If you love an elderly driver have them take this test (Opinion)

Once again making news is an elderly driver who could have killed themselves or an innocent person. An 87-year-old woman backed her car out of a space outside a Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Parsippany and struck another car, according to police. Then she moved forward at an unsafe speed, went over a curb, through landscaping and straight through a window ending up fully inside the restaurant, police say.

Meanwhile, New Jersey remains one of the states that does absolutely nothing to keep older drivers safe through more rigid testing or renewal procedures. We’ve certainly done a lot at the other end of the age scale. Teenage drivers in the Garden State have some of the strictest requirements to become fully licensed. Since the politicians here are too cowardly to risk the elderly vote and do their jobs, if you love an elderly driver in your family you may want to see this.

This link takes you to a AAA self-test 15 questions long to get a feel for whether driving is getting too dangerous. You should probably sit with your loved one to be sure they’re being honest with themselves and to score it properly. If it indicates they shouldn’t be driving, you can always talk to their doctor about filling out an official form to bring to the state. It’s an awkward conversation, but this test will make it more impersonal and deflect some of the hard feelings away from you.

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