Fox 6 Milwaukee conducted an investigative report where they asked the question: “How old is too old to drive?” In Wisconsin, there are 217 drivers over the age of 100 with a valid driver’s license. In addition, there are approximately 278,000 licensed drivers over the age of 75. Fox 6 investigators reviewed one-week of “Driver Condition and Behavior” reports filed by the police, finding 58 examples of drivers with medication issues, blackouts, vision impairments and confusion or disorientation. The investigators also spoke to police, as well as senior citizens and their families, regarding the difficulty of convincing someone to no longer drive when they may be “too old” to drive. The report also noted that State Senator Fred Risser is preparing to introduce legislation that would require drivers age 75 and older to have more frequent license renewals, every four years instead of every eight years.
Fox 6 also interviewed Samster, Konkel & Safran Attorney Jonathan S. Safran regarding the issues presented by senior citizen drivers. Attorney Safran told Fox 6 that, for senior citizen drivers, “it’s an independence issue.” Attorney Safran also indicated that he has seen an increase of drivers in their 80’s and 90’s getting in automobile accidents. “We anticipate that is going to increase over time as the average age seems to be increasing too,” Attorney Safran said. A client of the law firm was also interviewed as to his experience of recently being involved in a vehicle accident with another driver who was 90-years-old, resulting in significant property damage to his vehicle and injuries to himself and his passenger. See the entire Fox 6 report here.
The Wisconsin automobile accident attorneys of Samster, Konkel & Safran encourage all drivers, including senior citizen drivers, to use caution when on the road. We encourage proposed legislation to accelerate license renewal cycles for senior citizen drivers, both for their protection as well as for the protection of others out on the roads. We also want to prevent accidents caused by distracted driving, such as texting while driving. In fact, we are involved in a campaign to end distracted driving.
