When Driving Gets Old
By Tiffany Orr, 11.08.2006
What do you get when you mix the elderly and automobiles? Tragedy apparently.
For example, take the incident that happened at a grocery store in Arkansas last month. An 86-year-old woman drove her car inside the store, injuring customers and damaging store property, according to an ABC news article.
The same article reported an incident in New Jersey where an 84 year-old ran over a pedestrian at a strip mall.
One-fourth of all fatal car accidents that occur in the United States are at the hands of drivers over the age of 65, according to the National Center for Statistics and Analysis. In 2005, there were 10,179 deaths caused by elderly motorists.
The fact that my chances of being injured by an elderly driver are significantly higher than me getting bird flu frightens me. The statistics scare me because I live and work in a city where more than 90,000 elderly people live.
They are also the reason, as a general rule, the elderly shouldn’t be allowed to drive.
When I say the elderly I mean people over the age of 65. That is the age at which people in the United States generally retire and collect social security.
Organizations that advocate rights for the elderly such as the AARP might disagree with me and call my views prejudiced. However, I don’t think that we should sugar-coat the statistics because groups of people will be offended. I love elderly people, but that does not allow them to cause harm to others.
I’m bothered because the elderly should know their limits and give up their keys voluntarily. As people get older, their ability to see, hear, smell, taste and touch decreases. Their driving skills are affected by this.
The government also could do more to establish rules on the road for protection. Why is the Department of Transportation even letting people who frequently get lost, have close calls or difficulty staying in lanes drive anyway? The department doesn’t allow people who have epilepsy or impaired vision to drive because it knows that allowing it would endanger others. Is it because they are afraid of a senior-citizen backlash? Whatever the reason, the DOT needs to take immediate action and re-evaluate its policies concerning the elderly.
That way, when I turn 65 I won’t have to drive. I’ll just guilt my family members into chauffeuring me around. That means less stress for me in our automobile-consumed society and more time to relax during my golden years with family and friends.
