Are Senior Citizens The Highest Cause for Auto Accidents?

It seems lately that all you see on the news is a story of another senior citizen being involved in an automobile incident. This seems to be a very controversial subject due to the different demographics being questioned on this matter. Most people under the age of 50 will probably agree that senior citizens should be re-tested for their license, which would involve some type of road test. However, people over the age of 50 might have a different point of view on the matter. A lot of senior citizens who may be perfect drivers are terrified of losing their licenses due to those who are driving and probably shouldn't be.

Are senior citizens the only ones to blame, or are they just being pin pointed on the news?

There are a lot of people at fault for automobile accidents, road rage, DUI's, hitting pedestrians, and driving through structures. I actually believe that instead of focusing so much on a certain age for senior citizens to be re-tested for their license, that everyone should be tested at least every 10 years. Who's to say a person that was 16 years old when they received their driver’s license 10 years ago, hasn't developed a driving impairment in the past few years? This person may have worse eye sight then any 60 year old, and could ultimately be the cause of a serious accident for not taking the proper precautions in making themselves a safe driver. On the same lines, having more and more drivers taking the risk of that midnight drive home after having a few drinks isn’t any better than the accidents senior citizens having been causing.

According to statistics in the US, there have been "12,998 drunk drivers in automobile accidents in one year" (www.marylandaccidentlawblog.com), and in the same period of time "there were 7,269 people 65 years and older that died in a car accident collision. Half of those crashes were between intersections that resulted in a fatality involved elderly drivers with an age greater than 80." (www.caraccidentattorneys.com). Therefore, there are more drunk driver-related accidents then senior citizen related accidents. The focus of elderly drivers is warranted, but seeing as the there is a larger number of accidents caused from drunk drivers; reports should be giving an overall view of what's really going on. We should be focusing on putting a stop to all aspects of caused accidents.

With the everyday changes of life and the fact that one person's reaction time, driving skill and ability to think as quickly as the day before ,will change often, we should all be tested every 10 years or so. Being tested often will ensure that we are up to par on our driving skills. Who's to say we aren't just as much a threat as those who are being blamed?

In order to lower the accident rate in the US, law enforcers should be taking more notice on those who are running red lights, failure to stop at stop signs or crosswalks, tailgating, and not merging into traffic. These are the top causes of accidents along with driving under the influence. If the law enforcement came down more strictly on these faulty areas, people might get the hint and start driving by the rules. Until this happens, people will continue to drive with the thought that it is their right rather than a privilege.