LETTER: When are you too old to drive?
Your Sunday article regarding concerns about the mental and physical fitness of older drivers (which I would define as 75 and up) raised some valid concerns but ignores several other points.
Frankly, I was amazed when I renewed my driver’s license two years ago at 80 that I didn’t even have to go in to the DMV. All I had to do was obtain a doctor’s statement that I was fit to drive and get a recent eye exam. They don’t even update your photo.
Personally, I do my own physical fitness checking with regular doctor visits and participate in an annual cognitive function evaluation at Ruvo Brain Center. Fortunately, subjectively and objectively, I am quite fit to drive, but I understand many may not take such steps.
Also we all benefit from many newer cars that have a variety of amazing safety features that help protect the occupants, and others, from accidents. And GPS navigation is an invaluable tool for finding your way across town or across the country.
I personally am far more concerned about the younger drivers one encounters constantly on the freeway who weave in and out of traffic and go 100 mph or more. Taking away their keys for good would make us all safer.