MASHPEE -- Recently, a 78-year-old Marstons Mills man pleaded not guilty in Barnstable District Court to the February hit-and-run death of another man on Route 28.
A few days earlier, a 90-year-old Yarmouth woman drove her car into her own apartment after mistaking the accelerator for the brake, and in May, four people were injured, one seriously, at the Pro-Cuts salon in Orleans when an 83-year-old Orleans woman plowed through the front of the building.
Similar incidents in the state of Massachusetts have prompted elected officials to re-examine the issue of seniors behind the wheel. State Sen. Brian A. Joyce, D-Milton, re-filed a bill in January that would require people 85 and older who are trying to renew their licenses to take a vision and road test before one can be issued. They would then be retested every five years, Joyce said yesterday. The bill has the support of Gov. Deval Patrick.
The second part of the bill calls for a public outreach campaign to provide information regarding safe-driving practices, self-testing techniques and transportation alternatives for seniors. State officials were at the Mashpee Senior Center yesterday doing just that, part of an outreach program called "Shifting Gears."
"When it comes to giving up your license, not many of us have planned for that day. And it may never come. We have drivers who drive later in life, and safely too. But there might come a day when it's not safe for me to drive anymore, and I need to have a plan in place. We have lots of options," Registry of Motor Vehicles community outreach coordinator Michele Ellicks told the 23 seniors in attendance.
In 2006, statewide, there were 193,156 active licenses of people age 80 and over, according to Registry data. Three percent of those in that age bracket were involved in a crash, compared with 18 percent of the state's 195,376 16- to 19-year-olds involved in crashes. Still, motorists 80 years and older have a higher rate of fatal crashes, Ellicks said, partially due to the frailty of their bodies. As it stands now, the Registry requires a driving test only when first applying for a license. License holders can then renew their license online after five years. A simple vision test is required every 10 years. That means a driver can pass the vision test at 90 years old and not have to come back until age 100, Joyce said. Joyce's bill would help seniors keep their skills sharp and protect the general public from people with a diminished capacity, he said. Oftentimes, the only recourse against such drivers is a medical evaluation request, which is filed with the Registry (forms are available online), Dufresne said. If a complaint about the competency of senior driver arises and is substantiated, that driver must undergo a medical evaluation within 30 days. Anyone can initiate an inquiry, she said, and nearly 8,000 seniors were affected last year.
"It's a growing problem," Joyce said. "With age come some limitations, for some, not all. It's not an easy conversation to have (with a loved one)... I thought it was a fairly modest proposal... Let's hope we take some common-sense steps before there is some horrible tragedy." The bill has been moved over to the joint committee on transportation but there has not been a hearing as of yet, a spokeswoman in Joyce's office said. This program was "terrific," Joseph N. Nichols, 89, of Mashpee said as he stood with a handful of materials and literature after the workshop. "Driving with three seconds' distance between you and the car in front of you; six seconds on the highway. That was very interesting to me." Nichols said that he would not mind if Joyce's bill passed and he were forced to take a test, but he opposed simply taking licenses away from people when they reach a certain age. Other states already have laws on the books similar to what Joyce is proposing. In New Hampshire, for example, people over 75 are required to take a road test when renewing their license, according to data collected by the Insurance Institute For Highway Safety.
