Tested for the road
Hospital program gauges the older driver’s capability

By Patricia Wen, Globe Staff | July 1, 2009
http://www.boston.com/news/local/mas..._tests?mode=PF

Edward Givler is a retired race car hobbyist who once held a lap record on New England’s largest speedway, but when he ambled slowly into the waiting room of a Boston hospital recently, his ambitions as a motorist were far more humble.

He wanted to find out if he should continue to drive. Givler, now 71, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2004. On the advice of his doctor, he has since taken part in the kind of annual, clinical evaluation that many Massachusetts lawmakers believe should be required of older motorists who want to renew their licenses.

There is no easy way to test an elderly motorist. No single marker - the tremors of Parkinson’s, the memory loss of Alzheimer’s, or the fact that someone turned 85 - makes for an impaired driver. And while legislators on Beacon Hill have responded to several high-profile accidents involving older drivers by drafting bills, no single test can determine who should give up the keys.