Why is driver’s ed not a required high school class in the US? 99.9999% of people will get a driver’s license because you are screwed without one. Also bring back the Highway Of Agony movies

You know, this is a systemic issue, not a “stupid politicians being stupid” issue.

You’ve got a population of seniors, people who are getting older and losing their physical mobility, who are less able to walk or bicycle or take public transit than younger and healthier people are - many of whom live in car-dependent subdivisions or in areas with poor public transit, like, say, rural Illinois.

These are people who rely on their cars for grocery shopping and medical appointments and socializing.

These are people, often on fixed incomes, often close to the poverty line, who struggle to afford the fees for rideshares or grocery deliveries.

And you can say “if they can’t pass the test they’re not safe to be on the road” - but from the article:

According to the Illinois Department of Transportation, in 2023 the crash rate for drivers 75 years and older in Illinois was lower than any other age group of legal drivers.

This bill is not about leaving unsafe drivers on the road - it’s about not adding unwarranted scrutiny and not making it harder for an especially car-dependent group of people to continue driving.

And it adds a provision that lets a senior’s family members report them if they believe the senior is no longer safe to drive.

This bill is a response to seniors who are genuinely frightened of losing their right to drive and becoming unable to meet their basic needs - and they have a right to be frightened of that, because we’ve built a system where a lot of people can’t meet their basic needs without driving.

In other words, if you build a system that makes driving necessary, you can’t really blame people for not wanting to lose the right to drive.

It makes sense if the lawmakers in question are close to 79 years old and are afraid they would not pass the upcoming test they have to take.

It should be as low as 50, and repeat each decade

When I got my license I thought it was stupid that we didn’t have to retake the road test ever again.
At least every 10 years, 5 sounds reasonable to me.

Mental and physical health can degrade at any time, driving tests should be every 5 years for everyone.

Also would be good just to keep people up to date in changing road rules too.

Meanwhile, here in California seniors are never required to re-take the driving exam unless the DMV was notified by a doctor of a medical issue.

Sounds like they want meemaw and peepaw driving their own hearse

Pretty smart…if your sole aim is to decrease the workload of the people that have to process these tests.

With the imminent Medicare cuts and the resulting drop in life expectancy, raising the age will probably reduce the number of cases to like 2 every year.

It’s stupid for everyone but the politicians. This looks good to the most reliable voting bloc, and is dangerous to everyone.

An elderly relative of mine started getting tickets in the mail for running red lights. She apparently just forgot that you couldn’t turn left on a red light. It’s a miracle she never hit anyone.

Should be reduced to 69 for the humor value alone.