The ever-thoughtful and provocative Frank Pasquale at Concurring Opinions raised the difficult issue of Driving While Elderly. Our aging population makes this issue increasingly consequential, but similarly difficult to address, both on a personal as well as systemic level. As one commenter to Frank’s post noted, “For young drivers driving is privilege. For elderly drivers it’s a sanctioned right.” Very true.
There has been much discussion around the practical blawgosphere about DWI, and whether it should be a crime, and if not, how then to deal with it. One hard truth to the DWI discussion is that drunk driving is not the only thing that happens behind the wheel of a car that has a high propensity to cause harm. But drunk driving is volitional, whereas aging is not. Drunk driving has few proponents, whereas aging has many, and they are powerful and wealthy. Drunk driving has little inherent justification, whereas the need of elderly people to drive in a mobile society means independent survival.
But, the person dead at the hand of an elderly driver is just as dead as the person run down by the drunk.
It’s not a crime to grow old. Indeed, most of us hope to do so. Some of us are closer to accomplishing this hope than others. And some of us are confronting the problems incumbent with aging even as we write. It is an unbelievably difficult problem. Some of us pray for the day that the ravages of age become so clear and overwhelming that we can grab the keys away from our aging charges without hesitation and with a clear conscience. But aging doesn’t happen overnight.
Day by day, month by month, small changes happen. We usually can’t see them until the small changes add up to big ones, like dementia or loss of vision or hearing. But even then, we see things along the way that leads us to believe that DWE presents an unwarranted risk, both to our loved ones as well as people we will never know.
Still, the changes don’t come in a clean and clear fashion. One day, the fingers can’t grip a steering wheel. The next, they seem to hold on just fine. One day, they can spot an red-tailed hawk a mile away, and the next they can’t see the car to their left. Just when we think the day has come, they make us eat our words and prove that they are still alive, still capable of being “alive”.
Frank raised and shoots down the economic model, promoted by Richard Posner, of dealing with the problem. Poster contends that insurance costs for the elderly will drive those who cannot handle the wheel anymore out of the market. Pasquale responds that it will drive the poor away, but leave the wealthy elderly free to run down as many people as they can afford. Financial incentives apply unevenly.
We look to external solutions because we have such terrible difficulty dealing with the problem on a personal level. Try telling your mother, who carried you for nine months, who stays up with you at night when you were sick, who bandaged your wounds, that she’s too old to drive anymore. Just wait until you look into her eyes, hear her quivering voice, pleading with you not to end her life.
The chance of a political solution is slim, given the clout of the AARP and the general sympathy toward our elders. And they are as firm in their resolve as the NRA, if not more so.
And yet, the victim of an elderly person driving incompetently is just as dead as the victim of a drunk driver. It’s a very serious dilemma, and it will become an increasingly significant problem, as Frank correctly points out, as time goes on. Will there be a group called MADE advocating elderly checkpoints?
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Very important topic, Scott. Thanks for broaching it. The fear of DWE should help convince many Baby Boomers to move to places where they will be less chained to personal vehicles for transportation.
Lots more to say, but I’ve got bocce and a barbecue to attend to today.
Enjoy your B&B, and look forward to hearing more of your thoughts.
Scott, it is such an important issue. One of the easiest, if it could just get past the lobbyists, is not so much financial, but legal.
After, say, age 75, one should have to take a driving test every couple of years as well as a vision and hearing test. If they fail one or more, they can take the test, again, within a couple of months. If it was due to something correctable with a hearing aid or glasses no problem. Those who do fine, can continue to drive.
The test is about the ability to perform the tasks, not age. Yet with age the ability to perform the tasks can diminish and should be checked more regularly.
Driving represents independence…at age 16 or 80 that never changes. When my sister-in-laws grandfather’s keys were taken away at age 96 (his mind and everything were fine!)..he simply told her he was through and six months later passed away peacefully.
It’s a very hard call. But if we keep it related to the qualifications necessary to have a license, we will have capable 96 year old drivers with one; an incapable 70 year old without one. And the responsibility won’t be the child’s, but the requirements of the state who holds the license.
That’s one of a number of good and long recognized solutions, but it’s been tried and defeated at least a few times that I know of. Don’t underestimate the political clout of the elderly. The legislatures are not going to take it on the chin when it comes to this, leaving each of us to deal with it in our own way.
MADD didn’t get very far in the beginning either. AARP is powerful, yes.
But even my own mother and father who live in Florida are stunned their licenses are good for six years. Even they recognize it is absurd given what they see on the roads every day. They are fearful of these drivers and yet they are in the same category age-wise.
