describes this discrimination against the old due to misconceptions and ignorance. Every person has their own perceptions of seniors and growing old. As an individual grows up, those perceptions are influenced by family, friends, and any interactions with the elderly. But as this individual gets older, they become more influenced by the media and what other people are telling us. I believe that in my generation, we are becoming more naive about our elders and I see and hear about it all the time. One that I get a lot is their driving capabilities. People say all the time that old people can’t drive when, in fact, I see younger people getting in accidents more than our seniors. They have been driving much longer than we have and maybe have more experienced skills in driving. In the advertisement I have chose, it reads, “John McCain is old. Do you want him driving your country?” There is picture of John McCain and an elderly lady driving and holding on the to the steering wheel very tightly. The picture is trying to send out two messages...
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...Effects of Driving and Testing for the Elderly Over Seventy and Driving Moraine Valley Community College Abstract This paper will explore five class concepts in relation to older drivers. Fluid intelligence, working memory, cognitive flexibility, vision and hearing, and stereotype threat. It will also show statistics of the dangers of older drivers, the affect they have on other drivers and how driving can hurt or even kill them. This paper will also discuss the stronger laws we need for driving test throughout the United States. What kind of testing should be done and at what age. Effects of Driving and Testing for the Elderly On June 13, 2012, 89 year old Margaret Tomascik was speeding when she failed to stop at a stop sign. She went on to hit a passing car, jump a curb, and crash into a construction site. Margaret hit two people, Thomas Cooney and Joseph Rubino, who were working on the construction site at the time. Margaret severely injured Thomas Cooney and nearly killed Joesph Rubino (Lewis, 2012). Obviously in Margaret's situation her cognitive flexibility was very much declined. She could not react quick enough to avoid this horrible accident. Though there were no deaths in this situation, the next time, there could be. As we have learned in our text, when the aging process begins, functions that are related to one's driving skills and driving ability start to decline. Projections indicate...
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...A fail in our streets People over 65 should not be permitted to drive because they are such a problem. Based on the statics of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration they are reported 30 million people over the age of 65 were licensed drivers in the U.S. This is 15 percent of all licensed drivers. John Kennedy, executive director of NSC Defensive Driving Programs said “With our senior driving population growing, there will be more drivers over the age of 65, potentially causing serious safety issues on our roads.” When people get older, they develop health diseases and corporal degenerate. Elderly people loss many of its abilities and they can react to the activities that normal happened in the roads. They are two main reasons that support my point: physical and mental illness. First, when people get older they start to develop some physical diseases that affect their capacity to drive. For example, loss of vision, arthritis or fatigue meanwhile they are driving. Elderly people can’t see the same things or the same distance through they are going older. Also, they have other health problems like arthritis. Just imagine that a senior cause you an accident and then you know that the cause of the accident was that the old man has arthritis. It not was his fault, is fault of the authorities that permitted that people that aren’t in conditions to drive manage in our streets. Senior also can be affected by hearing problems that can affected them if they...
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...The experience and the emotions I felt made me do a research about the issue. Looking at the problem globally, it should be mentioned that in recent decades numerous authors focused on the problem, therefore, it is a concern. For instance, scientists in Connecticut show that though the absolute number of crashed, where drivers aged over 72 are involved, is not high, this category of drivers has a high rate of incidents per mile. Moreover, the threat of fatal outcome in this category is very high. This group of researchers emphasized the medical aspect of aging. Their investigation showed that adverse events for drivers of the age group are related to cognitive impairment, low physical activity (particularly, the amount of walking per day has been examined) and foot abnormalities (like left-knee flexion). Those results are particularly interesting, as they show how risk factors can hide not only in obvious age changes, but also in those less predictable. This study also shows that there is much to discover about the issue. Among other reasons, which are associated with increased risk of crashes among senior drivers are visual field loss, visual attention, dementia, stroke, Parkinson disease, cardiac disease and other age-related disorders (Marottoli et. all). Another research, conducted in Canada showed that drivers aged over 65 have a high risk of fatal motor vehicle traffic crashes. Among risk factors the following have been indicated: medical and physical conditions, inattention...
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...it takes us to travel places, especially to bigger cities as a result of being faster than driving to their job, doctor, and picking up food. Transportation has grown through the years, and hopefully, it will grow bigger in the near future. Elders should receive free bus rides because they are not as stable as younger drivers. Many are also retired and do not intake enough money. All elders should take retirement. In the first place, they work very hard, and when they do, they do not earn as much money as working adults. They retire as a result of their hard work for at least sixty six years. Every elder deserves to retire. Also, they do not acquire enough money to pay all their bills. Some elderly barely obtain enough money to make a living, because the prices are...
