August 23, 2025 • 7 mins
Although some driving skills can deteriorate with age, experienced drivers tend to be the safest drivers. To an extent. Learn when and how experts think drivers should be retested in this classic episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://auto.howstuffworks.com/car-driving-safety/auto-safety-testing/should-licensed-drivers-be-tested-periodically.htm
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff,
Lauren Bogelbomb here with a classic episode of the podcast
for you. In this one, we explore the somewhat touchy
subject of driver competency and safety. Experts agree that in general,
more experienced drivers are safer drivers, but that doesn't mean
(00:23):
we should never retest after someone gets their license. Hey
brain Stuff, laurenvogel Bomb here. If you drive a car,
or sometimes take cabs or lifts, or have ever been
around cars, you've likely had at least a few frustrating,
more scary experiences with really bad drivers, you know, erratic
(00:43):
merging or U turns, or casual disrespect for stop signs,
speed limits or pedestrian right of way, or perhaps not disrespect,
but ignorance of In a twenty eleven study conducted by
GMAC Insurance, nearly one in five drivers weren't able to
pass a written test of basic driver knowledge, the sort
that licensed applicants take. But even though most people passed,
(01:05):
there were some glaring gaps in critical areas. Eighty five
percent of those tested, for example, couldn't name the correct
thing to do when approaching a yellow traffic light, and
only one in four knew how to calculate the safe
distance for following a vehicle. See the article version of
this story at HowStuffWorks dot com if you want to
quiz yourself. Requiring experienced motorists to regularly demonstrate their competence
(01:26):
isn't something that's ever been conducted on a widespread basis
in the US, where some states didn't even require novice
drivers to pass a road test until the nineteen fifties,
Only one state, Illinois, has a law mandating road skills
tests for licensed renewals, and that's only for motorists who
have reached age seventy five. New Hampshire once had a
similar age related testing requirement, but repealed it in twenty eleven.
(01:48):
Pennsylvania randomly selects a small sample of the states forty
five and older drivers and requires them to undergo additional
medical and vision exams. Based on those results, they might
have to take a driving test as well. Only a
handful of other states Iowa, Missouri, Michigan, and California allow
officials to selectively require road tests for license holders whom
they have reason to believe might be unsafe. We spoke
(02:12):
via email with Andrea Henry, director of Strategic Communications and
Policy for the Iowa Department of Transportation. She explained that
in her state, quote, drivers with valid licenses may be
asked to demonstrate their driving ability prior to renewal due
to changes in their health. This includes physical and mobility conditions,
as well as produced vision and cognitive issues. Wild data
(02:33):
on how many retests are conducted wasn't available. Most of
those drivers end up getting renewals anyway, though many have
restricted privileges such as a lower personal speed limit or
daytime driving only. One obvious problem with regularly retesting experienced drivers,
who numbered around two hundred and ten million in two
thousand and nine, the most recent year for which Federal
(02:53):
Highway Administration data was available, is that they'd have to
get in line with all of those first time applicants.
That would create even longer lines of testing stations that
already have their hands full coping with nervous adolescents struggling
to perform complex maneuvers like the dreaded reverse two point
turnabout without hitting those little yellow cones. A lot of
those youthful license applicants end up coming back for retests themselves.
(03:16):
As of twenty eleven, in California, for example, forty two
point seven percent of applicants flunked the knowledge test, while
thirty two percent bombed out on the skills test. The
worst knowledge test performance was in Missouri, with a sixty
one point four percent failure rate, while mains would be
motorists did the worst in driving skills, with forty percent
not making the grade, and the US generally has driving
(03:38):
tests that are a lot easier than the ones used
by the rest of the world. In the Canadian province
of British Columbia, for example, would be drivers have to
undergo forty five minutes of testing on several different types
of road, and also must verbally describe what specific road
hazards are immediately beside their vehicles, one block ahead and
also behind them to test their awareness. There isn't a
(03:58):
lot of evidence that additional test testing over the years
necessarily would improve safety on the roads, As the Insurance
Institute for Highway Safety explains, studies have yielded conflicting results
on the question of whether age restrictions reduced the rate
of crashes. In Illinois, they did, but in New Hampshire
they didn't. The rate of injury causing crashes per one
hundred million miles driven actually is highest among teenage drivers,
(04:21):
and then decreases and levels out for decades before starting
to rise again slightly among people in their seventies and eighties.
