Should There Be An Age Cap On the Oklahoma Driver’s License?

While the premise to make aging Oklahomans retake their driver's license exams as they grow into their golden years sounds like the angst of youthful first-world problems, it's a common subject that has come up more than a few times in the last few weeks.

I have younger coworkers who lay the blame for being late to work on slower, elderly drivers... and as an Oklahoma motorist myself, I know sometimes traffic doesn't flow fast enough, but this issue didn't take form until a wild phone call from my Boomer parents.

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They had been in Tulsa for the day and the road home is a small, dangerous two-lane highway that meanders for 90 miles through nowhere—two small towns with stop signs instead of lights, but otherwise nothing but open road. During a call from my mother--who was the passenger that day--mid-sentence, she starts panicking because my aging father picked up his phone to check a text while apparently passing someone else on a hill.

You and I both know that's a cardinal sin on Oklahoma's two-lane highways.

Mom rushed me off the phone in her panic insisting she'd call me back, but I didn't hear from her for a couple of hours. It gave me time to think "Should they still be driving?"

The Sibling Responsibilities.

You may or may not be old enough to have had this conversation with your siblings or parents yet, but there comes a time in everyone's life when hard decisions have to be made.

My eldest sister is responsible for the finances and such for my parents. As the wealthy sibling, she's good with money. Our middle sister is responsible for their healthcare decisions since she's a nurse. I'm left with the "when it's time" decisions. You know, when it's time to take away car keys, firearms, life support, etc... because I'm the "cold and decisive" logical thinker of us all.

Thanks for that responsibility, Mom.

This few moments of panicked driving and the retelling of the story throughout the weekend opened a dialogue about driving and our states aging population.

I've actually been privy to a few of these conversations over the years. If you spend enough time in small-town coffee shops, the most common reply to this type of talk is

"I've been driving longer than you've been alive..."

And while that's fair and true, driving is sort of like riding a bicycle. We never forget how, but we all eventually lose the ability to do so. If you'd been on a bike recently, odds are you'd agree.

Oddly enough, aging drivers are starting to resemble teen drivers more and more. As the elderly are begrudgingly accepting all of the new technologies that are being forced upon us all--smartphones, smart vehicles, infotainment centers, etc--elderly drivers tend to be just as distracted from the road as young drivers.

Even worse, because they've been driving for so long, elderly drivers are even less likely to admit they're being distracted behind the wheel. And while I think we can agree that younger drivers probably have the ability to give a quick glance without too much risk, that's just not the reality of how peeking at a cell phone works for older drivers.

What is the solution?

Perhaps there should be a point in time when license renewal involves more than just asking for it at the tag agency. Perhaps a renewal should come with another quick practical driving examination to ensure the ability is still there. Not only for the safety of our aging population but for the security of everyone else on the road with them.