AARP backs elderly driver vision tests
TALLAHASSEE, Florida (AP) -- Florida's AARP has reversed course and is backing mandatory eye tests for drivers 80 and older.
"I'm stunned," said state Sen. Steve Wise, a sponsor of the bill. "When they said that, it just changed the whole dynamic."
The bill would require vision tests when the drivers apply to renew their licenses. The legislation is aimed at getting people off the road once they can no longer drive safely.
AARP Florida, which represents more than 2.6 million residents over age 50 in retiree-rich Florida, opposed similar measures in past years. But this time, AARP got legislators to insert a provision to study ways of providing transportation for people who cannot drive anymore.
"For the first time in Florida, we've gotten together with the sponsors and figured out a way that we can work together on the big picture," said Lyn Bodiford, AARP Florida's state affairs coordinator.
Florida has 645,500 licensed drivers over the age of 80, according to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles said.
Wise said some elderly drivers are a threat to themselves and others on the road. He said his father-in-law, who is in his 80s, was involved in four accidents in one summer, and one of his aunts got lost while driving to a store three miles away.
Legislators have been trying to pass the measure for several years, but some called it the "suicide bill" because it was considered political suicide to vote for it in a place like Florida.
Even with the new support, Wise rated the chances of passage at 50-50. But without the endorsement, he said, it would have been a "negative 4" on a scale of 1 to 10.
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