Time to re-test NJ drivers for driving privileges

It's serious. The incident of an elderly driver backing out into her neighbors house could've been much worse. We've all heard about incidents over the years involving elderly drivers and often the call goes out to retest drivers at a certain age. It's not enough to have a policy that reacts to an incident as they have in New York.

The issue is that according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the risks of injury and even death while driving increase with age. Fatal crash statistics increase when drivers attain the age of 70 with the highest risk group being 85 and older. With statistics like this why is there very little in the way of even a conversation about mandatory retesting?

This is not an issue of age discrimination, it's a simple issue of highway safety based on ability. I've discussed at length the issue of New Jersey needing to do a much better job at training new drivers. My thought is that all new drivers should be taught how to drive a manual transmission and face distractions during the driver's test to prove their road-worthiness. The same should apply to older drivers. If the CDC number show the risk increasing beginning at age 70 then why not institute a retest starting at 70 and go every five years until age 85? Then every other year, if not every year?

The problem in New Jersey is that we have a legislature filled with politician accountable to special interests instead of constituents. they also have the collective backbone of a jellyfish on the Jersey Shore. So here's an easy solution. Put it to a vote as a ballot question. The polls in Trenton are fond of punting responsibility to the voters on so many issues, why not one that involves basic roadway safety?