Should old people be allowed to drive?

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I loved that episode! Especially the way Randy was totally overreacting to the old people!

I personally believe that most of the elderly people I have come across on the roads shouldn't be driving because they do cause a genuine danger to other road users (and on a few occasions, pedestrians). Unfortunately, whether we want to admit it or not, our general mental and physical functioning goes down as we age and as a result we will not be able to do things as well as when we were in our 20's or 30's. Of course I am not so extreme to say that NO elderly people should drive, I just believe that they should have regular tests to check that they are safe to drive. I read a story about a woman who's daughter was killed by an irresponsible elderly man who refused to stop driving despite being blind in one eye and partially sighted in the other. (to be honest, I think EVERYONE should have regular tests.)

My grand father drove until he was in his 80's and then when I was 17 my family decided he shouldn't be driving because he was starting to get confused. One time he was driving on the wrong side of the road and got in a car wreck. His car got fixed and my grandfather was driving with an expired lisence because he never got it renewed. I think the last time he was was 2002 because my parents didn't want my grandfather driving all the way to South Dakota for our family reunion because they were afraid he might get in an accident. My mom's parents on the other hand still drive. They haven't reached that stage yet and they are also in their eighties. My dad's dad is dead now.

I've said this a few times when in a car, I think people should be re-tested at a certain age. My best friend's headlights were accidentally smashed by an old lady (who did apologize and left a note and her contact info, but still) and I've had other old people driving incidents. Then again, I've also had encounters with people of other age groups. People in my state drive like maniacs and they have such road rage.

The problem that old people have is due to a mental illness such as Alzheimer's. Should they just declare that people with mental illnesses shouldn't drive? What happens when Asperger's gets into the DSM and is considered a mental illness?

It should be done on a case by case basis, if a doctor diagnoses someone with something that could significantly affect their ability to drive safely, that diagnosis should be the basis for if they should or shouldn't drive. I've seen people in their 20's who I wouldn't trust with a bike, and I also know someone who's 87 and he's sharp as a tack. Taking away rights from people based on vague generalizations about their age, etc. is never a good idea. Saying that "old" people shouldn't drive is like saying that women shouldn't vote, which has been done before.

Uhh, it already is in the DSM.

It's not a mental illness however, not even officially.

I don't think it be fair if they took away everyone's driver's lisence who were an elderly just because some were getting into car wrecks. So I agree everyone should be required to take the test again every after so many years.

Yeah, retest, and increasingly so as you get older.

No, in fact there ought to be a law against them grazing in public places.

They stink, have bad breath, and walk too damn slow.

Not to mention their obscene scowls....

Lets make a law about the fat and handicapped people going out in public so people wouldn't have to suffer to try hard not looking at them and so fat people wouldn't take up more space, lets all get rid of the mentally handicapped people too in public and autistic people so no one wouldn't have to accommodate them

There should be an age limit. Also I believe, the elderly should take required road tests. They are the second worse drivers after teens after all.

And we all know that driving a car is a powerful symbol of independance and depending for males, power? <.< (it seems that females are usually more intelligent about cars than guys.... who can be daredevils and (drunk) idiots on wheels) .

everyone makes mistakes when driving regardless of age and/or experience, enforcing age restrictions tighter than they already are won't cut accidents much, near every driver WILL have an accident in their driving lifetime

I think there is a definite need for re-testing more as a driver gets older. I've been nearly run down by mostly older drivers and my son almost got hit by an older driver last night not paying attention to what he was doing. We were on a marked crosswalk and as we got half way across and my oldest son started to run to get to the other side when suddenly the driver didn't seem to notice and sped up instead and managed to stop just under 2 ft from hitting my son... I'm not under the impression that a driver is always safer after years of experience especially as they get older.