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On July 16, 2003, Russell Weller, age 86, turned onto a closed road and proceeded to plow through a Santa Monica farmer's market, colliding with over fifty people. Ten people died. Ten people died because an elderly man forgot which pedal was the brake, and which pedal was the gas. This accident brought to light a growing debate over what to do about the threat of elderly drivers. Two days after the incident, a CBS News article stated that "the crash has raised questions on whether more stringent regulations may be required for elderly drivers." It is not a maybe; it is a necessity. It is not a question of discrimination; it is equality. Something must be done to protect our roadways from all dangerous drivers, regardless of age. There should be no sympathy when lives are at stake, and elderly drivers do put lives at stake for numerous reasons.

Elderly drivers are unhealthy drivers. It is uncontestable that as people age there is a natural breaking down of their body. Hearing loss harms an individual's ability to remain aware. Reaction time also suffers as years pass, and as it decreases, the risk of rear-end collisions, especially at intersections, increases. Aside from bodily deterioration, the elderly are also prone to debilitating illnesses. Arthritis can result in a limited range of motion and loss of flexibility. As revealed by Dr. Robert Wang, the head of Geriatric Medicine at Century City Hospital in Los Angeles, in the prior CBS News article, "diabetes can numb the legs and feet, making it difficult to know if you're braking or accelerating properly." Senior citizens are also plagued by the threat of strokes and seizures, sudden afflictions that can turn a speeding car with an unconscious driver into a weapon.

Elderly drivers are guilty drivers. In many accidents, elderly individuals take full responsibility. They do not understand the concept of yielding, they midjudge turns at intersections, they drift inside lanes, and they frequently overlook stop signs and red lights. As previously mentioned, in the case of Russell Weller, mistaking the gas pedal for the brake pedal resulted in the deaths of ten people. The most dangerous part of these losses of judgment is that cars are not the only thing elderly drivers hit. In the past few years, stories of older men and women driving through store fronts or, as reported in an article on ananova.com, into swimming pools, have become more prevalent. Pedestrians on the street, in stores, in the comfort of their

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