[GrumpyOldMan]

Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive

I admit I'm of two minds on this issue. Would testing on the basis of age be discriminatory? Yes--but we discriminate when it comes to driving all the time. People with various physical handicaps cannot drive legally unless their vehicle has the adaptive aids necessary for them to operate it safely. There are probably some 12-year-olds out there who would make better drivers than people 5, 10, or 20 years older than they, but we have set the arguably discriminatory age of 16 as the age when you can LEGALLY drive on our highways, regardless of skill level.

And speaking of skill level, we discriminate there too. No one is born with the right to crawl behind the wheel and herd the ol' Family Truckster down the highway. We have to prove, via written and practical testing, that we know the laws, understand how to operate our vehicle and can demonstrate the skill level to drive safely. With age being a process, it is illogical to assume that skills DON'T diminish over time, because on average they most certainly do.

I no longer drive after dark or in bad weather unless there is absolutely no other choice, nor do I travel on unfamiliar roads, recognizing that my wife is a far better driver in all three of the situations mentioned here than I am. Sure, that male pride thing was an issue when, about five years ago now, I first began to suspect that my skills were eroding. But I'd rather sacrifice pride than a life, or lives.

And periodic testing after a certain age would most certainly save lives.

I completely agree with you and thank you for the mature handling of your situation. And the point is the age where we begin to have diminished capacity to drive varies from person to person. I hope we can all agree that someone with diminished capacity to drive should not be allowed to drive. If we can agree on that, then the question becomes, how do we determine someone is able or not able to drive. Testing is certainly one way. As someone pointed out, that might be hard to do, considering the number of older people driving.