Student’s Name
Student’s Number
Course
Institution
Date
70 Years lOd Drivers Pass An Annual Test For Eyesight For Their Driver’s License
Introduction
Drivers in the State of Minnesota who are over 70 years old must pass an annual test for eyesight and physical ability before they can renew their driver’s license. The old people during the original and renewal must take and pass a vision screening before they can be given a license. Older individuals pass the test they must have at least 20/4 acuity without corrective lenses, with one or both usable eyes, and they must have an eyesight check before issuing of a license because they should have a visual field of about 105 degrees in the horizontal diameter with both one usable eye.
The applicants in Minnesota who meet the standards with the corrective lenses are given corrective restrictions placed on the license they will be given. The old drivers who do not meet the standards of using the Department’s screening device are ordered to complete their vision test based on the examination that is done within six months before the test (Hirschberg et al.,). Also, the eye care specialists are requested to indicate whether the individual vision is adequate to exercise reasoning and proper control of the vehicles, to promote visual and acuity reading in listing all eye diseases, which will aid in justifying restrictions that include but not limited to maximum speed, freeway driving, and daylight driving.
Moreover, the Minnesota rules give restrictions based on the 70-year-old person’s visual performance (Hoover). The applicants who are found with the acuity of 20/50 or less are automatically restricted to their driving area, road type, daylight only driving if the commissioner in charge confirms that the restriction is vital for the safety of the public and the applicant. The speed restrictions for the 70-year-old persons with the acuity of 20/50 are as follows: maximum speed for the applicants is 55 mph; and applicants with 20/60 are restricted to a maximum of 50 mph; while applicants with 20/70 are allowed for a maximum speed of 45mph.
However, if the acuity of the applicant is 20/80 to 20/100, it will be the role of the Driver Evaluation Unit to determine whether to issue the restricted license (Montoro et al.,). Moreover, in Minnesota, two drivers are licensed to drive with a binocular telescope lens. But, applicants who have a corrected acuity of 20/100 or less are not allowed to be licensed. The individuals are known to be receiving aid for the blind, the commissioner receives a justification from a licensed optometrist that the license should cancel, and they have a visual field that is less than 100 degrees. Hence, the applicants, must have a relevant recommendation from their eye care optometrist and pass a DPS road test.
Reasons for eyesight checkups before the issue of Driving license
There are several reasons why 70-year-old drivers should take and pass eyesight before issued a driver’s license in Minnesota. The first reason is public safety. The primary reason for the pass and retesting of the elderly drivers in Minnesota for their licenses is because of the concern for public safety (Morris et al.,). No government in the United States of America can allow people who are unable to drive safely to drive on any public road. Besides, if a person is injured in a vehicle accident in Minnesota, his injuries will be demonstrated as a result of the Department of Motor Vehicles’ failure to retest the 70-year-old drivers, and individuals can even sue for the damages.
Next is because of the driving laws. While many driving laws remain the same for the elderly, changes to legislation do occur. Most of the elderly people do not take any responsibility to keep up the changes. The license renewal process is a good process to ensure that the individuals understand the present rules of the Minnesota roads by undergoing a pass. The step is important for safety considerations for both the elderly and other drivers.
Another important reason is medical conditions. The Minnesota police officer has the right to request the elderly to be retested by the DMV (Ortiz-Peregrina et al.,). If the doctors know the medical conditions of the person, the medical expert has the right to report the fact to the DMV. Neighbors, friends, and family also must disclose concerns about the driving capabilities of a person. The person will be requested to take a retest to determine whether they should be restricted or be kept in good standing or be revoked entirely.
Challenges of 70 years eyesight test for a license in Minnesota
According to Wood in 2020, he argued that the problems with aging have two primary aspects regarding driving, which are safety and mobility (Wood). Hence, the elderly must preserve independent activity and mobility, though cognitive limitations and physical frailty have negative impacts on their safety. Furthermore, there are differential impacts of the medical conditions on the functional abilities that are required for safe driving such as reaction time and hazard perception. Hence, the issue about elderly driving and more specifically fostering safe driving is vital due to the high numbers of elderly people holding a driving license in Minnesota. The elderly driver does not always acknowledge nor agree about the deterioration of their driving abilities, environment struggles with the issues of maintaining freedom and mobility in comparison to the risks they pose to the public and themselves.
