Pocono News Section

Should Senior Drivers Be Tested?

Should Senior Drivers Be Tested? - Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at 8:54PM EST

? Reported by: Eric Scheiner
Tuesday, Apr 29, 2008 @ 08:54pm EST
WILKES-BARRE -- Studies by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that while on the road mile for mile seniors and teenage drivers are nearly equally as likely to get into accidents. These reports also indicate that senior drivers are far more likely to have the accident end up in a fatality.

As the senior population increases, the AAA believes by 2030 one quarter of all fatal accidents in the nation will involve a elderly driver. Since states already place restrictions on teen drivers should they do the same for seniors?

New Hampshire and Illinois are the only two states in the nation that require drivers over the age of 75 to take driving tests each year. They also have a lower rate of fatal accidents.

Pennsylvania has a higher percentage of seniors than any other state except for Florida, but there are no driving restrictions for older residents. Every month the state requires a physical exam and eye test from over a thousand randomly selected drivers over the age of 45. Some say that's age discrimination, others say it's not enough to keep our roads safe.

WYOU Interactive discusses the issue of senior drivers with Tony Andruskevich from the A-A-R-P and Danielle Klinger of PennDot.