Senior Licensing Policies PDF Download

Drivers over the age of 65 are involved in automobile accidents at higher rates of any age group except youth drivers. In recent years, states have begun to adopt more stringent requirements for elderly drivers seeking to renew their licenses. Various provisions targeting older drivers include vision screenings, knowledge tests, restrictions on renewal-by-mail, and accelerated renewal cycles. I seek to show factors common to states that use these renewal provisions to determine what causes a state to have increased or lax restrictions on elderly license renewal. Using fatality accident data, I will determine which licensing renewal provisions are responsible for decreased accident rates. In conjunction with this quantitative analysis, I will conduct three case studies of state elderly driver policies for Florida (large elderly population), Illinois (stringent renewal provisions), and Pennsylvania (medical review practices). Based on my findings, I do not have enough data to determine which specific renewal provisions, if any, are effective in reducing accidents involving elderly drivers. Furthermore, the political climate in most states prevents legislatures from enacting these types of renewal policies. While further study of renewal policies is merited, states should also look towards non-age based screening processes that focus on a driver's capabilities when selecting drivers for further safety testing, and infrastructure changes to accommodate the deficiencies in aging drivers' abilities. These are effective approaches to addressing elevated senior citizen accident rates that are a more politically palatable solution, and hence more likely to be successfully enacted.