Illinois legislator pushes to end ‘ageist’ mandatory driving tests for
seniors
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 [April 17, 2024]
By Catrina Petersen | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – State Rep. Jeff Keicher and AARP are looking to
approve House Bill 4431, which would impact driving tests for those 75
or older.
Illinois is the only state in the nation that requires drivers 75 and
older to retake a driving test as a condition of renewing their driver’s
license. Keicher’s legislation would end this practice. Keicher said
contrary to what some folks may think, drivers aged 75 and older are not
more crash-prone than younger drivers.
"If you’ve had an accident, if you’ve had a ticket, those should be
triggers at any age,” said Keicher. “They shouldn’t be based on when you
turn 75 or 80. These should be things that are based on the condition of
the individual driver and not a holistic policy. The removal of the
mandatory test for those over the age of 75 is a critical piece of
telling Illinoisans that we want them here."
According to Keicher, the Illinois Secretary of State’s office is
neutral on the bill and they’ll honor whatever the legislature decides.
He said it is past time to fix the hurdle put in front of seniors in
Illinois.
Ryan Gruenenfelder, senior director of advocacy and outreach at Illinois
AARP, said it’s not enough that the Secretary of State changed the age
requirement.
"As a result of that study, Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias raised
the minimum age to take a driver’s test from 75 to 79,” said
Gruenenfelder. “The AARP commends that change but we need more. It’s
time for Illinois to join the other 49 states to entirely remove age as
a factor and align evidence-based practices focusing on functional
abilities rather than age.”
A September 2023 report released by the Illinois Secretary of State
titled "Study on Age-Related Driving Abilities" revealed that senior
drivers are the safest drivers in Illinois.
Illinois Department of Transportation data revealed seniors from 2018 to
2022 experienced lower crash rates when compared to nearly every other
age group.
Keicher’s bill does get rid of the requirement where drivers 75 and
older have to retake a driving test as a condition of renewing their
driver’s license. However, the bill doesn’t address non-age factors that
could trigger a non-renewal of a license.
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Illinois state Rep. Jeff Keicher, R-Sycamore, during a news
conference in Springfield.
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"It simply removes the behind the wheel driver’s test when you renew
your license. It doesn’t address other issues that we need to come back
and address at a later time. Issues like physical, mental capacity,
tickets, accidents and some of those other triggers that I spoke about,
that’s not included in this bill,” said Keicher. “Those would be a
separate follow-up issue. We just wanted to make a distinction between
this ageist policy and what needs to happen on the other side.”
The bill amends the Illinois Vehicle Code for those 75 and older to
remove the requirement for “an actual demonstration of the applicant’s
ability to exercise ordinary and reasonable control of the operation of
a motor vehicle.” Keicher said opponents fall into the stereotypes.
"If we included and were able to incorporate, in a follow-up bill, those
triggers like physical issues, mental capacity diminishment, tickets or
accidents, we’re then in a much better place. We arguably put Illinois
at the forefront of safe driving on our roads because we are actually
being attentive to the problem areas, regardless of age, instead of just
when you have a birthday,” said Keicher.
Keicher said he’s run into opponents who have experienced an accident
involving an older driver.
“That person was licensed at the time the accident happened,” said
Keicher. “So this [bill] doesn’t do anything to stop that from
happening.”
A report from 2021, the most recent year of data from the National
Safety Council, says drivers 75 and older were involved in only 3,263
fatal crashes, which is 1,500 fewer than the next closest age bracket
and dramatically less than the 13,200 fatal crashes involving drivers
aged 25 to 34, the highest fatal crash prone age bracket.
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