The Importance Of Driving

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Many kids anticipate turning sixteen years old so they can drive a car. No more being driven around by parents and older siblings all the time. After passing a vision test, a written test, and a driving test, a license is granted. There are several things that can affect one's ability to drive. As people age, their eyesight deteriorates, their ability to react weakens, and their overall sense of what is going on around them diminishes. Once drivers reach the age of 65, their license renewals should include testing, and their competency should be reviewed more frequently to protect the safety of the drivers and those around them.

“Birthdays don't kill. Health conditions do” (Fox, para 5). It is a known fact that older people, age 65 and up, on average, have more health issues than someone of a lesser age. With this fact being known, older people are making some of their own changes about their driving habits. Sixty percent of seniors willingly cut back on their use of a motor vehicle by avoiding nighttime driving, Interstates, or bad weather (Fox, para 7). Fox News says that people age 85 and above have the highest rate of deadly crashes per mile, even more than teens. Even with the lesser amount of driving that the elderly do, there are more accidents in those fewer miles than there would be of a teen driving the same amount of miles. Today there are 34 million drivers that are 65 or older. It is predicted that by 2030, there will be 57 million drivers of that age range. (Fox, para 11)

One of the serious health problems that occurs as people age is their ability to see. The eye is a very complex, yet sensitive, part of the body. There are many things that make up the ability to see, for instance the pupil, which controls the ...

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... is time to renew a license. However, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is allowed to re-evaluate a driver due to a driving incident, or an action reported by a doctor, police officer, or an observer (Claims, para 52). Doctors have all of the medical records. If they do not think that the driver is fit to drive, due to their weakened eyesight or another health problem, they can call the DMV and voice their concern.

Once a driver turns the age of 65, renewing a license needs be more frequent and include testing. This law will recognize the known effects of aging. It is to protect the children running out into the street to retrieve their basketball. It is to protect the deaf girl walking across the street who cannot hear when a car is approaching. It is to protect the fragile bodies of older drivers who could not easily withstand the effects of a car accident.

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