While We Are Waiting...

... for the Cubs' season to resume tonight at Florida, I had a couple of comments about the car accident at the farmer's market in Santa Monica, CA the other day.

Did you know that in Illinois, there are very strict regulations as to how drivers 70 and over can retain their licenses? That's a good idea, and do you know why that law was passed? Because several years ago, a driver in his late 80's lost control of his car at O'Hare Airport and three people were killed.

They tried to pass such a law in California and the AARP lobbied against it, causing it to be watered down and worthless.

In the link above, the AARP spokesperson says: "The things AARP has been opposed to is arbitrary testing based on age. Everyone's an individual, and folks who are older tend to be in better health these days."

While that is true, what's wrong with such testing? Statistics prove that both teenage drivers and those over 75 are involved in the most accidents. Teenagers in many states must put up with restrictions on their driving. Why shouldn't older people? If they are competent drivers they won't have any problem passing the test. If they're no longer competent, they should just quit driving, as did the 80-year-old mother of Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schmich (Tribune requires free registration).

I'll bet the state of California gets a driver-testing law passed now. Too bad ten people had to die to prove this point.