Elderly Drivers

When people get stuck behind old granny that can hardly see over the steering wheel that is going extremely slow most people get enraged and just pass them going at high speeds with maybe a few honks of the horn. This rage caused by the elderly drivers out there can be very dangerous and cause even more accidents. This also could make you late to wherever you are going. Old people are very dangerous on the road because of poor vision, poor hearing, and slow reaction time. They commonly mistake the gas pedal for the brake pedal and go flying into buildings, other cars and they might not see that red light and go flying into another car at an intersection killing someone’s teenage child or maybe a parent. Not all old people are like this though. Most of them are still capable of driving safely by going ten miles per hour under the speed limit. This causes other drivers to get road rage which can cause them to get into accidents as well. Now, there are some normal everyday old people drivers that don’t cause others drivers to get angry at them and have good enough vision and can remember where the brake pedal is to drive safely on the roads.

Some elderly drivers can drive but can barely see over the steering wheel which can cause problems like say if a cat were to be in the road, well, no more cat. Some elderly drivers could also have a heart attack, seizure or stroke while driving and cause an accident. As people age their eyesight, hearing, and reaction time slowly worsens which is all the more reason why elderly drivers should have to take a series of tests to make sure they are able to drive.

I believe that there should be a law throughout the United States that forces elderly people over the age of a set age to take another road test and have to take eye and ear tests as-well to make sure they are safe enough to be on the roads. This will ensure that old people are well enough to know which pedal to hit while braking and can see other cars, and cats, in their way. Fatality rates for elderly people ages 75- 84 are 3 deaths every 100 million miles driven, that’s about four times higher than teen fatalities. I believe the roads would be that much safer if elderly drivers had to take tests to ensure their capability of driving on the road safely. This would decrease fatality rates for the elderly population as-well as everyone else driving on the roads. Just because the elderly have been driving on the roads for over 50 years doesn’t mean that they are the best drivers.