Persuasive Essay On Elderly Drivers

Elderly drivers should be required to reapply for their driving licenses, because the issues that can come with age has the potential to affect their driving skills. Old age can cause many health issues such as weakened eye sight and loss of hearing. Even more, the medications that they may take, can impair their driving abilities even more. As drivers increase in age, their cognitive functioning, their ability to reason and remember, begins to decline. According to the CDC, elderly drivers are at an increased risk for fatal crashes. Elderly drivers may not always be in the best position to drive, and reapplying for their licenses will show who has the ability to be a safe driver for themselves and others.
Furthermore, they should be required to retest for their licenses because, there has to be a knowledge of them being able to fully understand the rules of the road in order to keep themselves safe …show more content…
It should be discussed with the drivers that it is their safety as well as other drivers. Elderly drivers should know that some of their medical conditions may be hazardous if they are choosing to drive. For example, Alzheimer’s can impair their memory and judgment and cause them to forget where they were going. Another example, diabetes can increase the risk of falling into a coma while driving. Granted that, not all elderly drivers do not have medical conditions that could cause concern about their driving abilities; they still should be retest since medical conditions have the ability to change quickly. In all, the requirement that elderly drivers should reapply for their license, is just a safety precaution. There is no discrimination against them because they are older, it is just the fact that with old age health decrease and the body gets weaker; and driving might not be the be option for them in order to keep them