Should drivers need to be retested regularly after a certain age?
In news just released the Oscar winning Hollywood actress, Reese Witherspoon, was taken to hospital after being struck by a car while out jogging. The accident occurred in Santa Monica on Wednesday 7 September at about 11am.
The driver was an 84 year old woman who apparently failed to stop and struck the actress who was crossing the road at the time. The driver has been cited for failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk.
Fortunately for all concerned the injuries were minor and Reese Witherspoon was released from hospital and sent home the same day. This could of course have amounted to a multi-million Dollar lawsuit had she been severely injured or scarred. The grade A actress can easily be expected to earn another $50 million in the future and, should she have been unable to continue her career or been disfigured or scarred, the law suits and insurance pay outs would have been monumental.
The driver should immediately contact a Accident Attorney in Los Angeles to assist and represent her should there be any further repercussions from this accident. Although injury was not evident at the time something, like a bruised femur, may cause trouble in the future.
viagra this raises another question. The ageing process is different for many, some are active at 90 and there was even a marathon runner aged 100 in the news recently. But they are the exception, most people as they reached advanced years start to slow down, their eyesight commonly starts to fail, their reaction times slow up and very few are particularly agile.
Should there not, therefore, be a regular, annual check on all drivers over a certain age, say 75*, to ensure that their eyesight, both in day light and after dark is good enough to see other people and moving objects? They should also check the reflexes to ensure that they remain good enough to command a vehicle in an emergency, and their faculties sharp enough to know what to do should they see something unusual. (*75 is not necessarily the age to introduce this ruling, maybe it should be from 65 years onward or starting at 70 and then a re-check at 72 for example.)
Many folk voluntarily give up driving when they start to feel that they are no longer capable. Some stop driving after dark, or never drive during rush hour or on freeways. This is commendable and sensible. There are others who will not acknowledge that aging impairs their abilities and insist on continuing to drive well into their 90’s without checking if they are up to it.
As a pure safety measure for the other road users it is contended that people of advanced age should, without being nasty, have regular health and faculty checks by the DMV to ensure that it is safe to let them continue driving.
Anyone who is involved in a car accident with a driver of advanced years is advised to contact Los Angeles Car Accident Attorneys to ensure that they have adequate representation.