On the road again.....

I have fond memories of my grandfather, aka Paw-Paw, taking the family for scenic drives through the mountains of Tennessee. During these drives he would point out interesting sights along the way, ie his arm would be in your face pointing out the passenger side window at something along the road, all while he navigated roads barely big enough for one car along roads that resembled a slalom more than anything. After he passed away, one of my great aunts took on the task of driving all her sisters back and forth to the grocery store once a week, and to church on Sundays and Wednesdays. She did this because she was the only woman of her generation in her family who had bothered to get her driver's license; the others had relied on their husbands to do all the driving. This woman drove completely different from my grandfather. Her eyes were always on the road paying attention to everything around her. She drove slowly and deliberately, and to specific destinations with no deviation along the way. Being able to drive was important to her, and vital to her family.

Currently the state of North Carolina requires people ages of 18-53 to renew their license every eight years. If they are 54 or older, then they must renew their license every 5 years. Is this time period too long for seniors to renew their licenses. Should they have to renew license every 3 years, or even every year? Statistically speaking, I don't think you can accurately lump people into two different categories for renewing your license. The time period should vary with age, and testing should become more frequent with age, but should also start off more frequent as well. Looking back on my own experiences driving, I had a car accident at a rate of about once per year until I was in my very early 20's. I had taken classes on how to drive, but due to carelessness and inexperience I had accidents. It's very likely that when I reach my senior years that I will have accidents again, but for different reasons.

This is just an idea, but perhaps from ages 53-65 seniors should have renew their license every 3-4 years, but at age 65 seniors could take a one-time, mandatory senior driving class, and then renew their license every year. This senior driving class could educate older drivers on the challenges they face, and ways they can compensate for the natural declines that come with age. This is but one idea, and probably not the best.

Unfortunately a lot of seniors simply stop driving because they can no longer afford to. With the rising cost of taxes, registration, gas, insurance, and regular maintenance some seniors simply cannot afford to drive once they are on a fixed income. According to Esurance.com, car insurance rates begin to increase for seniors at age 70, but some insurance companies actually refuse to insure drivers over the age 70 because they are at such a high risk for causing an accident.

There is no simple answer when it comes seniors and driving, but one thing is for certain: it's a subject where almost everyone has an opinion, and no two opinions are exactly the same. What we have to remember is behind every statistic is a person trying to maintain their independence through diving.