Age-related conditions that lead to accidents - such as poor night vision - aren't getting tested.
By STEPHEN NOHLGREN
Published February 10, 2004
Since last January, Florida has required vision tests when drivers renew their licenses after age 79. Now, a legislative task force urges more sophisticated testing.
"Florida is facing a critical situation with its aging population: the mature at-risk driver," says a report issued by the Florida At-Risk Driving Council. Identifying dangerous drivers "is one of Florida's highest priorities."
Current vision tests, where people recite letters from a chart, may show who can read a road sign and who can't. But they don't determine who is a safe driver, the report says.
Age-related conditions that do lead to accidents - poor night vision, poor peripheral vision and mental impairment - are not getting tested.
The task force, created during last year's legislative session, did not recommend specific new tests. Instead, it urged the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to conduct pilot programs to figure out which tests are effective and how much they would cost.
"Ultimately, we may have to do more than vision screening. We all know that," said AARP lobbyist Lyn Bodiford, the task force's vice chairwoman. "As soon as we figure out what are the appropriate assessments, it's likely that more tests will need to be incorporated in the licensing process. But we are not there yet."
The task force also made several other recommendations:
Further training for doctors, social workers and law enforcement officers on how to report suspect drivers to the state. Better methods to evaluate those suspect drivers and to help keep them on the road when that is possible.
An online reporting system where any citizen could report a suspect driver.
Help for people who need to adjust to life without a car. Either state-paid "mobility managers" or volunteer "mobility counselors" could serve this function.
A trust fund to finance alternative transportation for older people.
"Other alternatives need to be available," said Florida State University professor Ken Brummel-Smith, who chaired the task force. "Research has shown that older people are pretty darn good at recognizing problems and doing something about it when they can."
When alternatives to driving are not available, people make bad choices, said Bodiford, citing an 88-year-old woman recently killed in Palm Beach County after driving the wrong way on an interstate highway. The state had already revoked her driver's license.
"I have to believe, either she was desperate or had some sort of dementia," Bodiford said. "I think we understand how desperate people feel when they live alone, don't know who to call and have to go to the grocery store, go to the doctor or get a prescription filled.
"Clearly, we need to look at this issue comprehensively."
