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I do not think there should be a maximum age for driving in the US, but I do think that after a person reaches a certain age they should have to go through an annual driving test and physical examination to determine their ability to drive.

My employer will be 71 in March and he is as sharp or sharper than I am at 51. He recognizes that age is creeping up on him and takes measures to prolong his youth. He works out daily, stays informed on current affairs and although semi-retired continues to run our business from afar. When behind the wheel of the car, his reflexes are still very good, he doesn't take unnecessary risks and he runs with the traffic regardless of whether they are moving at 45 mph or 85 mph. Unless something unforeseen happens, I foresee his driving ability remaining very strong for at least another 10 years.

On the other hand, my Dad was forced to surrender his driver's license three or four yeas ago but probably should have done so at least three years prior to that. We knew Dad had reached the point of not being safe, but also knew he would never agree to surrender his license on his own and none of us wanted to be the bad guy, so he continued to drive, that is until the big accident happened.

We are so fortunate that nobody was hurt, but as I was driving down the interstate I got a call on my cell phone to come to the hospital. Actually Mom and Dad were at the hospital as Mom was having some x-rays done and Dad had parked in the parking lot behind the hospital. As they went to leave, Dad went to back out of the parking space and the effects of the Parkinson's kicked in. He knew he was supposed to move his foot from the gas to the brake, but his body would not cooperate and the car began to accelerate. They hit the back of the hospital so hard that it totaled the vehicle they were driving and broke the seats they were sitting in. Fortunately, he didn't hit anyone and he was backing out instead of pulling out.

The police officer that worked the accident said he was not going to issue Dad a ticket, but he was going to issue a summons that would require Dad to under go some testing to see if he was still safe to drive. Dad saw this as his out and decided on his own to surrender his license. Dad's Parkinson's has progressed to the point that he can't even walk on his own and Mom still blames his digression on the fact that he had to give up his driver's license rather than accepting the fact that they were blessed.

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