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Setting a maximum age for driving in the US or any other country for that matter, would have the freedom of choice and anti-censorship campaigners screaming. Fancy introducing a law which will protect not only those it targets, but everybody on the street.

The majority of elderly people have families which can care for them. It is a duty of care which they also undertook until their offspring were capable of fending for themselves. In some cultures, it is an assumed obligation that the young take care of the old. It is an obligation that governments should also embrace by providing efficient public transport for those who have devoted their lives and taxes to building the infrastructures we enjoy today.

Life turns a full circle and the hardest thing to accept in aging is the need to be dependent on others. Unless a benchmark is set, very few will voluntarily surrender their right to independence. Some may not even believe they have reached that stage in life. There are the remains of many citizens in cemeteries whose twilight years were cut short by a driving mishap. Tragically, many of them may have cut the lives of others even shorter in the process.

I concede that it would be naive to suggest that everybody at the age of seventy, eighty or even one hundred, instantly loses their ability to function. Indeed, the introduction of a maximum age limit law would ideally include a clause allowing one to appeal against it on the grounds of competence to continue driving. However, there is a minimum age at which the state believes young people are ready to start driving safely. The authorities which set those minimums should be entrusted to set maximums based on the same set of principles.

Fifty years ago, cars were a lot less responsive. There was much less traffic on the roads. Life in general moved at a much slower pace. The technological advances that we enjoy today have taken a quantum leap. For the most part, everybody drove a lot slower than we do today. Just over half a century ago, it wasn't even compulsory to wear a seat belt. Believe it or not, many of those enjoying the sunset of their lives today were self taught and paid a small fee for a license. That doesn't make them worse drivers than the rest. Their maturity of years however, makes them vulnerable to the elements of road rage and undisciplined behavior of others which can result in injury or death.

Prevention is always better than cure. Far from being an act of censorship, setting a maximum age would be morally and socially responsible for all concerned.

Learn more about this author, Leonard J Sherrott.
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