Wheels of Necessity

Last week’s tragic accident in California, in which an elderly man drove his car into a farmer’s market, killing 10 and injuring dozens, predictably renewed calls to get some older drivers off the road. While periodic tests of seniors’ road skills may make sense, they are useless without substantial alternatives to cars for seniors to get from one place to another.

In rural Maine, a car is a necessity if anyone, young or old, hopes to get to the grocery store, doctor’s office or a restaurant. Take away a senior’s car in Holden or Houlton and you might as well bar his or her door.

The push to limit seniors’ driving in based on statistics. Outside of teen-age drivers, older people are the most likely to be involved in accidents, especially fatal ones because they often are less able to survive their injuries. Drivers over 70 make up 10 percent of the country’s driving population, but they accounted for 13 percent of traffic fatalities in 2001. Between 1991 and 2001, traffic fatalities involving people 70 and older jumped by 24 percent nationwide, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration statistics.

These numbers pale compared with those for the youngest drivers, however. In Maine, although 15- to 24-year-olds compose 12.5 percent of all licensed drivers, they are involved in 25 percent of vehicle fatalities and 30 percent of all injuries. That’s why the Legislature earlier this year easily passed a new three-tiered licensing system for those under 18.

So, the logic goes, putting restrictions on older drivers will also improve the statistics on their accident rates. Some seniors wisely put the onus on themselves, realizing that the gestures from other drivers aren’t friendly waves and that another fender bender could have been a much more serious accident. Others do not, and with good reason. As has often been said, giving up one’s car keys is akin to giving up one’s freedom. In rural Maine, this is true. Without public transportation, except in the state’s largest cities, driving a car is almost always the only way to get around.

If state lawmakers are serious about improving safety on the roads, they must first offer alternative ways to travel. They might then find the problem has taken care of itself.