Patrick open to retesting drivers
He sees a need to assess elderly
Governor Deval Patrick said yesterday that he supports legislation requiring older drivers to take vision and road tests, but he did not specify the age at which he believes testing should begin.
"I like that idea; I just don't know what that age is," Patrick said during a monthly call-in radio show on WTKK-FM.
Patrick made the comments two days after a second-grader in Randolph was seriously injured by a car that police said was driven by an 86-year-old man. The crash sent dozens of youngsters at the Lyons Elementary School running as the man's sport utility vehicle careered out of control.
State Senator Brian A. Joyce, a Milton Democrat, , said his legislation, first proposed in 2006, might have prevented Tuesday's accident. His proposal to require all drivers age 85 and older to take vision and road tests when they renew their licenses is under consideration by the Legislature's transportation committee.
"The current law is crazy," Joyce said. "Forty-seven states have some sort of legislation to ensure the safety of the driver, and in Massachusetts the current law is a person takes a test for a learner's permit [followed by a road test for an actual license], and that's the last road test they ever take."
Rebecca Deusser, a spokeswoman for the governor, issued a statement later yesterday, saying the governor supports initiatives that will make the roads safer.
"This is one area that we are reviewing, and as the governor said, we will work with all interested parties to ensure that any proposed changes are fair, reasonable, and take individual drivers' capabilities into consideration," she said.
Deborah Banda, Massachusetts director for AARP, said it would be arbitrary to pick a specific age and then start testing drivers again.
Banda said the state should test drivers at regular intervals throughout their lives, but only after adopting better tests to determine response times and peripheral vision.
"People are living longer and healthier lives," she told the Associated Press. "We don't want to punish them for that. We want to keep them engaged and active."
Joyce testified on behalf of his bill in October. Five days later, he recalled, a 76-year-old driver crashed into an entrance at Brockton Hospital, killing two staff members.
Joyce said that on Tuesday, the same day as the Randolph crash, another elderly driver crashed into the Hingham post office.
The senator said he has never had a conversation with Patrick about the measure but was glad to hear he recognized the need for testing at some age.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report. 