D.C. Council Member Jim Graham, D-Ward 1, thinks the Department of Motor Vehiclesis unfairly targeting drivers age 75 or older with a law forcing them to submit to road and written tests in order to renew their licenses.
A bill introduced by Graham in Tuesday’s meeting of the Committee of the Whole would amend a 34-year-old provision in District law that allows the Department to test people 75 or older. It was not enforced until May, Graham said.
AAA estimates the bill could affect as many as 13,000 to 16,000 drivers in the District.
“This is really aimed at the road test,” Graham said. “There’s only two other states, Illinois and New Hampshire, that require road tests. When you impose a regulatory requirement, particularly one that is as burdensome as this one is, you have to have justification. It has to be something more than a hunch.”
Current law “threatens [seniors] ability to live independently,” Graham said.
Graham’s bill would not affect another District provision that requires drivers 70 or older pass eye and reaction tests and provide medical certification of mental and physical competency.
AARP Director for Livable Communities Elinor Ginzler called the bill an opportunity for the District to review how to most effectively screen not only seniors, but all residents who drive. The organization represents and lobbies on behalf or more than 35 million people over age 50.
“We really appreciate the council member for really opening an important conversation about driver safety in the District of Columbia,” Ginzler said.
AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesman John Townsend testified on behalf of Graham’s bill earlier this month. The association believes that any age-based testing is discriminatory, he said.
Evidence shows that “there’s no compelling, overarching reason to test people based on age,” Townsend said.
