Should New Jersey drivers be retested once they reach a certain age?
September alone saw several accidents involving drivers over 85, three of them in Ocean County, and two of them, deadly.
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September alone saw several accidents involving drivers over 85 - three of them in Ocean County, and two of them were deadly.
On Sept. 19th, a 93-year-old driver in Lavallette stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake while trying to park, crashing into a restaurant killing a customer. Two days ago in Brick, police say 97-year-old driver Frank Pugliesi died when he crossed the center line on Drum Point Road and crashed. In Manchester, an 86-year-old was rescued from a pond after he hit the gas instead of the brake.
These are just a few of the incidents that had News 12 asking people outside the MVC in Brick Township if drivers should be retested at a certain age.
“My mother just passed away she was 97. We took her license away at like she was 82," said Debbie Murasky, of Brick Township.
Murasky is all for retesting after seeing the signs from her mother.
“The way she was parking. And she got confused once and called me to come up to Stop & Shop. She said her car broke down but it wasn’t, she had it in neutral. She didn't have it in drive," said Murasky.
Corinne Harris, another customer of the MVC, said everyone should be retested. She recounted an accident while working at a Dunkin' Donuts.
“I had a lady an elderly lady and she thought she was hitting the brake and she hit the gas and came right through our doors," she said.
The New Jersey MVC does have a way to address this issue with it’s Medical Review Unit. It will evaluate a driver and that person's license, if referred by a family member, police, doctor, or a judge if there’s a safety concern.
The MVC says people can look for signs. For instance, is someone driving too slowly? Are they having trouble reading signs? Are there unexplained dents on their car or multiple accidents?
The AAA weighed in on the topic.
“We are against automatic age restrictions, automatic re-testing based on age. Because is does not necessarily follow that somebody loses their skills and abilities to operate an automobile once they hit a certain age," says Robert Sinclair Jr., with AAA Northeast.
