Besides the yearly eye exams and road test, about how a size/speed limit for drivers over 75?

So at that age, if you're still fit to drive, you're only allowed a Smart Car equivalent sized car?

The state will offer a generous trade-in value for your current car, and there'd be reasonable allowances for a slightly larger vehicle if you or your partner is in a wheelchair or some such.

That way we can mitigate potential harm when an oldster drives into someone/another vehicle/side of a building.

With the way laws are changing everybody needs to take a written biennially (that's every two years for the recent public school system graduates who might be reading). Back when I was flying I had to take a flight test with an oral exam over recent changes in regulations every 2 years to be able to fly, why not do that for drivers, too?

I'm 63... I don't want to drive anymore... Who wants to put up with the hassle ???  Mass transit suits me fine...  I can be a curmudgeon while  letting  someone else do the driving..........

I am sure the AARP would fight vehemently against any of the reasonable suggestions proposed here (and they are, it probably goes without saying, a formidable lobbying force).

It's ridiculous how American car culture has come to the point where driving is synonymous with independence in the minds of many people, and even more ludicrous that that point came decades ago. There are many other ways of expressing your refusal to give in to the aging process, ways that don't involve operating heavy, potentially lethal machinery. People who use mass transit don't feel like they're giving up control of their lives, or at least an undue amount of that control. If Clement, a psychoanalyst herself, can't understand that, her driver's license shouldn't be the only one she should have to surrender.

I like the points you made, but what if you live in the suburbs or the country, where there isn't much of a mass transit system and everything is far apart? In that case, driving is synonymous with independence, especially if you're a teenager or you're elderly. You don't have the option to just hop on a bus (that probably only runs during rush hour) or a subway train. In that way, we're lucky to live in a big city.

Since Clement does live in a big city where mass transit is an ever-present option, well...

My boss had his license until he was 93. He just kept renewing it, his picture was from his 70's, we finally just stopped him. People over 80 shouldn't be driving or should have to take a road test twice or more per year.

The elderly shouldn't automatically lose their licenses. They should just have to retake the driving test with an instructor to check their reflexes etc are up to snuff. It's not an unreasonable thing to ask at all.

Agreed. Some of the elderly are perfectly competent and should be allowed to keep driving, but others are a real danger to all of us. This terrible incident from 1992 springs to mind:

http://www.nytimes.com/1992/04...

I can't begin to tell you how many times I've been almost taken out by a gray hair, and I've seen no less than three multicar accidents (like 9 and 10 cars) caused by an elderly driver who was inattentive or unaware of their surroundings, or unable to react to a situation in time.

Once you hit 70 years old, yearly license renewals, and bi-annual road tests.

I think bi-annual road tests would excessive. However, I think a road test every 2 years after the age of 75 would be fair. Actually, I think a road test every 8 years for drivers 18-75 would be a good idea based on some of crappy driving skills I see. I would gladly get tested myself (I'm in my 30s).