That's not the pattern that you would see if many
people saw their driving skills or knowledge deteriorate significantly in
middle age. We also spoke via email with Jake Nelson,
Triple a's director of traffic safety advocacy and research. He said, retesting,
(04:43):
where if you fail the test you lose the license,
has been shown to have zero safety impact on the
drivers involved, and it has been shown to reduce mobility
by way of drivers voluntarily giving up their licenses due
to fear of getting them taken away, rather than any
legitimate concerns about their driving. There's no justification through DEA
data and research for testing or screening at a certain
age one. Gary Biller, president of the National Motorists Association,
(05:07):
which is a nationwide advocacy group, is similarly skeptical about
the value of retesting experienced drivers, he said via email.
Safety statistics consistently show that the accident rates of drivers
seventy years of age and older are not much different
than those in the thirty five to sixty nine year
age group. By contrast, drivers younger than thirty five are
at the highest risk of accident. That indicates a couple
(05:29):
of things. What is that experience behind the wheel is
one of the most important factors for safe driving? Another
is it state requirements for the renewal of driver's licenses
are reasonable. Those requirements vary state by state, but generally
include more frequent re licensing and vision tests once driver
reaches sixty five, seventy or seventy five years of age.
But Biller does think there could be value in allowing
(05:51):
officials the option of re examining certain potentially problematic drivers.
He said there should be an objective process through which
the life licensing agency could be petitioned to do an
evaluation of a given license holder based on firsthand knowledge
of family members, a law enforcement agency, or the courts.
In fairness, there should also be an appeal process for
the person who is in jeopardy of losing his or
(06:13):
her license or having it restricted. That approach might offer
some protection against the most clearly impaired potentially dangerous drivers
out there, but as for the drivers who violate the
rules because they think they can get away with it,
You're probably just going to have to continue to be
wary of them. Today's episode is based on the article
(06:35):
should licensed drivers be tested periodically? On how stuffworks dot com?
Written by Patrick J. Kiger. Brain Stuff is production of
iHeartRadio in partnership with how stuffworks dot Com and is
produced by Tyler Klang. For more podcasts from my heart Radio,
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
to your favorite shows.
Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff,
Lauren Bogelbomb here with a classic episode of the podcast
for you. In this one, we explore the somewhat touchy
subject of driver competency and safety. Experts agree that in general,
more experienced drivers are safer drivers, but that doesn't mean
(00:23):
we should never retest after someone gets their license. Hey
brain Stuff, laurenvogel Bomb here. If you drive a car,
or sometimes take cabs or lifts, or have ever been
around cars, you've likely had at least a few frustrating,
more scary experiences with really bad drivers, you know, erratic
(00:43):
merging or U turns, or casual disrespect for stop signs,
speed limits or pedestrian right of way, or perhaps not disrespect,
but ignorance of In a twenty eleven study conducted by
GMAC Insurance, nearly one in five drivers weren't able to
pass a written test of basic driver knowledge, the sort
that licensed applicants take. But even though most people passed,
(01:05):
there were some glaring gaps in critical areas. Eighty five
percent of those tested, for example, couldn't name the correct
thing to do when approaching a yellow traffic light, and
only one in four knew how to calculate the safe
distance for following a vehicle. See the article version of
this story at HowStuffWorks dot com if you want to
quiz yourself. Requiring experienced motorists to regularly demonstrate their competence
(01:26):
isn't something that's ever been conducted on a widespread basis
in the US, where some states didn't even require novice
drivers to pass a road test until the nineteen fifties,
Only one state, Illinois, has a law mandating road skills
tests for licensed renewals, and that's only for motorists who
have reached age seventy five. New Hampshire once had a
similar age related testing requirement, but repealed it in twenty eleven.
