Since there is a minimum driving age, do you think there should be a maximum one?

Of course and if there isn’t a maximum than at a certain age, either chosen by your doctor who can judge your mental state, or chosen as a standard by the government they should have to retake the test, both written and behind the wheel.

It scares me to see old people on the road while other days it just pisses me off, because not to be rude; most of them cannot drive, they are too slow and I find myself constantly screaming “Get off the road grandpa!!!”

So my answer is YESS!

@coold: I hope that you are immortal. Or perhaps develop more control as you age. You consider constantly screaming, “Get off the road, Grandpa!!!” not being rude?

My mother did sell her car, voluntarily, last year at aged 91. Before that she drove only during the day, not on highways, and was fine.

Here, where I live, every year there are several devastating deaths caused by teen-aged drinking and speeding. They have legal licenses…what to do?

@Galicalled: I do think what I do is rude at times but like I said it needs to be evaluated because some people like your mother may still have all of her senses and is able to drive and obey the laws of the road. As for teenagers; The tests should be a lot more harder and maybe tighten down on towns/cities by not letting kids with bad grades get their license because a poll was done by CNN and it said that 98% of students with bad grades are drunk drivers or bad drivers.

@Cooold: a fair and reasoned answer. It IS true that I occasionally see very old people weaving across the center divide here. Because the community is so small, we know who they are.

Often when I drive at night (the county rtes have long stretches w. no street or house lights and are only two lanes) a kid with a heavy foot on the pedal comes roaring up behind me, tailgating and flicking his lights. I pull over, way over and let him pass, hoping that I will not see his pickup wrapped around a tree.

I think there should be an age at which older drivers are required to be tested…maybe yearly after the age of 40?

No really, I do think people should be tested yearly but at what age do you start?

@blippio: most 40yr olds would take issue with that idea. Often if a family thinks that an older member should no longer drive, they will intervene or ask the family doctor to help.

And it is true; sometimes older and wobbly drivers find that giving up their license is putting them one step closer to death – loss of independence, evidence of the body’s wearing out…very sad and hard, particulary around here where there is NO public transportation.

Instead of judging merely by age, for which there really could be a lot of variance, perhaps there should be additional parameters added to the physical portion of the driving exam. Right now, you just need 20/20 vision and be able to pass the written test.

So throw in a hand-eye coordination bit and maybe that will help weed out the geezers who are really too old. Perhaps something like the field sobriety tests police perform?

My NINETY-FIVE year old grandfather went day-after-day-after-day to renew his license. Failed over and over, but eventually passed, got his license renewed successfully, and then, just weeks later in broad daylight, performed a dumb left turn that caused a fender bender, no injuries.

We FINALLY managed to convince him to stop driving and sell the car.

Bottom line: Judging merely on old age: No. Judging on ability: Yes.

@gail, i was just joshin about 40 :)

@rob; a typical story, I am sad to say. No family member could have gone to DMV and said, “Don’t give this guy a licence?” Or just say “No” rather than having to persuade him. Better to be rude than have a dead grandfather, I think.

And I do wonder whether men are more pig-headed about this.

The other issue is lack of man-power and money available for tweaking the driver’s license qualifications. Certainly it is more difficult for a teen-ager to get his now, at least here in NYC (or maybe just my county).

Yes, I definitely do.

I work at a full service gas station, and I see crazy stuff sometimes.

Like one time, I was filling my car with gas because my shift was over and I was getting ready to go. Now, my car was blocking pumps that this old lady could have driven to, but since my car was there, she decided to drive to different pumps…

But not before she hit one of our pumps with her car. Then she claimed that she didn’t hit it!

There should definitely be a maximum age. But I see it as, once you turn 65, you take a test every 3 years or so at the doctor’s office to determine if you are capable of driving.

Why can’t people just get retested every few years to keep their current license? Part of it should be a test, with an impartial DMV employee, who would determine your eligibility to continue driving.

I think you should be able to drive if the state finds you able to, but the older you get, the testing of your skills should become more recent.

Anyone who has lived in FL would likely answer YES to this question. In theory, there should be some sort of testing done. I think not only age but also other certain flags should dictate that requirement such as: multiple car accidents, subjects on certain medication, significant changes in overall health such as the onset of certain diseases including mental illness such as alzheimers. I’m not sure though how this change would be enforced though.

I don’t believe their should be a certain age, per say, but I believe that the older a person gets the tests should be more frequent. Perhaps this should be determined by each individuals doctor, I would say they have a grasp on their motor skills the best.