In-person license renewal for elderly makes roads safer
Last summer, 10 people died when an 86-year-old man drove his car through the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market. The incident fueled debate about the hazards that elderly drivers may pose to others, and in some cases, themselves.
But now there’s evidence of a policy that can make roads safer for everyone.
A new study has found 17% fewer auto crashes among drivers 85 or older in states that require people to renew their driver’s licenses in person. Vision tests, road tests or more frequent renewals failed to have an effect.
Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham reviewed license renewal laws and examined federal road fatality records from 1990 to 2000.
The study authors hypothesize that when drivers are required to report in person, examiners have the opportunity to refuse licenses to people who are obviously impaired and to refer others for medical evaluation, which may result in a determination that they’re no longer fit to operate an automobile. Also, the requirements may deter some potentially unsafe older drivers from reapplying.
The findings appeared in the June 15 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Assn.
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-- Jane E. Allen
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