Governor Calls for Tests of Elderly Drivers: Doesn’t Yet Know at What Age or What to Test For

By Tom Benner, Patriot Ledger

February 8, 2008

Gov. Deval Patrick, whose mother, Emily, used Milton’s senior citizen vans to get around in her later years, says older drivers should be tested to prove they can still handle a car safely.

Patrick, however, says he isn’t sure at what age drivers need to be tested and what they should to be tested for.

His comments come in the wake of a terrible accident in Randolph on Tuesday in which an SUV driven by 86-year-old William Geisler struck an 8-year-old girl in front of the Lyons Elementary School, where she is a student. The girl was listed in fair condition today at Boston Medical Center with a fractured skull, a broken leg and internal injuries.

Currently, Massachusetts drivers of all ages are required to pass a vision test every 10 years as part of the license-renewal process. But there are no special requirements for older drivers, as there are in most other states.

State Sen. Brian A. Joyce, whose district includes Randolph, this week renewed this week to impose requirements on older drivers. His proposal - to require drivers 85 and older to pass a vision and road test every five years to keep their licenses - has remained in committee in the two years since he first filed it.

Patrick, who lives in Milton, said Thursday that imposing special requirements on older drivers is politically unpopular but in the public’s best interest.

‘‘Seniors understand that public safety comes first,’’ Patrick said during a radio appearance on WTKK-FM.

The powerful lobbying and advocacy group AARP, has opposed Joyce’s bill, and his legislative colleagues have balked at it. Joyce said he can’t even get his 88-year-old father, Jerry, to give up the keys to his car.

But some elder advocates say increased testing for drivers beyond a certain age is long overdue.

‘‘I’ve been in elder services for 15 years, and I’ve been trying to get someone to do something about this problem for years,’’ said Mary Ann Sullivan, director of the Milton Council on Aging.

Sullivan said she just has to look out her window to see near-misses in the Milton Senior Center parking lot.

‘‘We’re seeing more and more of it,’’ she said. ‘‘We see a lot of close calls.’’

Also on Tuesday, a 76-year-old woman who was pulling into the post office parking lot on North Street in Hingham accidentally hit her car’s accelerator instead of the brake pedal, causing the vehicle to hit the side of the post office. The woman was not hurt.

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