Aging Boomers Will Keep on Truckin', but When Should They Stop?

With all of the advocacy groups out there pushing their positions, it is very unusual when you find two major organizations in agreement on a topic. Take the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the National Safety Council.

A few years ago, both organizations sponsored studies that showed some interesting statistics. The studies showed that there were two groups of drivers that had the most serious accidents, young teenage drivers between the ages of 16 and about 19 and elderly drivers over the age of 75 to 80.

The statistics don't lie. They show that these two groups of drivers have the highest accident rates and highest rate of serious accidents where serious injuries and fatalities are reported. Interestingly, between the ages of about 20 and 65 you find drivers with the best driving records, the same statistics have shown.

As if to prove these statistics are right, lately in the state of Massachusetts there have been a spate of accidents involving drivers in their 80s or 90s where there have been serious injuries or deaths reported. In one accident, a driver drove into the front window of a liquor store and brought down a pile of stock on a checkout person. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries in this accident, but there were also no hints that the driver even tried to hit the brakes. Instead, it looks as if the driver hit the gas and went right through the window.

In another accident, an elderly driver failed to stop for a little girl in a crosswalk and there was a fatality involved. The hardest part of this story was that it happened right in front of the horrified grandfather who was out walking with his grandchildren.

Why has there been a sudden spike in accidents involving older drivers? Who's to say? It may be that there are more places to go and things to do for the elderly or it may be that by admitting they can no longer drive safely, elders are giving up the key to their freedom and independence, their cars. But, given the seriousness of these accidents and the frequency with which they have happened, it may be time to look at elder drivers and their abilities.

In the state legislature, there are several efforts aimed at moving toward yearly road-testing for older drivers, some of the bills have the age as low as 70 while others would start the testing after 85.

No one knows that will come out of the legislature, but you can be sure that something will emerge soon and become state law. It may require the yearly re-testing of aging drivers and it may also require yearly eye tests for aging drivers. No one knows exactly what will happen.

What is clear, though, is that this is a problem that will likely grow in importance as the Baby Boomers, who are just beginning to retire, and who are a major force in the population, will believe that they can keep on going as they always have. These are the same people who said, at one time, "never trust anyone over 30" and who flouted the law with their drug use. That they have gone on to become one of the more conservative parts of society is part of the natural aging process.

For whatever reason, people like the Boomers, who were left-leaning idealists in their youth, are today's conservatives calling for lower taxes and less government intrusion in their affairs. It probably has to do with the fact that many Boomers have made it and don't want the government to discover exactly how much they have made because they don't want to lose any of it.

These people will certainly not like the idea of losing their driving privileges if they fail to take any mandatory tests after a certain age and they will likely protest and try to have the law overturned. And, unfortunately, given their numbers, they may just accomplish that, even though a law has yet to be enacted.

The Boomers are the "invincible" generation. They are the "forever young" generation, who distrust authority. Boomers still think they are 30 when they are actually approaching 65 (on the top end) and 45 on the lower end. Boomers believe their driving skills won't be diminished by time, but they will because aging happens and certain processes slow down.

In fact, in many cases some processes stop and have to be aided by drugs to keep them going.

Two things that are certain about aging are that your reflexes slow down and your eyesight does get poorer. Indeed, your night vision can fail altogether which could be one of the reasons that Boomers like the xenon headlight option for their cars (xenon lights are the extremely bright white lights that hit you and dazzle you at night) on the other side of the windshield, they just help to keep things visible.

So, what will happen? Here we have some major societal fault lines starting to show. It is obvious from the number of elders who are of have been involved in serious accidents is increasing (as have teens) as recent news stories show. It is equally obvious that seniors will be about as likely to give up their "right" - as the consider it - to drive (it's really a privilege, granted by the state) as they are about to give up their right to breath. In other words, they won't.

Will it take another serious accident to prove that retests are needed? No one knows for sure. What is known is that this is a problem that won't be going away any time soon and will likely grow to immense proportions as Boomers retire and want to continue to live the lifestyles they believe they are entitled to live and which they also believe they will never outgrow!

What is known is that many senior drivers are responsible, safe motorists who take their driving seriously and realize that this is their way to independence! It is the minority of drivers who consider themselves fit to drive, but who are also the ones causing the problems. This reminds one of the famous scene from the seminal film of the 1980s "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" where the father is trying to get home and he gets behind this little old lady driver who can't see above the steering wheel of the Caddy she is driving and is swerving all over the street with Mr. Bueller trying to pass in his Audi. Every time he tried to make a move she swerved in that direction until he actually passed. Many elder drivers may not be as extreme as that example, but in their own ways they are pretty much in the same league.

It will take some legislative courage to face this problem down, especially when Boomers oppose it, yet it is courage that the legislators will need and the public is demanding.