Jun 30, 2009 3:44 pm US/Eastern
Emotional Testimony At Elderly Drivers Hearing
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
-
-
Police reconstructed the crash and tested the brakes of this Toyota Camry after it hit a little girl just blocks from downtown Stoughton.
Karen Anderson/WBZ
Grieving relatives of a 4-year-old girl killed by an elderly driver took center stage on Beacon Hill Tuesday. The issue: should older drivers be re-tested?
Tuesday's meeting comes after a string of recent accidents involving elderly drivers. Nayan Patel, the uncle of the little girl, spoke out, and he didn't mince words. He thanked everyone for their condolences, but said condolences only go so far. He said his family is looking for action.
"It's one thing to sit in a room and discuss this. It's totally another to actually close the lid on the coffin," these strong words from Patel, the uncle of 4-year-old Diya Patel, who was killed two weeks ago while crossing a street in Stoughton.
Tuesday the joint committee on transportation heard testimony on several bills to test or restrict elderly drivers. Patel urged action, "I want and think all Massachusetts residents want people who can actually do something about this to look us in the eye and tell us 'we're going to do everything we can to make sure this doesn't happen again.'"
The Stoughton tragedy was one of a handful of crashes recently involving elderly drivers. Now, the push is on to road-test elderly drivers or flag those who've been in multiple accidents.
WILL TESTING SOLVE THE ISSUE?
Advocates for the elderly say the issue may not be solved with testing.
"Everyone seems to understand road-testing the elderly, that's something you don't need a PHD in public policy to understand. The facts are there is no evidence that it will reduce fatalities, and that's what we're trying to do," says Elizabeth Dugan of Safe Roads Now.
Safe Roads Now is a coalition representing AARP, Law Enforcement and medical officials. This Coalition is getting behind another bill, which would encourage doctors to report impaired drivers regardless of their age.
Meanwhile the co chairs of the transportation committee promised Nayan Patel that they would do something, that they would have some piece of legislation passed.
There are several versions of this kind of bill. Some say the current age being proposed -- 85 -- is too high. The number came out of Senator Brian Joyce's bill, which has been in the legislature for several years before any of the accidents happened. In it, drivers 85 years and older would need to be road-tested and given vision tests when they renew their licenses.
Because of the recent accidents, other lawmakers are calling for stronger, tougher restrictions requiring younger drivers at 70 to 75 to be tested.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Reporting
Comments