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Safe Roads Now, a group of several organizations and individuals, is urging Bay State lawmakers to act on road safety and driver retesting. The group—including AARP Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Association of Councils on Aging and Senior Center Directors, and Elizabeth Dugan, Ph.D., author of "The Driving Dilemma: The Complete Resource Guide for Older Drivers and Their Families"—specifically proposes to expand on Senate Bill No. 2043, An Act Relative to Driver Impairment, which establishes a commission to address the broad issues of road safety.

Ability, Not Age
Spurred to action by legislative proposals aimed solely at age-based driver retesting, Safe Roads Now believes such a narrow focus will result in costly changes that will do little to improve safety. “We urge policy leaders to address the issues of road safety and driver retesting—in a careful, comprehensive, and timely way,” said Deborah Banda, AARP Massachusetts state director.

Changing the System
“The current system for driver renewal and testing is antiquated in that it is not designed to evaluate a driver’s functional ability and does not account for the gains in human longevity,” said Elizabeth Dugan, Ph.D.

In Massachusetts, at five year intervals, drivers may renew licenses by phone, mail or online without any testing; at ten year intervals, drivers must renew in person at the Registry of Motor Vehicles and pass a vision test.

An Act Relative to Driver Impairment
In letters to Governor Deval Patrick, Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, Senate President Therese Murray, and Chairs of the Joint Committee on Transportation, Senator Steven Baddour and Representative Joseph Wagner, Safe Roads Now says, “We believe that none of the bills currently pending before the Massachusetts legislature goes far enough to address this issue in a comprehensive manner. Ideally, we would like to see a new law in place that truly corrects deficiencies in the current system.
 
“We propose to expand upon the framework outlined in Senate Bill No. 2043, An Act Relative to Driver Impairment. A clearly defined timeline and specific areas to address must be incorporated into a redrafted version.”

These areas include:

• Evaluate testing methods that focus on a driver’s functional ability and detect functional impairments.
• Review state license renewal processes that have been updated recently, such as California and Maryland.
• Define programs in addition to those offered by the Registry of Motor Vehicles to identify unsafe drivers such as existing efforts by law enforcement and opportunities with Councils on Aging and senior centers.

Safe Roads Now Members
AAA Southern New England

AARP Massachusetts

Alzheimer’s Association
Massachusetts/New Hampshire Chapter

Massachusetts Association of Councils on Aging and Senior Center Directors

Jon Bailey, TRIAD Officer
Waltham Police

Juergen Bludau, MD

Elizabeth Dugan, PhD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
University of Massachusetts Medical School

Lissa Kapust
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Drive Wise Program

Massachusetts Chiefs of Police
Association, Inc.

Massachusetts Medical Society

Massachusetts Silver Legislature

Margaret O’Connor
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Drive Wise Program

Elin Schold-Davis, Coordinator
Older Driver Initiative
American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.

Nina M. Silverstein, PhD
Professor of Gerontology
University of Massachusetts Boston

Robert Stern, PhD
Associate Professor of Neurology
Boston University School of Medicine

Senior Mobility Initiative on Cape Cod

Learn More and Share Your Thoughts
Visit the AARP Massachusetts community page for updates on the bill, and share your thoughts on road safety and driver retesting in the journal section.  

Related Articles
AARP Driver Safety
http://www.aarp.org/families/driver_safety/

AARP Massachusetts Community Page
http://www.aarp.org/community/AARPMA