Older automobile drivers are spotted everywhere!  Blink and you’ll miss them. Cuss and they’re on your back bumper.  Yet, lest we forget, younger drivers also can be hazardous to one’s health and mindset.  It would be another story about young drivers in Tennessee.  A little empathy would go a long way in both circumstances.

I’m now 69-years-old – a bon-a-fide senior citizen and I digress!  My sister and partner-in-crime is Lucy Foutch.  When our parents were in their late 60s, we thought they were “knocking on heaven’s door!”  As a toddler, my favorite automobile seat was standing next to Honey (Dad) as he drove the black Buick car anywhere there was pavement.

Drivers’ age 65 and older may experience some age-related driving concerns.  For clarity, in Tennessee there is no law preventing seniors of any biological age from driving a registered vehicle.  For clarity, a person has to be age 17 to obtain his/her driver’s license and age 14 for a driver’s permit or a handicapped license.  Talk about age differentiation from age 14 to age 90 equals 76 years of driving legal.

 Tennesseans can operate a motor vehicle from ages 14 – death.  Makes one question the Tennessee Department of Transportation’s rules and regulation. There is just something disheartening about passing a 14-year-old or a 90-year-old automobile driver.

The 2020 State of Aging in DeKalb County has been released by the Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability.  Several of the increments include and not in any particular order.  The totals are based on persons age 65 and older while persons under age 14 would require another newspaper article:

·      Current population – 3,961; estimated in 2010, seniors 5,017 and population 23%

·       Medicare enrollment – 3,564

·      Difficulty walking – 24%

·      Households without a car – 6%

·      Grandparents rearing children – 283

·      Property tax relief – 337

·      Veterans – 19%

·      Federal poverty level – 100%

·      Four or more chronic conditions – 39%

·      Live alone – 23%

There are now more than 45 million licensed drivers aged 65 or over according to the latest five-year highway statistics report from the U. S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Commission (FHWA).  To put into perspective, 1 out of every 5 drivers are driving the roads in this age group. Ironically, the number of senior drivers has increased by 69 %.  That is an annual average increase of over 3.5 % more seniors driving on the nation’s roads.

On another note, West Virginia has the greatest number of senior drivers with more than 27 % of the state’s licensed drivers over the age of 65.  According to finder.com, “This may be attributed to a rise in its senior population, which translates to more senior drivers on the roads.”  Continuing, Utah has the lowest percentage of senior drivers with only 15 % of licensed drivers over the age of 65, referencing the FHWA.  This small percentage indicates the lower number of persons age 65 and older overall living in Utah.  Although not a state, (a district), Washington, DC holds a lower percentage of senior drivers than Utah with only 14 percent of licensed drivers age 65 and older.

In 2018, more than 8,100 adults aged 65 and older were killed in motor vehicle accidents.  Those persons aged 65 and older had a vehicular death rate of 15.52 per 100,000 persons.  Seniors, age 80 and older, had the highest death rate at 20.21, which is nearly 77% higher than the national average of 12.13.  Those persons younger than age 65 had a much lower death rate of 11.48 per 100,000 persons.  The final result means that 22 seniors died in car crashes every day while 580 persons were injured. 

READ MY LIPS!    82 percent of the men and 52 percent of the women today (2024) are driving a motor vehicle in the United States.

Explanatorily, seniors are more at risk of injury and it’s harder for them to recover after being injured in an accident.  Age-related changes to vision, memory or decision-making may affect driving skills or the quick reaction needed to prevent a crash.  As a person ages, joints and muscles become stiffer and weaker, making it hard to drive, such as turning your head quickly or maneuvering the steering wheel.  Not to mention an elderly person’s mental abilities have dimmed with age.  The largest number of motor vehicle deaths in 2018 were in ages 85 and above.  And interestingly, regardless of the age group, men were shown to have a higher death rate than women – more than twice as many.

There is good news for the elderly drivers:  Motor vehicle death rates in the U. S. are steadily dropping.  There are now 45 million seniors licensed to drive.  Today, Oklahoma is the deadliest state for seniors at 24.7% of 100,000 seniors.  On the flipside, the safest state for senior drivers is Rhode Island with a death rate of 6.6 % of 100,000 drivers.  Regarding car insurance, drivers between ages 26-56 get the best rates.  The older you become, the higher your vehicle insurance rate.  Persons over age 80 can’t find affordable coverage rates.  And, it's much like death.  It’s a part of your life until the end.  Dad always said he was “insurance poor!”

The Tennessee Department of Safety just issued the following safety tips for older drivers.  They include:

·      Avoid visual decline by having your annual eye exam.  Vision changes as you age.  Don’t forget cataracts!

·      Know how medications affect driving.  Ask your doctor or pharmacist.  Discuss your findings with your physician.

·      Exercise to stay fit and be in excellent shape to drive any automobile.  The local county complex offers several exercise programs for varying age groups.

While writing this article, my memory flashed-back to Mom.  When she was driving behind a slower driver, going around 35 miles per hour, she would pass the vehicle and then intestinally slow down.  Probably made her feel good.  Maybe that’s why she taught my sister, Lucy and me how to drive an automobile and always to slow down when driving through Watertown, Tennessee.

We did slow down but, somehow, Lucy got a ticket anyway.