The license to drive is one of the most crucial aspects of any teenager or adults life. Every year, millions die while on the road for several different reasons. As most may think texting or alcohol is the reason for traffic crashes, you may be overlooking one very important factor: age. Elderly drivers, much like teenagers, can create just as much risk to the roads, if not more. Many elderly do not understand their diminishing abilities to do certain tasks. With increasing health issues that come with age, such as poor eyesight, lessening hearing, and slower reaction times, elderly people do not realize they are a problem. If people over the age of 65 received health screenings every year and were required to take a driver’s test in order to maintain a license, the world would be safer and …show more content…
According to AAA driving, “Weaker muscles, reduced flexibility and limited range of motion restrict senior drivers’ ability to grip and turn the steering wheel, press the accelerator or brake, or reach to open doors and windows” (Facts & Research). Clearly, if anyone of any age has problems driving, they should be examined. It is not safe for older people with crippling conditions to be out driving on the road with the rest of the world. Odds are if you can hardly grip your steering wheel, it’s time to give up your license. AAA says, “Fifty percent of the middle-aged population and 80 percent of people in their 70s suffer from arthritis, crippling inflammation of the joints, which makes turning, flexing and twisting painful.” (Facts and Research). Driving requires the abilities of checking over your shoulder, being completely aware of your surroundings and everyone else around you; it requires you to move your neck, hands, arms, and legs and requires full attention. It is very important for people over the age 65 get examined every year for their safety and everyone
Statistics show 16- to 17-year-old driver death rates increase with each additional passenger, which is due to distracted driving. Taking your eyes off the road for 2 (two) seconds, at 60 mph, means you have driven blindly for half the length of a football field. The risk of fatality is 3.6 times higher, when they are driving with passengers than when alone. For many years, the correlation between driving behavior and age has interested highway safety researchers and administrators. It is general knowledge that the greatest risk of motor vehicle crash...
In the 21st century, our nation is facing a major issue, causing teenagers to lose their lives at the hand of the wheel due to inexperienced driving. “Teen drivers between the ages of 16 and 19 are four times more likely than older drivers to be involved in an automobile crash,” and statistics show. Automobile accidents are the number one cause of teen deaths. Driving regulations are in high need to be changed in order for teenagers to gain more experience with driving before taking the driving test, which could help save countless adolescence’s lives.
Most if not all teens look forward to several events in their life. One of those events are getting a driver's license. This small piece of plastic is their ticket to freedom. This ticket is more than just freedom to be able to drive their friends around but also freedom from the ritual of their parents having to drive them everywhere and embarrass them in public. Also this is a freedom to the parents as well they may save more on gas from not having to drive their children around. However, some teens are not as safe as they possibly could be if they were to take a few steps to promote good driving habits. This is evident in the article “Teen Driving”, as the author gives the reader teen driving statistics, as well as explanations of programs and steps that can improve teen driving.
According to Carnegie Mellon University the casualties’ rate for drivers 85 years and older is 4 times more higher than it is for teenagers who are considered are most reckless drivers. Penndot statistics shows that the number of crashes involving drivers age 65 and older in 2013 was up 12 percent from five years before. Voanews indicates that in a lot of elderly drivers accidents they mistaken the gas pedal for the brakes or vice versa. One fatality crash can affect and impact people for their whole lives. These crashes can occur in seconds. According to cdc.gov there were nearly 5,700 elderly drivers that were killed. Police are already busy enough the more we can reduce their work the more it will help keep our community safer; not only in crashes but the police can also focus more on preventing drug deals and gang fights. To put it another way we don’t want families to be stressed out on their elderly parents safety we want them to feel like their parents are safe, so they can go help other issues in this
2.) Yes, I do believe that my home state should have such a law because it's not safe for people with Alzheimer's disease to be on the roads driving. It's not safe, if they do not know where they are going. Many people with Alzheimer's disease, would probably get into car accidents and maybe even die, which is not good. If that law was put into action, then people with Alzheimer's disease would be more safer and their families, would not have to be worrying about them all the time.
