Test. And Retest.

It takes courage to make sure our elderly drivers are safe drivers. I didn't have it. Sadly, neither does the state.

(Illustration by Katherine Streeter)

A few years back, after a string of heart-wrenching fatalities and unacceptably high crash rates among our youngest drivers, Massachusetts lawmakers got serious about jacking up training and education requirements for junior operators. A graduated license and zero-tolerance penalties for new drivers have been on the books for more than a year, and in that time, teen motor-vehicle injuries and speeding citations have each fallen by about a third.

But another legislative session is over, and Beacon Hill still has done nothing about another group with worrisome accident rates - elderly drivers.

Drivers 65 and over have the highest accident rates after teens. It's a problem that experts expect to grow as baby boomers age. Today, there are 19 million drivers over age 70 in the country; by 2024, one in four drivers will be 65 or over, according to the National Older Driver Research and Training Center.

Yet for several years now, state lawmakers have been ducking a bill proposed by state Senator Brian Joyce to retest a group of seniors with dangerously high accident rates - drivers 85 and over.

Multiple studies bear witness to common sense: There are higher levels of physical, cognitive, or visual impairment among our oldest drivers. As the baby boom fuels the senior boom, and with longer life expectancies, we'll continue to see an increase in what the demographers call "the oldest old" - people 85 and over, whose needs and abilities can be far different from those aged 65 to 74 (the "young old") and 75 to 84 (the "old old"). So no one is picking on senior citizens here. But we do need a discussion.

At least 27 states impose some sort of additional requirement for older drivers, often making them renew their licenses more frequently or in person; New Hampshire requires drivers 75 and over to take road tests.

But not Massachusetts. Joyce, a Democrat from Milton, can't get his legislative colleagues to take a position or show up for a hearing on his relatively modest bill, which calls for vision and road tests every five years for drivers 85 and older. Nor can he get his dad, Jerry, now in his late 80s, to give up the keys to his car.

As a son, Joyce knows he's bringing up a difficult and painful issue with his dad. As a lawmaker, he knows he's committing an act of political suicide. Massachusetts requires all drivers to renew their licenses every five years and to take a vision test every 10 years - that's enough, the AARP argues, saying it's unfair to single out particular age groups. Yet that's exactly what we did with teen drivers, and our children and our roads are safer as a result.

One state representative, Democrat Kay Khan of Newton, has another proposal: Require physicians to drop a dime on any patient of any age whose medical condition presents a danger on the roads. But doctors aren't sold on the idea, and it likely violates patient confidentiality.

We should be talking about expanding the spotty network of options for senior citizens, such as van pools and shuttles run by councils on aging and the MBTA's The Ride service. But it's easier to turn our heads, cross our fingers, and let our mothers and fathers put themselves in danger.

In my case, my siblings and I offered to do the driving for our aging parents, but our efforts were clumsy and halfhearted. They wanted to drive, and each did until something bad happened. In Dad's case, when he was in his late 70s, he was making a short drive into town when his car veered across the yellow lines and struck an oncoming car. Both cars were damaged, but worse were the hurt feelings and embarrassment when the outraged young man in the other car jumped out screaming obscenities and insults about Dad's age.

Mom, then in her early 80s, had a hankering for McDonald's one day. She always ordered a Happy Meal and saved the toy for the grandkids. On the way home, she made a left-hand turn without judging the speed of an oncoming car. They crashed. Mom felt as guilty and ashamed of herself as Dad did. In each case, it was their last time behind the wheel. Where we failed to persuade our parents to accept rides from others or take the senior shuttle, reality succeeded.

Many of us have a hard time bringing up the subject with our aging parents. But in my own family's case, we should have tried harder. So should the state.

Tom Benner is a freelance writer in Newton. Send comments to magazine@globe.com.