Washington Township seniors frustrated by stereotypes about elderly drivers.
By: Cynthia Koons
WASHINGTON At 84, Dottie Bleistein relies on a friend in her late 70s to drive her to lunch at the Senior Center every day.
It’s been two years since double vision stopped Ms. Bleistein from driving, but she said her eye doctor is about to give her clearance to return to the roadway.
The state Motor Vehicle Commission won’t test her eyes before she drives again. Although they require an eye test for all license renewals by law, they can’t afford to do it.
So Ms. Bleistein and the nearly 900,000 other senior drivers in New Jersey depends on her family and doctor’s advice to make decisions about driving.
She said she’s eager to be an independent traveler again.
"I have Evalin for everyday," she said, referring to her friend who picks her up for lunch. "And I have my daughter twice a week."
Evalin Ouskin, sitting next to her at the Washington Township Senior Center, said she uses her car for minimal traveling just enough not to be reliant on her family.
"No long trips or anything, just enough to get around so as not to bother our kids," Ms. Ouskin said. "You can’t come and go as you please (without your license), it’s a disadvantage."
Charles Tindall, 87, said he uses his pickup truck anytime day or night to travel any distance.
"I’m a good driver, I’m a careful driver," he said. "I keep my mind on what I’m doing. I don’t think I’ve had a ticket in 50 years."
If Mr. Tindall were to get stopped by an officer who suspects he is beyond his driving years, he could be medically referred to retake his driver’s test. Of the 3,476 seniors who were called in for retests last year by referrals from family, doctors or police, 2,929 of them had their licenses revoked or suspended, according to the Motor Vehicle Commission. That’s an 84 percent failure rate.
In two states, New Hampshire and Illinois, a road retest is required for drivers who are 75 and older.
To many older drivers, such a test seems unfair.
"Some of the rules would have to be changed for a road test for seniors," Elisabeth Marcus, a 72-year-old Robbinsville resident said. "The written test would be very hard."
Ms. Marcus knows this from firsthand experience. She was required to take a book test to get her California license six years ago. She didn’t pass the first time, but she was able to remember enough to pass on her second try.
According to a Gallup Poll from July 25, nine in 10 Americans believe elderly drivers should be regularly tested. But only one in three Americans supported the idea that there should be a standard age limit for senior drivers.
In New Jersey, there are no laws targeted at older drivers. Some states have more frequent license renewals. Some enforce routine vision tests. Some don’t allow older drivers to renew their licenses by mail.
In Florida, where a 79-year-old disabled man drove into a farmer’s market injuring six pedestrians in July, a law was enacted (two weeks prior to the accident) to require drivers over 80 to have their vision tested with each license renewal.
In California, an 86-year-old driver killed 10 pedestrians at a farmer’s market nine days before the Florida incident. In 2000, a bill was introduced in the California state legislature that would have required road tests for drivers 75 and older, but it was defeated.
At the time, senior groups lobbied against the driver retest bill. The AARP argued that the age specifications in the bill were discriminatory.
Locally, the AARP offers a refresher course called "AARP Driver’s Safety Program." It offers senior citizens a 5 percent insurance decrease as well as the chance to drop two points from their motor vehicle records.
"After they take the course they realize what they learn is more important than the discount in insurance," said Don Robins, the Mercer County program coordinator. To complete the course, a student attends two, four-hour classroom sessions.
Programs like these are becoming increasingly important as the aging population is growing nationwide.
Census data shows that in the last decade, the number of older licensed drivers increased by 36 percent from 1990 to 2000, while the total number of licensed drivers only increased by 14 percent.
The 70-and-older group are second to the under-20-year-olds in traffic deaths in the last decade, according to a report by the Department of Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which breaks down accident rates by age group. In 2001, older drivers were involved in 13 percent of all fatal traffic accidents and 18 percent of all fatal pedestrian accidents, according to the report.
In Washington Township, the Police Department does not keep age-specific statistics about accidents and traffic stops.
The township is working to secure a bus for its older residents who are unable to drive, according to Ms. Bleistein, who sits on the township’s Senior Advisory Council. Other area towns such as Hamilton, Princeton, Ewing and Lawrence offer such services.
"We were supposed to get a bus for people who’d like to come here for lunch," Ms. Bleistein said. "I understand we got it, but no driver."
For Mercer County, a bus service is available and comes directly to homes of the elderly and disabled. It’s offered through a program called TRADE (Transportation Resources to Aid the Disabled and Elderly).
For the 3.9 percent of Washington Township residents who are more than 75 years old, that service might be useful. But to many seniors, being able to drive themselves around is much more practical.
"Once you give up driving, you lose your freedom, your independence," said Ronald Womer, 69, of Hamilton.
He said when he’s on the road, he finds himself criticizing slow elderly travelers.
"I look at other drivers as too old," he said. "My passenger would say, ‘He’s probably as old as you are.’"
Despite driving at slower speeds, he said, most seniors follow the rules on the roadway.
"One of the things senior citizens have learned is they do have patience, they know the road rules," he said. "You learn how not to be intimidated if somebody’s pushing you."
Josephine Curcio, whose 77-year-old husband, Rocco, drives them both around, said slower driving makes senior citizens safer.
"If you drive a little slow, you can see what’s ahead of you," she said.
She believes mandatory eye and reflex testing should be required.
Once the New Jersey license is digitized, Motor Vehicle Commission spokesman David Weinstein said an eye test will be required every eight years for all drivers.
"Motorists will have to come in every eight years to have their pictures retaken and at that time an eye exam will be required," Mr. Weinstein said. He had no timeframe for when the digital identification cards and mandatory eye tests will be offered.
He said "a lack of funding and lack of employee resources" has kept the Motor Vehicle Commission from implementing the current eye test law.
There is currently no movement to require road retests for the elderly in New Jersey.