At What Age Should Drivers be Tested Yearly

[finesse_r]

At What Age Should Drivers be Tested Yearly

At what age should we be tested yearly to ascertain if we are still competent to drive? I ask this as an aging 68 year old. I would guess I still drive better than 95 percent of the general population, but my driving skills are a shadow of what they were 20 or 30 years ago. Also I can tell my driving skills are declining at an increasing rate.

I have logged over three million miles in cars, on motor cycles, in trucks, boats and small air planes without so much as a fender bender. I have had to leave the highway a dozen times to avoid being hit by other drivers. I think my driving skills developed as a youth riding motor cycles and learning how to avoid being hit by cars and trucks. LOL

Still I know all that is coming to an end and I don’t want to be like some I have seen that are driving well past the age when they should not be doing so. We had one 82 year-old man who should not have been driving and I think several people knew it. He ran a red light in broad daylight and was T-bonded and spent six months in the hospital and died a few months after being released.

I see old people in this community who come to a complete stop in the road before they turn into a driveway or into a business. Some of them can also be spotted driving well under the speed limit on the highway and in general creating a traffic hazard.

I live in a small rural community with a lot of retirees per capita so this problem is more obvious here than in some areas. Also it is much easier to drive here than in a large city like Houston or worse Dallas. Maybe at some point us old guys who don’t test out so well should be restricted to the rural area in which we live and if it gets bad enough not allowed to drive at all.

For me that would be a catastrophe as I live out in the county and have to drive to town a couple of times a week at a minimum and there is no one else to do the driving but me. Still if my skills fall below a minimum level so that I become a safety hazard, it would be better in the long run to take my driving privileges away.

I know a lot of older folks will yell and scream, but the reality of the situation is that our eye-hand coordination just fades as we get older and at a certain point it fades fast.

 

[da gimp]

Just as a start, I'd say at age 70...... Since my surgeries in 2013 & the cancers return this last year, I've had to start using strong pain meds. On any day that I use them, I will not drive a car..

I used to be a road deputy and helped start the local ambulance here in 1975. I can see no difference in driving under the influence of legal drugs than driving under the influence of alcohol/illegal drugs, nor does our county prosecutor & our LEO's.

Nor could I live with myself if I caused a serious accident because the effects of my meds lessened my reaction levels. So it is with age, we must police ourselves & know when to rack our keys up & not drive. it is a shame more people don't.

 

[e3mrk]

I think 65 is a good age to require a Driver to retake the driving part of the Test.
There is a lot of older People that have no business driving but still do because They just renew Their License without a Test.

 

[jlrhiner]

one hundred.

Toughen up, you whippersnappers.

 

[bobsdad]

I'm 71 and drive all over the U.S. and even overseas. My only disability is deafness....a result of my wife's screaming in the car.

 

[arjay]

From what I see around here,every six months from day one.

 

[Hillbilly77]

At What Age Should Drivers be Tested Yearly

Under 30.

 

[Road Rat]

I always said that after 70 people should have to go down to the license bureau and, at least, have a conversation - take an eye test - etc.

Then I moved to Iowa and bigger than jack.........after 70 we must go down every 2 years!! They only charge half price!!

Anyway, there are way too many people out there who really shouldn't be.........hopefully that will never be me; but, better to get off the road than to do something really stupid!!

 

[ibewbull]

SIXTEEN TO Thirty.
Obvious reasons.

 

[zzzippper]

It's individual. Some people are never safe drivers, some people never stop being safe drivers. Some people are safe drivers but lose it.

 

[diamonback68]

You guys are pikers. I live in Florida and in the winter time "Defensive Driving" takes on a whole new meaning, really.
But, I'm 80 and drive just fine. If you don't believe me, just ask me.

 

[vytoland]

TEST????....I don't need no stinkin test....................

 

[gregintenn]

A marriage license and a driver's license are two things that should be much harder to acquire.

I think you shouldn't be able to own both a cell phone and a car.

 

[JcMack]

How about if we test 16-25 yr. olds every 6 mos.. Females quarterly no matter the age.

 

[rwsmith]

I avoid driving at night......

I can see the road in front of me fine, but hardly anything on the sides unless is has a prominent sign. And I'm only 58. My eyes are bad, I've had numerous health problems and I'm sure there are a lot of drivers 30 years older than me that drive better than I do.

 

[Kinman]

My wife is the "safest" driver I have ever known, she drives me crazy because she tries to outthink what the other guy is going to do all the time. She says what would I do if that guy didn't stop, I just tell her "brace for impact." The thing is she has never been in an accident and is nearly 60 and drives all over the place in city traffic daily, she was taught to drive in Oakland, Cal. She can not understand why this state does not require retesting at each renewel, California does...One hundred questions and you can only miss around FIVE. There is no retesting in this state unless you get your license revoked or somehow miss out on the date of expiration. I'd be willing to retest if it would mean getting a bunch of people that have no business behind the wheel off the road, unfortunately it will not stop people from using cell phones while driving, or some other equally distracting activity, like driving drunk.

 

[williamlayton]

I test my drivers a couple of times a week.
Blessings

 

[Rastoff]

Based on what I see every day; from 16 on.

I would guess I still drive better than 95 percent of the general population,...

Or maybe just people who make this comment. If you asked the "population", you'd find that 95% of them believe they are better drivers than 95% of the population. This is why I wrote the first sentence the way I did.

 

[Rastoff]

She can not understand why this state does not require retesting at each renewel, California does...One hundred questions and you can only miss around FIVE.

She must have left CA a long time ago. There are 46 questions on the initial test and you can miss 8. And, they don't require a retest every time you renew. At least I haven't taken the test a second time since I got my license originally back in 1990. That's 25 years without a single retake.

You do have to take a special motorcycle test if you want to add the motorcycle endorsement to your license. That's only once too.

In CA if you're 70 or older you'll need to take a written test to renew. The renewal test is only 18 questions.

 

[J. R. WEEMS]

Sorry, I don't buy it only based on age-- at 70, I still drive better than those I see around me. The ones I see running red lights and stop signs are all the younger crowd-- the way I see it, if you are too far gone to drive then you are too far gone to handle a gun, neither of which do I intend on giving up-- just the way it is. Some of these younger people are the ones who should be tested every year--