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...Old Drivers should be Retested Elderly drivers have been making the news quite frequently in the past couple of months. There have been many terrible accidents that have taken the lives of innocent by standers due to elderly drivers making poor driving mistakes. Clearly something has to be done; I believe that Senior citizens should have to retake a road test yearly after the age of sixty. According to Channel 2 News of Western New York, “The driver who smashed through the front of an Amherst restaurant, claiming the lives of a husband and wife and injuring their son and a waitress, is now facing a traffic charge.” The story goes on to say that a 74 year old, Beverly Kasmore-Torbert with her husband in the passenger seat, jumped a curb and went through the window of the restaurant.(As seen in Figure 1) The vehicle struck a mother and father, Joseph Bennett and Kathyrn Bennett who died from their injuries. Also injured in the crash was a waitress and Matthew Bennett, son of Joseph and Kathryn. Beverly and her passenger were unharmed in the accident. I find it unjust that someone who is unfit to drive and causes this much harm because of a rookie mistake, mistaking a gas petal or the brake can walk away with a simple traffic violation while a son goes home with no mother or father. I would like to propose a law that would have senior citizens in America retake their road test every year. At the age of 60, an elderly person’s license will expire and they will have to take a road...
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...“Drivers of the road” We are all dangerous drivers. We have an abundance of drivers who have no respect for the law and other motorists. We have encountered these drivers most often in day to day life; we can go back and forth on who the better drivers are; Older? Younger? Women? Men? But do we really know? Firstly from time to time you’ll hear one of your elders speak on how experienced they are and how much they know compared to their younger generation. From what i’ve seen personally is that we all think we are unconquerable whether we are young or old. Are we all as good of drivers as we say? Or are we all just as bad as the next generation. We all have those days where we are tired, or angry and it affects our driving; when we are distracted and don’t pay considerable amounts of attention to the road and the people around us. Older drivers are considered worse, and younger better. But who is the judge, and how can we prove that this information is true to the bone? Do we have data proving who's the best, or someone reporting every time someone under the age of 20 is in an accident; or someone over the age of 70? In the world of cars and driving there are many various types of drivers, but young and old seem to always be grouped together in some way. It happens to most of us, getting stuck on a one-lane road behind an elderly woman or man who seems to refuse to drive at minimum speed. What should be done to keep elderly drivers and others safe on the roads? If we as a society...
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...speeds for more than three footballs fields. When his car came to a stop ten pedestrians were killed including a three-year-old child and a seven-month-old infant. 63 people were injured. One victim was wedged in the wheel well which prosecutors referred to as “a human break.” According to witnesses, Mr. Weller’s stated, “Oopps, if you saw me coming why didn’t you get out of the way?” (Chang) In Illinois, an 84 year old drove her car through the wall of an elementary school into a cafeteria. That incident claimed the life of 2nd grader Ryan Wesling. As we age our hand-eye coordination ages with us becoming lagged and not as sharp. There are hundreds of cases across the nation of elderly drivers causing car accidents and deaths. Insurance statistics show that after the age of 75, the risk of being the responsible party of a car accident both fatal and non-fatal greatly increases (highway). Illinois and New Hampshire are currently the only two states in the Union that require road tests for people over the age of 75. I believe that there needs to be a national road test that all citizens over the age of 75 must be required to take and pass in order to continue driving. There are concerns that if the elderly are required to take another road test and do not pass, that they will be out of means of transportation. Elderly citizens who have retired like to feel that they have a certain amount of control over their lives as their ability to do physical tasks deteriorates. The ability to...
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... ii. Topics: The facts of old drivers, real-life stories, solutions iii. Thesis: I want a federal law to be passed that forces any driver the age of 65 and older to be retested every 3 years to not only save their lives, but others around them. II. Statistics: i. In next 20 years, the number of elderly drivers triple in amount according to Smart Motorist a. Older drivers more conservative when driving rarely changing there habits because of factors such as busy highways or nighttime where as other drivers may go another route b. More accidents than kids, mostly at intersections c. At the age of 65 there is a much greater risk for a driver to be engaged in a vehicle accident 1. At the age of 75 that risk increases from just a crash to an accident involving a fatality because of there higher risk of bad eyes or slower reaction time ii. Troubles with Age a. Bad at making turns b. Slower response rates and reaction times to a drastic change c. Studies show that most accidents involving the elderly are caused at intersections there also multi-vehicle accidents iii. In Japan (2006) a. 20.8 percent over age 65 b. 13.1 percent licensed drivers iv. Between 75-84 years old a. Rate of 3 deaths per 100 million miles 1. Over age of...
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...because they have such a wide range of things to report on, where the local is just in your area so the stories should be similar. The news channel that I felt was more credible was channel 2. The reason why I think that channel two news was more credible is because they were more through with their reports on each story and they always had witness either involved or around to put in their thoughts or insight. I think that they are more rounded when it comes to reporting on a story. I think that this is funny that I feel this way because I favor channel 7 personally, I always watch channel 7 and no other channel so I am a little shocked with my own findings. I can tell that they are all about getting as much information out about something as quickly as possible. Each segment was short but supplied a lot of information and like I said they were always on site, so where ever the story was they were reporting from there. Channel 7 news reports were just pictures and the regular reporters sitting at a desk chatting it up, although I do enjoy listening to their friendly banter at times I must say. For each station they reported on equal material as well as the same amount of time. The big story was a car accident that killed three young boys; a male driver of another vehicle was driving on the thruway the wrong way. The driver was 87 years old and he crashed head on into the boys vehicle in which three died except the driver. The controversy now is if elderly...
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