(01:48):
Pennsylvania randomly selects a small sample of the states forty
five and older drivers and requires them to undergo additional
medical and vision exams. Based on those results, they might
have to take a driving test as well. Only a
handful of other states Iowa, Missouri, Michigan, and California allow
officials to selectively require road tests for license holders whom
they have reason to believe might be unsafe. We spoke
(02:12):
via email with Andrea Henry, director of Strategic Communications and
Policy for the Iowa Department of Transportation. She explained that
in her state, quote, drivers with valid licenses may be
asked to demonstrate their driving ability prior to renewal due
to changes in their health. This includes physical and mobility conditions,
as well as produced vision and cognitive issues. Wild data
(02:33):
on how many retests are conducted wasn't available. Most of
those drivers end up getting renewals anyway, though many have
restricted privileges such as a lower personal speed limit or
daytime driving only. One obvious problem with regularly retesting experienced drivers,
who numbered around two hundred and ten million in two
thousand and nine, the most recent year for which Federal
(02:53):
Highway Administration data was available, is that they'd have to
get in line with all of those first time applicants.
That would create even longer lines of testing stations that
already have their hands full coping with nervous adolescents struggling
to perform complex maneuvers like the dreaded reverse two point
turnabout without hitting those little yellow cones. A lot of
those youthful license applicants end up coming back for retests themselves.
(03:16):
As of twenty eleven, in California, for example, forty two
point seven percent of applicants flunked the knowledge test, while
thirty two percent bombed out on the skills test. The
worst knowledge test performance was in Missouri, with a sixty
one point four percent failure rate, while mains would be
motorists did the worst in driving skills, with forty percent
not making the grade, and the US generally has driving
(03:38):
tests that are a lot easier than the ones used
by the rest of the world. In the Canadian province
of British Columbia, for example, would be drivers have to
undergo forty five minutes of testing on several different types
of road, and also must verbally describe what specific road
hazards are immediately beside their vehicles, one block ahead and
also behind them to test their awareness. There isn't a
(03:58):
lot of evidence that additional test testing over the years
necessarily would improve safety on the roads, As the Insurance
Institute for Highway Safety explains, studies have yielded conflicting results
on the question of whether age restrictions reduced the rate
of crashes. In Illinois, they did, but in New Hampshire
they didn't. The rate of injury causing crashes per one
hundred million miles driven actually is highest among teenage drivers,
(04:21):
and then decreases and levels out for decades before starting
to rise again slightly among people in their seventies and eighties.
That's not the pattern that you would see if many
people saw their driving skills or knowledge deteriorate significantly in
middle age. We also spoke via email with Jake Nelson,
Triple a's director of traffic safety advocacy and research. He said, retesting,
(04:43):
where if you fail the test you lose the license,
has been shown to have zero safety impact on the
drivers involved, and it has been shown to reduce mobility
by way of drivers voluntarily giving up their licenses due
to fear of getting them taken away, rather than any
legitimate concerns about their driving. There's no justification through DEA
data and research for testing or screening at a certain
age one. Gary Biller, president of the National Motorists Association,
(05:07):
which is a nationwide advocacy group, is similarly skeptical about
the value of retesting experienced drivers, he said via email.
Safety statistics consistently show that the accident rates of drivers
seventy years of age and older are not much different
than those in the thirty five to sixty nine year
age group. By contrast, drivers younger than thirty five are
at the highest risk of accident. That indicates a couple
(05:29):
of things. What is that experience behind the wheel is
one of the most important factors for safe driving? Another
is it state requirements for the renewal of driver's licenses
are reasonable. Those requirements vary state by state, but generally
include more frequent re licensing and vision tests once driver
reaches sixty five, seventy or seventy five years of age.
But Biller does think there could be value in allowing
(05:51):
officials the option of re examining certain potentially problematic drivers.
He said there should be an objective process through which
the life licensing agency could be petitioned to do an
evaluation of a given license holder based on firsthand knowledge
of family members, a law enforcement agency, or the courts.
In fairness, there should also be an appeal process for
the person who is in jeopardy of losing his or
(06:13):
her license or having it restricted. That approach might offer
some protection against the most clearly impaired potentially dangerous drivers
out there, but as for the drivers who violate the
rules because they think they can get away with it,
You're probably just going to have to continue to be
wary of them. Today's episode is based on the article
(06:35):
should licensed drivers be tested periodically? On how stuffworks dot com?
Written by Patrick J. Kiger. Brain Stuff is production of
iHeartRadio in partnership with how stuffworks dot Com and is
produced by Tyler Klang. For more podcasts from my heart Radio,
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
to your favorite shows.
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