It's too easy for elderly to get driver's licenses

The Washington Post and other media in the Washington region frequently report auto accidents involving elderly drivers. There was another one Tuesday in which three people standing near a bus stop were hurt - one seriously - when a 79-year-old woman lost control of her car, which jumped a curb in Northeast Washington.

Such sad stories remind me that I have two milestones approaching: I'm about to turn 78, and my driver's license is about to expire.

Not to worry: Maryland's Motor Vehicles Administration has already sent me the necessary forms for renewing my license by mail. All I need is a note from my friendly ophthalmologist saying that my eyesight is okay, and I'll get a license good for eight years.

Think about that. Eight years. I don't have to show up at an MVA office. I don't have to undergo a physical or mental exam, much less a driving test. And I'll be good to go until age 86.

According to the Alzheimer's Association, nearly half of people older than 85 have Alzheimer's disease. I finish Sunday crossword each week (okay, my wife helps), so I suppose I'm not seriously cognitively impaired yet.

But what about eight years from now? My ophthalmologist says that my eyesight is good now, but I'll likely need cataract surgery in less than eight years. I play tennis several times a week, and my reaction time seems fine to me, but it is surely slowing. Just ask my partners.

I certainly hope I'll still be fit to drive eight years from now. But the Maryland MVA doesn't even know if I'm fit now. It clearly can't know whether I will be in 2021.

Unfortunately, neither Maryland nor Virginia does so. In the District of Columbia, to get an eight-year renewal after age 70, applicants must get a doctor's statement saying that they are mentally and physically competent to drive. Eight years is still risky, in my view.

It wouldn't be much of a hardship for me to visit an MVA office every two years or so to get a new license, even if the prospect of a test forced me to study the rule book again or I had to demonstrate anew my considerable skills at parallel parking. But that's not required. Why not?