Serious Public Health Issue Causing Trafic Accidents

Figures from the U.S. Department of Transportation press out that drivers grow 70 and previous(a) make up 9 per centum of the country's drivers; a total of round 18.9 million drivers. enumerate figures predict that number will increase to to a greater extent than 30 million within the next 20 years. Older drivers also are more vulnerable. The American Association of Motor fomite Administrators says a 75-year-old driver is three times more presumable to die in a auto crash than a 20-year-old (Mehren, n.p.). Distance deceaseled is also changing. From 1980 to 1989 the 65-and- one-time(a) population increased their every year distance traveled by 31 percent. Comparing entropy for 1983 and 1990, drivers aged 75 and older increased their distance traveled by 90 percent, the largest percentage increase in travel by any age group (Bedard, Stones, Guyatt and Hirdes, 751).

Frank Moretti of The way Information course (TRIP), a research group financed by road builders and other transportation groups, states that "as the baby complete generation retires, there are going to be more and more older Americans behind the wheel. And it's going to become a more pressing safety issue" (Alvord & Bowles, n.p.). TRIP analyse federal transportation statistics and concluded that the number of elderly drivers is high than ever and those drivers are accounting for more fatal car accidents. For example, in 1991, 4,261 people we

Barton, Jill. "Florida Program Targets Older Drivers." Washington Post (October 19, 2003): A21.

The departments of get vehicles in numerous states now have programs for the testing and regulation of the driving privileges of older drivers. In upstart Hampshire, for example, the law regulating older drivers is establish on a statute that allows the department of motor vehicles to brush up any driver suspected of "impairment" (Mehren, n.p.). In New Hampshire, although drivers over 18 are not required to break up seat belts, the state strictly enforces one of the country's toughest laws governing older drivers (Mehren, n.p.). The law requires that every driver over the age of 75 must grumble a driver's license test to remark his or her license.

Nonetheless, research suggests the law has been successful in decrease traffic fatalities. In 2002, New Hampshire drivers older than 70 were at fault in 13 fatal crashes, 11 percent of the total crashes that year. On the other hand, nationally, drivers over 70 were liable for(p) for 13 percent of traffic fatalities in 2002. The state motor vehicle department reports that every month the law is responsible for between 15 and 18 percent of older motorists losing their drivers' licenses because they cannot pass the mandatory road test (Mehren, n.p.).

New Hampshire has also instituted a "red card" system under which law enforcement officials, family members or medical providers can contact the department of motor vehicles with concerns about any driver. The driver in question must thusly submit to a hearing and possible retesting that can nothingness to license suspension. Florida and Nevada have since adopted similar programs (Barton, A21). "Driving is not a right, it is a privilege," says Virginia Beecher, the director of New Hampshire's motor vehicles department. "And just like we were all overzealous to get our licenses at age 16, there comes a time when you are a impairment on the highway, and you have to give it up" (Mehren, n.p.).

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