It is dangerous because the elderly drive reckless and when they drive reckless they crash. For example according to the article “Older Adult Drivers” in 2010, there were about 5,149,000 crashes accounted for. If the elderly stopped driving that number would go down by a lot. Another example explaining why the elderly should retake their test is because of the deaths. For Instance According to the article “Older adult drivers” there is an average of 15 older adult deaths by car crash a day. Another example from the article “older adult drivers” is in 2012 more than 5,560 elderly people died in a car crash. My last example for why car crashes are dangerous is the injuries. The elderly are injuring themselves by driving. For example according to the Article “Older Adult Drivers” There are more than 214,000 deaths among the elderly because of their driving, And that's not including the injuries the elderly because among other people when they hit them. In addition there are about 586 injuries among the elderly due to car crashes. So there for elderly drivers are too dangerous. On the side of the elderly, they have the most experience driving so they might crash
Many older people are cashing more than ever because they will not give up their car keys when they need to say it is time to give up driving. We should defiantly propose that we take care of this issue by making them retake the exam. So many elderly are getting into wrecks and some are even driving on the wrong side of the road killing people. By proposing that we need to force the elderly to retake that driving exam every six months is to insure that they will be able to drive more safely on our public roads still today. A lot of people agree and dis-agree with the retaking idea of an exam, but it would be very beneficial to enforce this as a new law due to the high rising risks of older drivers. “Citizen Drivers over 65 may need retesting, limited licenses, and restricted hours of driving time because the number of car accidents involving seniors is rising” (Zarate, 2). We cannot keep people safe by allowing elderly people take over our roads creating a mass destruction on our poor young drivers. Making the elderly retake the driver’s exam is not currently legal in the state of Missouri due to equal rights, but it should become a law to help stop the elderly from crashing into other people or driving on the wrong side of the road. “Some will insist they are capable drivers despite all indications to the contrary. That's why we believe a driving test not just a medical exam at the age of 75 should be mandatory” ("Older Drivers”).
I am sure that at some point in their life everyone has been in a vehicle behind or near an elderly person. People call slow drivers Grandma, Grandpa, Paps, ect. when being sarcastic. In reality, not all seniors drive slow, but many do. Not all seniors drive carelessly, but many do. Not all seniors drive dangerously, but many do. Not all senior drivers need to have their driving evaluated, but many do. So why do seniors not have to take a mandatory driving test every year? Most are in denial about the risk that they pose when driving; that is the scary part. With increases in statistics of population, accidents, and fatalities, senior drivers pose a real safety threat to themselves and to the people society; luckily, there are signs to look out for when an elder needs get out of the driver's seat and places and ways to help them cope with it.
Drunk driving, sleeping at the wheel, and loss of control of a vehicle could be a thing of the past when it comes to new innovations being made towards self-driving cars. When one thinks of a “self-driving” car, it means not having to pay attention to the actual driving and going about putting make-up on or playing on your phone while the car takes you where you want to go, sounds completely sci-fi, but it is likely to happen in the near future. With advances in technology, the car is able to use satellites, cameras, and sensors to take the driver where he or she needs to go. Many companies are researching, manufacturing, and testing different
The future of this problem is daunting. The U.S. Census Bureau predicts that the elderly population of drivers will grow 73% over that of today (Davis & DeBarros). In 2030 the estimated number of citizens aged 85 and older will be ...
Whether it is a text massage from love one or a bite of a sandwich, it is not so important than a human life. Distracted driving is an epidemic, so more tough laws should be implemented. The law for distracted driving should be tough just like a driving under influence. Distracting driving is a killer on the road, it should be banned because, it is the number one killer of the U.S. teenager in the road, not only the teenager in the road, but also cause a collision which is often fatal, and some incident were driver or one who involve on an accident became disable. Distraction is an involvement of driver where his or hers eye or mind are engage and performing on other things rather than driving, such as while talking on
So they tend to start new activities, visiting family and friends more often, and taking more vacations. Driving is an important part of staying independent do things such as goes shopping, do errands, and visit the doctor (Older Drivers , 2012). Older adults 70 and older have driver’s licenses and they tend to drive fewer miles than younger drivers. Yet, they are driving more miles than in the past and keeping their licenses for a longer period of time. There will be more elderly drivers on the road as the overall population ages (Older Drivers ,
One of the reasons why the elders get in accidents because as they age, their vision starts to slowly fade away. Before seniors even realize that they are struggling more, they are crashing into other cars or places. In addition, “An older person may test well in the eye doctor's office but could still struggle to focus on the road at night” (Source G). This source explains that even though elderlies might pass their eye test, they could struggle with seeing the lights on the roads as well as other vehicles because an eye test only tests if one can read, not if they can see bright lights. Although, some individuals may say that despite the fact that most elderlies cannot see, some actually care about their health and can see fairly well. The aging adults, who take care of themselves properly, ultimately will have very exceptional eyesight. “The earlier these problems are detected and treated, the more likely you can retain good vision” (Source H). This source clarifies that the sooner seniors fix their eye issues, the better chance they will have to see as they age. However, not all old citizens fix their vision problems or notice anything wrong with their eyes, so as they grow older, their eyesight gets more
Again, it makes the headlines; an older driver causes a dangerous automobile crash. As the amount of elderly driving has increased in the past decade, the risk for others to be out on the road has increased. In 2012, there were 36 million licensed older drivers in the United States. (Federal Highway Administration, Department of Transportation (US)) As a 34% increase from 1999, it has been noted that seniors are driving past their ability by an average of 10 years. (Federal Highway Administration, Department of Transportation (US)). Elderly continue to drive despite the prominent physiological changes that worsen as they age. The amount of automobile collisions suggests that prevention must occur in order to make the roads safer. By examining older drivers’ medical complications, older drivers must be retested to be able to drive a vehicle.
“The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status, or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we all believe that we are above-average drivers.” - Dave Berry