When is it time to give up the keys?

More older drivers are on the road, and they face a hodgepodge of state licensing rules that reflect scientific uncertainty and public angst over a growing question: How can we tell if it’s time to give up the keys? (AP Photo)

With more older drivers are on the road than ever before, many are asking when or if it’s time to give up the keys.

An Associated Press review found older drivers face a hodgepodge of state licensing rules that reflect scientific uncertainty and public angst over the growing question.

“I know that one of the toughest things we had to do was finally tell my dad he couldn’t drive anymore because he was having trouble keeping it in the lane,” says KIRO Radio’s Dave Ross.

Ross says his aging mother is preparing to give up driving as well in the near future.

The issue attracted new attention when a 100-year-old driver backed over a group of schoolchildren in Los Angeles late last month. That’s a rarity, but with an imminent surge in senior drivers, the federal government is proposing that all states take steps to address what the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration calls “the real and growing problem of older driver safety.”

There’s no easy answer. Ross argues setting an arbitrary age isn’t necessarily the answer.

“If you just have a blanket age cutoff just because of the number of years you’ve been on this earth whether you’re a good driver or not, that seems to be unfair. But it is undeniable the older you get the worse your reflexes get,” Ross says.

Thirty states, plus the District of Columbia, have some sort of older-age requirement for driver’s licenses, ranging from more vision testing to making seniors renew their licenses more frequently than younger people. At what age? That’s literally all over the map. Maryland starts eye exams at 40. Shorter license renewals kick in anywhere from age 59 in Georgia to 85 in Texas.

In Washington, licenses are renewed every five years. Starting at age 65, drivers must renew in person instead of online.

Producer Andrew Walsh advocates driving tests for all older drivers after a certain age.

“Can you drive this car between the cones, can you parallel park this 1983 Oldsmobile Cutless Supreme that you’re still driving. And if you can and you prove that you can react quickly to different situations that your driving instructor throws at you, then good on you,” Walsh says.

Some states do require a drivers test if someone reports a potentially unsafe driver, but like all the other rules it varies from state to state.

And a few states, including California, require that doctors report certain medical conditions that could impact driving ability.

“It would be nice if everyone did the responsible thing and when they felt less comfortable driving they just gave it up,” says Ross.

The Associated Press contributed to this report