Q: In addition to declining vision, many of us older folks have declining health that reduces our driving skills. I understand that the Department of Licensing may require a physician’s examination for renewing a license. Can you describe the threshold for this exam and what it entails?
A: Proving that pride is more powerful than math, 93 percent of us think we’re more skilled than the average driver. This mathematical impossibility happens because we overestimate our own abilities in comparison with everyone else.
What’s my point? If we’re unlikely to recognize a decline in our own driving skills, it’s important to have a system in place where people who have observed us and our driving can point it out. Ideally, a friend or family member could say, “You know, last time I rode with you, you ran a stop sign, drove in the wrong lane for a block, and almost hit a pedestrian. Maybe it’s time to give up driving.” And the driver would respond, “You’re right. Hand me the scissors; I’m cutting up my license and signing up for a bus pass.”
But it’s not always that easy. Some of us don’t have friends that are willing to be that honest. Some of us wouldn’t listen, even if we did. That’s where the driver evaluation process helps out.
A driver evaluation might be initiated by Department of Licensing staff. When a person comes to a DOL office to renew their license (drivers who are 70 or older are required to renew their license in-person), the Licensing Service Representative observes any potential physical risk factors and asks about any physical conditions that could impair the customer’s ability to drive. Based on that screening, DOL may require an additional assessment.
The request could also come from law enforcement, a medical professional, or a concerned citizen: a police officer on a traffic stop observes some concerning cognitive behaviors from a driver; a doctor notices a significant loss of strength in a patient; a person is frightened after a ride with an aging parent. They can submit a driver evaluation request to DOL.
If a problem appears to be health or vision related, DOL may require a physical examination report or a visual examination report, completed by a medical professional. DOL explains why they’re requesting the evaluation, and the doctor reviews the driver’s medical conditions to determine if there are any that would affect a person’s ability to drive. The physical report includes categories for loss of consciousness, sleep disorders, cognitive impairment, loss of muscular control or mobility, and a catch-all called “other” followed by space to explain.
DOL could also administer a knowledge or skills test, do an in-vehicle assessment, or a combination of evaluations. Based on the results, DOL may require equipment to accommodate any impairment, put restrictions on the driver’s license like driving in daylight hours only or limiting the area in which a person can drive, or cancel their driving privilege.
Driver evaluations aren’t age based, but age does play a part in driving risk. Fatal crash rates per mile traveled suggest we’re nearly at our worst at ages 16 – 17. They drop dramatically after a couple years and reach the lowest levels in our sixties. Then they start climbing in our 70s, and by age 80 we’re at greater risk than a new driver. That doesn’t mean all older drivers are bad drivers, but as we get older the odds work against us, making it harder to argue that we’re better than average. If we’re not willing to be honest about it, there’s an evaluation system that is.
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