Mandatory regular (every 5-10 years) driving tests seem like a no-brainer regardless of age. Also seems like the driving tests should be more stringent.
The UK at least has a driving testing system with months-long backlogs. They're very slowly getting it under control, but they are doing so by providing around 150k tests per month.
There are something like 30 million license holders. Retesting just half of them every 10 years (and rescinding the licences if the rest) would require about doubling the testing throughput. And it would be political suicide - the so-called War on Motorists is a powerful media weapon. It's an obvious idea that would be very helpful, but I can't see it happening. Unless it's an online test affair, which at least could educate on some of the rule changes. I have confidence they could handily bungle that implementation, however.
At the very least, however, I think they should run some anti-lane hogging adverts and enforce that law more, and also make it a duty of heavy vehicles to slow down slightly to permit overtakes, since that's probably cheaper than the billions and billions they're evidently willing to spend on adding hundreds of miles of extra lanes to deal with the lower capacity of roads caused by bad driving.
We could ease into more driver testing by requiring retesting after certain types of incidents - vehicle goes off roadway for no apparent reason, collision in a manner suggesting impairment - but that might rely too much on the discretion of a responding law enforcement officer. Perhaps better to let insurance companies do a carrot/stick approach: discounts for periodic driver retraining/testings, required retesting after an older driver is at-fault in a claim. Disclaimer: am older driver by TFA standards.
Oh no, much more often. People above 70 can deteriorate really, really quickly. I’d say yearly tests which include doctors checkups and actually driving with them.
Anyone can deteriorate quickly. My sister (mid-40s) was in a hospital for 3.5 weeks before Christmas due to an infection that rapidly progressed into sepsis. Even now 2 months later she still needs to use a cane to walk around and is out of breath climbing a single flight of stairs. Bodies are remarkably fragile. From initial onset of symptoms to septic shock was less than 24 hours.
It is more a question of frequency. That is, the elderly deteriorate quickly more frequently than younger folks do. Younger folks can still deteriorate quickly under the right circumstances, but at a population level, that is a much lower frequency given that the average younger adult has more resilient immune system and greater muscle mass than someone in their later years.
Heck, I'm in reasonably good health, but if I get hit by a car crossing the road this evening, I could deteriorate quickly overnight due to injuries and be dead tomorrow. It's just less likely for me than it is for an elderly person that has poor vision and moves slowly while crossing the road as I am more likely to be able to spot a hazard and move out of the way.
Exactly. Lots of instable mental health conditions that make driving unsafe(mood disorders, schizophrenia, etc) can onset in people's 20s with almost no warning, as well.
A decent traumatic brain injury can happen at any time and most people never go to the doctor for those, too.
At least make them pass a road test. Make sure they can operate the car safely at the posted speed limit. Give them a vision test, maybe limit them to daytime driving. Some 90 year olds are fine to drive, but I agree many are not. And driving around 10-20 mph under the limit is a hazard in itself.
Previously it was a political 3rd rail to even suggest a maximum driving age. "You can't take my freedom to travel!!".
But now, with Uber/Lyft/Waymo and all the other options, it seems much more reasonable to implement such a thing. Why do we have to wait for someone to cause an accident before we take their license?
You are greatly understating the value and improvement that these services brought. Especially around accessibility.
In the city I grew up in taking a taxi was basically not an option. You can now typically get a ride from Uber or Lyft within 10 minutes.
In the city I moved to for college there were plenty of Taxis but could take 30+ minutes for one to show up, or maybe it would never show up and you’d have to call another company and hope they would eventually send someone to you.
These are anecdotes, but the massive increase in for-hire rides after these companies were introduced does show that they did improve the experience and made for-hire rides more accessible and appealing.
They shouldn't have to. They had their entire adult lives to build a society where you don't need a car, a society welcoming and useful to the old, the young, the disabled, and the poor. And they blew it!
> They had their entire adult lives to build a society where you don't need a car, a society welcoming and useful to the old, the young, the disabled, and the poor. And they blew it!
A lot of cities are subsidizing ride share for the elderly, because it's still cheaper than running shuttles for the elderly, which is what they used to do.
We don't even. Again in my city an octogenarian ran over two pedestrians in separate incidents a week apart, and nobody even suggested taking away their car.
Depends on the 89 year old. Some are as sharp as a tack, while others don't have a clue where they are let alone what they are currently doing. If you don't understand that, you clearly need to widen the range of people you interact with beyond your day to day experiences thus far in life.
I am in the middle of watching my own parents age, and it is eye opening. We have checks and balances in various systems exactly because there is a wide range of capabilities in the elderly. Where I live it is mandatory for drivers to be tested regularly once they hit 80, or at even earlier ages in the event of an accident or other precipitating event. This can include recommendation by doctors, social workers or even police. This works without needlessly discriminating against individuals.
In my city we've had three pedestrian fatalities in less than a year and all the drivers were aged 79 or older.