Is It Time for Elderly Maine Residents to Have Mandatory Skills Tests to Maintain Their Driver’s License?

This is not the first time I have posed this question to the masses of the Pine Tree State in my media career.

Yet, here we are again, revisiting the contentious topic that always seems to get people fired right up bright and early.

Well, lucky for you, I've brought the biggest spoon I could find to work today so I can stir the pot most efficiently.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't hate your nana. In fact, I love her dearly, and I don't even know her. This has nothing to do with trying to make life harder for the elderly population in this state.

As a matter of fact, I don't even know if my idea is the right one, but I think it's worth discussing.

I'm bringing this back up today because yet again there was another accident involving a Maine senior citizen. WGME is reporting that an elderly woman who was pulling into a Bangor dental office on Wednesday mistook her gas for her brake and accelerated into the dental office. Fortunately, the office was 'out to lunch,' so nobody ended up injured in the incident.

Thank God.

But the question remains: how many Buicks have to end up in living rooms before we take a look at a policy change on Maine State Drivers Licenses?

Again, don't come unglued, I'm not certain that my idea is the right one, I'm more just spit-balling here.

In Maine, there are certain changes to how you renew your license that inherently come with increasing age. For example, according to Maine.Gov, renewal applicants that are older than 40, must have an eye test done on their first renewal after turning the big 4-0. Then they will need an eye test at every second renewal after 40 until they reach 62. After 62 it has to be done at every renewal.

But what about an actual driving skills test? Well, as of right now, there is nothing that mandates a driver of any age to be subject to a new skills test.

Now if you're a concerned citizen about a particular driver, YOU can submit to the DMV a form regarding your concerns about a particular driver and they can determine whether or not that driver should be retested or restricted.

But my question is, why not make a mandatory skills retest mandatory for all seniors of a certain age?

This is always the part that ruffles feathers the most. And I totally understand why.

"My Grammy Edna is 93 and she still drives her Lambo to girls' weekend in OOB every July! And she's a better driver than almost everyone younger than her on the road!"

Perfect, than she should pass with flying colors.

Again, I don't know what the answer is, or if there is one for that matter. But as someone who is always writing articles about older drivers going the wrong way on the turnpike or crashing through medical buildings, I definitely think it's worth a discussion, don't you?

Also, tell Grammy Edna that Matty says, 'Hello."