91-year-old driver kills 80-year-old bystander

It's happened again. A nonagenarian has struck and killed an octogenarian and by all accounts it doesn't seem like this needed to happen. At 11:40 in the morning, broad daylight, a 91 year old driver was at the wheel when all of the following occurred, according to Saddle Brook police. Outside a bank, her car jumped a curb. It then hit a pillar so hard it spun the vehicle around. The driver then further accelerated, hitting an 80 year old man and dragging him into a garbage can and then into a second pillar, killing him instantly.

So do more of you Internet trolls want to say dumb things like "Deminski just hates old people" when I raise the public policy issue of a graying population of drivers and what to do to keep them and others safe? Have we completely lost our minds when a significant portion of the population doesn't think to question a 91 year old's capability behind the wheel? Certainly no one in the legislature has the spine to address the issue. Most other states have done something to ensure safety. Illinois has handled the matter best. There a driver must take a road test and eye exam to renew a license starting at age 75. By 81 they must do this every 2 years instead of every 4, and annually by age 87.

Not New Jersey. New Jersey requires absolutely nothing different for a 95 year old to renew a license versus a 55 year old or a 25 year old. Do we really want to be like Arkansas and Alabama in public safety? A gutless legislature that is supposed to be looking out for its citizens is failing miserably.

No one who suggests retesting for elderly drivers hates the elderly. Quite the opposite. Perhaps we're the ones who actually care for them more. Remember, anyone who embraces the common sense behind driver retesting will be subject to it themselves one day. The 80 year old man who died had six grandchildren. How do you look them in the eye and say it makes sense to let a 91 year old keep driving without regard to public safety? It's time New Jersey had this conversation.

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