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Lawmakers hear call for more regulation of elderly drivers

E-mail|Link|Comments () June 30, 2009 01:46 PM

By Matt Collette, Globe Correspondent

The uncle of a little girl who was struck and killed by an 89-year-old driver earlier this month urged lawmakers today at a State House hearing to place more regulations on elderly drivers.

"I want people to do something about this, and I think all Massachusetts residents do. I want you to look us in the eye and say 'We should do this and we will do this,'" said Nihan Patel, 24, the uncle of Diya Patel.

Diya Patel, 4, was struck on June 13 by a car driven by Ilse Horn of Canton. Horn has had her license revoked and faces a charge of motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation. Patel was crossing Washington Street, also known as Route 138, with her grandfather, at about 11:39 a.m.

Nihan Patel testified alongside Senator Brian A. Joyce, who is pushing for a bill that would require testing every five years for drivers older than 85.

Representative Joseph F. Wagner, House chairman of the committee, said the Legislature would pursue a comprehensive bill, but it should consider drivers' functional and cognitive ability, not just age.

"I would hope that when we are licensing or re-licensing drivers that we say that this driver is safe, regardless of age," Wagner said.

Safe Roads Now, a coalition of 15 groups that includes AAA Southern New England and AARP Massachusetts, is urging Massachusetts lawmakers to make a variety of other changes in driver licensing that would include: instituting in-person driver license renewals throughout a driver's lifespan; giving drivers a new visual screening test used in California; introducing a three-tiered system in which drivers would need to take additional tests if they fail initial tests; and flagging motorists who have a certain number of accidents over a specified time period and requiring them to take an in-person exam.

After the hearing, Wagner told reporters his committee would put the writing of a comprehensive bill on the "fast track" and he expected legislation would be drafted and ready for a floor vote by Labor Day.

The proposals to change driver licensing procedures come after a string of five accidents involving elderly drivers in the past four weeks. In addition to the Stoughton crash, a 93-year-old man drove his car into the entrance of a Wal-Mart in Danvers on June 2; a 73-year-old woman jumped the curb and ran into a crowd of people in Plymouth on June 3; an 86-year-old woman struck and injured a pedestrian in Melrose on Sunday; and an elderly driver pinned a young boy between two cars in a parking garage in North Attleborough on Monday.