News

Actions

Seniors may be tested earlier to keep driving privileges in Virginia

Posted at 11:48 PM, Dec 16, 2013
and last updated 2013-12-17 07:20:58-05

A committee set up by state leaders in Richmond recommended drivers start getting tested to make sure they're still fit for the road at 75, five years earlier than current law.

Starting at 80 drivers get tested every eight years.

Jack Cohen has been driving in Norfolk for 74 of his 88 years.

"Couldn't get it in a city, you had to be 16 but you could go out there and get it when you were 14," Cohen said.

The rules may be changing again on Cohen.

The move would be coupled with more regular check ups to the Department of Motor Vehicles and it would be given every five years.

"I don't see any reason for change unless the person has been involved in some type of accident," Cohen said.

June Myers is boarding a bus with her friends at her retirement home on Shore Drive in Virginia Beach.

At 79, she'll be tested for the first time next year. Forcing her slightly younger peers to take it is a move she welcomes.

"I think there needs to be a test," Myers said. "I think they need to test your night vision. I think at 80 or 85 you can drive when it's daylight. It's when it's dark that it's dangerous."

Under the plan, after a driver over 75 gets in an accident, a judge could force them to take a mature driving course.

"I'm going to stop driving when I feel that I'm not capable of doing it properly," Cohen said.