Locals: Let doctors decide on elderly drivers

LYNN – Karen Shatto thinks she knows how to keep older drivers who should not be on the road from harming themselves and others: “Get doctors involved.”Shatto said physicians are the first line of defense ensuring drivers with deteriorating reflexes and eyesight do not get behind the wheel. How and when to keep older drivers off the road is a source of renewed debate for state legislators following a pedestrian fatality involving a driver in Stoughton and an accident involving a 93-year-old driver who plowed into a Danvers Wal-Mart.Gov. Deval Patrick on Monday called for quick passage of legislation, sponsored by Sen. Brian Joyce, requiring road tests for drivers 85 and older.Joyce’s bill received fresh attention after a 4-year-old was struck and killed in Stoughton over the weekend, with authorities charging an 88-year-old woman with motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation.”If the bill comes to me, I’ll sign it,” Patrick said, adding, “I think the time is now for action. I think that the question of what the age is is not that simple ? but the fact is we need action on this and it should not require the tragedy that we saw this weekend.”Lynn driver Ed Johns thinks stricter license tests for older drivers makes sense.”I know I don’t have the reaction time I had in my 20s, 30s and 40s,” Johns said.Other State House proposals aimed at clamping down on older drivers includes ones requiring road tests of all drivers every 10 years. Calling the bill, a refile from last session, an equitable way to improve public safety, state Rep. Vincent Pedone said in a press release, “One road test at 17 years old should not entitle anyone a lifetime driver’s license. This debate shouldn’t be about an individual’s age, but rather a person’s ability to operate an automobile safely.But local driver Shelby Jones said his aunts are over 70 years old and have never been in a car accident.He said elder motorist safety bill risk “stereotyping” older drivers.Another bill requires road tests for drivers seeking to renew their licenses in even-numbered years. Joyce’s bill to require elderly drivers to take road tests is still awaiting a hearing date, according to officials in his office.