Seniors in the District of Columbia will likely face fewer restrictions when they go to the Department of Motor Vehicles to renew drivers licenses under a bill the Committee on Public Works and the Environment passed unanimously Tuesday.
The bill, introduced in March by Committee Chairman Jim Graham, D-Ward 1, seeks to remove a provision in DMV regulations that allowed the agency to give written and driving tests to seniors once they reach age 75. Graham considers the policy discriminatory and said it poses a “major burden” on older drivers.
The regulation has been on the books since 1973 but such a policy was not enforced until last May, DMV Acting Director Lucinda Babers said in an April 30 public hearing. She cited a 2004 International Risk Management Institute report that said drivers age 65 or older have higher death rates per crash per mile driven than any age group except teenagers.
“We finally decided to do our part to support our mission of serving as a public safety agency,” Babers said.
New Hampshire and Illinois are the only states that require similar testing of senior drivers.
The Examiner could not reach her Tuesday.
The Automobile Association of America have said they support the bill. It has also received the support of nine D.C. Council members, including Mary Cheh, D-Ward 3, and Kwame Brown, D-at large, who serve on the committee. A vote on the bill has not been scheduled.
The bill would not remove provisions in DMV law that require medical and visual screenings of senior drivers, “all of which will help identify unsafe drivers,” Graham said.
Tuesday’s vote may mean Giuseppe Morra, 80, can stop studying for the 135 question written exam he expected to take around his birthday in August.
Morra, of Northwest, depends on his convertible Toyota daily to get tothe market and to visit friends. He said his record is “reasonably spotless.”
“This is such good news,” Morra said.