Moreover, it is significant to obtain the correct dose between balancing mobility and safety of older drivers, because it is a sensitive and complicated task (Rothe). The mechanism is supported by integrating the use of emerging technologies for improving the 70 years eyesight test behavior with social and policy procedures to control the elderly driving population. Thus, a gruel adjustment of the elderly driving should be promoted and improved by adopting appropriate policies and technology. The innovative thinking that will be relevant to the older people with their driving skills begin to deteriorate and may accompany them throughout their driving process.
Consequently, the use of advanced technologies in eyesight testing will assist in monitoring travel and driver behavior to make the necessary alterations, based on the skills of the persons and restrict them when their driving skills become risky at certain points (Neti). For instance, after eyesight confirmation, technology such as Mobileye can be used to give warnings about headway warning, forward collision warning, pedestrians alerts, and lane-keeping warning. A mobileye gives a valid and reliable evidence technique about any car accident predictions. The technology can be implemented to monitor the capabilities after eyesight pass, to provide the elderly drivers with the ability to recompense for their cognitive decline and can also reduce related cognitive decline.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Eyesight is likely to get worse as individuals get older, sometimes that occurs in the space of 12 months, and in other conditions, it is difficult to notice. The deterioration is part of the natural part of getting old or in other cases is due to medical conditions such as cataracts, macular, diabetic retinopathy, and glaucoma. Such conditions make it difficult sometimes for the elderly to see far ahead, cope with the glare from oncoming headlights at night, or spot objects. The main cause of this is because the elderly in Minnesota are not having eyesight checks. Despite, the risks caused by deteriorating eyesight and the requirement for 70 years persons to self-report to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, the individuals still fail to have regular eye checks.
Therefore, it is recommendable for 70-year-old drivers to have a mandatory eyesight check. Because, as the number of elderly people increases the numbers create problems that are likely to be worse unless action is taken. Currently, in Minnesota, any driver from the age of 70 years has to renew their license annually by taking and passing eyesight checkups, which aims at approving if they are fit to drive because vision checks are compulsory before issuing a driving license.
Work Cited
Hirschberg, Joe, and Jenny Lye. “Impacts of graduated driver licensing regulations.” Accident Analysis & Prevention 139 (2020): 105485.
Hoover, Kalie M. Examining Reaction Time and Compensatory Behaviors and Their Effects on Elderly Drivers: a Systematic Review. Diss. Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 2020.
Montoro, Luis, et al. “VISION AND DRIVING: AN UNDERESTIMATED BUT FUNDAMENTAL RELATIONSHIP FOR PROMOTING ROAD SAFETY WORLDWIDE.”
Morris, Nichole L., et al. “Older driver support system (ODSS) usability and design investigation.” (2018).
Neti, Surya Sarada. Development of an Online Application that Enables Older Adults to Self-assess their Driving-related Cognitive Ability. MS thesis. University of Waterloo, 2020.
Ortiz-Peregrina, Sonia, et al. “Impact of age-related vision changes on driving.” International journal of environmental research and public health 17.20 (2020): 7416.
Rothe, J. Peter. The safety of elderly drivers: Yesterday’s young in today’s traffic. Routledge, 2020.
Wood, Joanne M. “Nighttime driving: visual, lighting and visibility challenges.” Ophthalmic and physiological optics 40.2 (2020): 187-201.
Outline
Topic: 70 Years Old Drivers Pass An Annual Test For Eyesight For Their Driver’s License
Introduction:
- Thesis Statement: Older individuals pass the test they must have at least 20/4 acuity without corrective lenses, with one or both usable eyes, and they must have an eyesight check before issuing a license because they should have a visual field of about 105 degrees in the horizontal diameter with both one usable eye.
- Applicants are given corrective restrictions on the license.
- Minnesota rules give restrictions based on the 70-year-old person’s visual performance.
- Driver Evaluation Unit to determine whether to issue a restricted license.
Body:
- Reasons for eyesight for Driver license
- Challenges of 70 years eyesight test for a license in Minnesota
Conclusion and Recommendations
- Eyesight is likely to get worse as individuals get older
- 70-year-old drivers should have a mandatory eyesight check.