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There are four reasons why the elderly becomes a poor driver. These are the fading age, fading vision, loss in physical alertness, and loss of the reflective power. There have been incidents where an elderly person driving through a marketplace stepped on the gas pedal instead of the brake of the car. By this he mows down several people. Incidents like this have fueled an unprecedented urgency in the matter of driving by the seniors.

Driving capabilities in the elderly people have also been affected by the common old age diseases and acute conditions, such as, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, arthritis, etc. More-over, the medications that they take for such health conditions, also affects the driving skill to a very great extent.

There have been some pressures which have been brought in by the state legislatures, in the wake of the recent profile of accidents. The legislation proposes to stiffen the license renewal requirements of drivers after reaching an age. There are separate attempts through research and development done by the auto manufacturers, where efforts are being made to find a way to make vehicles more senior friendly. As the problems in the driving capability of elders come to the notice of more policy-makers and politicians, government, and not-for-profit agencies some progress has been being made at the community level.