On the Road Too Long

By TAMMERLIN DRUMMOND

Marie Wyman's 87th birthday celebration at the Lobster Trap & Steakhouse in Winslow, Maine, ended with a bang. As she backed out of a handicapped-parking spot, police say, Wyman lost control of her Buick and plowed right through the restaurant's crowded dining room. Tables and chairs scattered as terrified diners scrambled for cover. Twenty-seven people were injured, and police say it was a miracle that no one was killed in the July 25 crash. Tragically, that wasn't so in Los Angeles nine months ago, when Byron Cox, 96, a driver with dementia, ran over Brandi Mitock, 15, as she crossed the street. The teenager was killed instantly.

Spurred by Mitock's death, State Representative Tom Hayden introduced a bill, now pending in the California legislature, that would make it tougher for drivers 75 and older to renew their license. The "Brandi Jo" bill is just one attempt to cope with a mounting public-health concern. Since 1987, fatal crashes involving drivers 70 and older have risen 42%, to some 4,928 in 1997. In 20 years, the number of 70-plus drivers will have ballooned to 30 million, and highway-safety experts warn that the number of people killed in crashes involving elderly motorists is likely to surpass the drunk-driving death toll. While it is true that drivers 60 and older have a lower accident rate than younger ones, and that some seniors drive safely into their 90s, others are impaired by such ailments as poor vision, slow reflexes, partial paralysis and dementia. Attempts to identify unfit drivers, moreover, have been haphazard. Some states require frequent vision tests for elderly drivers. Others mandate nothing.

Mostly, the wrenching decision to give up the keys is left to the elderly. With limited transportation alternatives, seniors who can't drive often become housebound and depressed. Last year, when Persis Thompkins, 80, of West Palm Beach, Fla., had a fender bender, she was terrified that she might lose her license. "I would have had to move into an independent-living facility," she said. Some communities offer low-cost vans and private-car services. But city buses and taxis are often all there is. Losing a license is like a death sentence to most people. That's why the adult children of elderly drivers will usually not intervene--even when Mom or Dad is a road menace. Members of one Detroit family tried to persuade the grandfather, 96, to sell his Cadillac because he kept crashing into a tree next to the driveway. Instead he chopped down the offending object.

Some seniors, though, self-regulate. They don't drive at night or on busy highways. "I know what hours to go out and get ahead of those young people," says Mildred Mosely, 74, a retired nurse from Oakland, Calif., who cut back on her driving after cataract surgery.

Under the Brandi Jo law, all drivers 75 and older would have to take a vision test, as well as a written and road test every five years. The tests would come every three years after age 80, every two years after 85 and annually after 90.

The California proposal faces a formidable foe, in the American Association of Retired Persons, and its outcome is uncertain. The powerful senior-advocacy group has already pushed state lawmakers to defeat age-based driving bills in Florida and Texas. "If two little old ladies in tennis shoes come in and say, 'We don't like this,' they duck for cover," says Florida State Representative Ed Healey. As an alternative, the A.A.R.P. sponsors eight-hour driver-refresher courses. Last year 700,000 people attended, lured in part by a 10% discount on their auto insurance. But what about older drivers who don't realize they pose a danger on the road? The Federal Government is conducting a study in Maryland on targeting problem motorists before they cause an accident. Meanwhile, it is up to family members to hide the keys.

--With reporting by Stacie Stukin/Los Angeles and Jeanne DeQuine/Miami