Are Older Drivers Up to Speed?

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.