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While I can certainly understand the strong argument to not limit someone's personal freedom, especially in the latter years in life, there also comes a point when the safety of others must be considered. Every year lives are tragically lost because a senior makes a grave mistake behind the wheel of a car.

The medical facts are they motor skills are very much effected by old age. Reaction times slow considerably. Muscles weaken. Eye sight weakens. Hand-eye coordination declines. There are numerous effects that aging has on the elderly that impair their ability to safely operate vehicles.

I understand that everyone ages a bit differently. Some seniors should certainly be able to drive longer than others. I believe a maximum age should be set, but it should be very reasonable. In other words, very high. I think we can all agree that even the most spry one-hundred-year-old should not be behind the wheel of a car.

But the more important task is to institute a law that requires seniors to take a driving test every six months. The test should be at least moderately challenging and detailed records should be kept of the individual's performance. If there is an are that they are beginning to perform poorly in (for example, checking blind spots or something), then the tester should be aware to pay attention to this in advance.

I can appreciate those who say we can't take this right away from seniors. But consider the family that is torn apart when a confused senior citizen drives into a crowd of people and kills a little girl. Consider the family of the teens who are on their way home from school when they have a head-on collision with an elderly driver who didn't see a stop sign. Similar tragedies happen every day, and we should take whatever steps we can to avoid them. Too many seniors on the road are not physically equipped to operate a car.

Every day we entrust several tons of steel and metal to individuals who have declining motor skills and mental sharpness. And only through rigorous, twice-yearly testing will we be able to determine which senior still possess the ability to safely operate their vehicles and those who do not.

Learn more about this author, Sean Curtis.
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