I don’t think it will be just be the youngsters against the elders in this battle. There are more people like my parents who would be inclined to want to protect themselves from danger as well as BEING hazards themselves and not risk the torment of knowing they have killed someone because they refused to recognize their limitations.
I know they would take tests more frequently without putting the burden upon their children to make that decision.
Would you want you cap off a beautiful life being tortured knowing you should have gotten off the road but instead killed people? There are more elders who fear THIS more than you may realize.
Susan, Periodic (frequent) hearing and eye tests are necessary, but so is a test measures reaction timing — perhaps with driving simulation programs. Meanwhile, (1) Some states are sending 8-year license renewals to octogenarians; and (2) the Elder Lobby is exceptionally strong, fights every attempt at better testing, and will always find lawyers who will cry age discrimination.
Hi David 🙂
If the Elder lobby is the new NRA, then we are going to be in trouble.
The only thing we can hope then is the price of gas combined with reduction in social security benefits will force them to rethink how often they drive and whether public transportation will serve their needs better.
That and online shopping and delivery services for groceries may have to do the job for us.
The rich, they’ll have their drivers!
I too have parents in Florida, whom I occasionally refer to as the Altacaccas. I’ve spoken with them and their friends as well, and the tell me the only way I will get their car keys is to pry them out of their cold, stiff hands. Sound familiar?
While your parents’ concern is wonderful, I think you will find them not to represent the mass of elderly drivers, most of whom believe that they will die if they lose their independence. And they have no intention of dying any time soon.
Since we’re pointing at AARP, I thought I’d try to find information on their relevant policies. I found this article in the AARP Bulletin, called “When is it time to quit driving?” — http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourworld/gettingaround/articles/when_is_it_time_to.html —
and this reaction to a Fox news item that knocked AARP: http://mediamatters.org/items/200611280002
It AARP Bulletin article has some interesting info, as does this AARP page on driving safety —
http://www.aarp.org/research/housing-mobility/transportation/fs51r_drivers.html
It appears that “In fact, while the AARP does oppose legislation that would require additional driving tests based solely on age, AARP supports legislation requiring driver assessments for all.” Of course, testing everyone for things such as reaction time and cognitive impairment is not likely to happen soon (in a society that permits Driving While Phoning).
But as they are beating their chests…haven’t you noticed they are overall driving less, not so much driving at night, car pooling with others, more socializing at their home,….I see this on a regular basis with my parents and their friends.
You may have to pry the keys away and they are adamant they will hold onto them with their last breath, but they are slowly but surely voluntarily not behind the wheel as much and they are not necessarily sharing the real reasons why? They know. They are scared, too.
I’m afraid that my experience spans a gamut of elderly, some driving an incredible amount and others far less. Now I don’t know that my experience is any more meaningful than yours, since anecdotal evidence proves nothing, but I would be constrained to say that no matter how many different ways you try to put this, I would still not agree that the elderly are voluntarily giving up the keys because of their tacit recognition that they are afraid. It’s just not the case at all.
I agree I live in a retirement home where many residents have given up driving and not one did because they were afraid. If you don’t use your car very much it becomes a large unnecessary expense.
In fact you need to drive enough so your brakes don’t rust. If there are good alternative transportation options giving up the car becomes even more attractive.
If your mobility is reduced extended travel of any type becomes risky. There may be a few of our residents that use a walker and still drive but I can’t think of one. By the way some children are unwilling to accept the fact that mom or dad should give up driving.
p.s. FYI
See “We Need to Talk: Family Conversations with Older Drivers” from The Hartford —
http://www.thehartford.com/talkwitholderdrivers/
“We Need to Talk, offers families a multi-step approach to crafting candid, effectual discussions about driving safety, from positive conversation starters to advice on which family member should broach the topic. The guide also features an important warning signs checklist; strategies for alternative transportation; testing opportunities; a transportation cost worksheet to determine the annual expense to own and operate a car; and recommendations on what to do if a parent has dementia or a high-risk driver refuses to stop driving.”
AARP has followed up this brochure with seminars presented around the nation.
http://www.aarp.org/family/articles/we_need_to_talk.html
To Serve the Elderly
No, it’s not a cookbook.
A major different between DUI and, as you’ve coined the term, DWE, is that those found guilty of DUI are often severely punished and monitored, while the elderly are not. Not that the elderly should be, as no law can be passed that targets a particular age, but that there is a disparity in the law regarding these issues for a number of reasons. A possible solution, although an expensive one, is to have mandatory driver’s tests every three to five years for all citizens.