Upper age limit for drivers?

I had an owner operator in his early 70's......his wife was 40.

"She keeps me young."

He also knew the day when....dropped his dirty tank, pulled the tractor to the side and asked for a ride to the hospital.

 

I'm 75, still get a two year medical card, reflexes, eyesight, and hearing all still work so to put a mandatory age limit just because is nonsense to me. People, for the biggest part, know when its time to quit. Whether they do or not is another story.

 

I knew a guy that was 72, I think. Had CDL, but his job was a mobile repair truck for repairing container chassis.
He'd jump out of his mobile repair truck and crawl, under,over and all over the chassis like he was 18 yrs. old. He'd swing a sledge hammer like it was nothing.

 

That's the crux of the age limited argument.
How would a specific age DL ban affect a person's privilege and personal freedoms.
Cognitive and physical decline as we age is a fact but for some it's in the fifties for others it's in the nineties

I don't think we need more government regulations in this country and certainly not this industry.

 

I’ve had an employee that was 72 and another that was 68. Both were good drivers. Also had issues with both getting insured but we are under 7 trucks. The 72 year old was a woman who hauled water tanker in the oil fields in the Texas summer!

 

Some people are stupid. Some people are broken down in horrible shape by age 40.

Some guys are cognitive and physically capable to stay on the grind into their 90s. If an old guy who has been responsible for himself and his actions all his life still wants to grind it out, then by all means allow it. We shouldn’t hold him to the same standards as the decrepit if he’s still able.

When the skills start to wane, it’s evident. Then put the old horse out to pasture.

 

What in that article suggests that it was age related?

 

nothing. Just posted the article.
Let me put it another way, there's probably 10x the number of accidents for those under 30 than those over 40.

 

I agree, but denial is strong with most people. I will use my father as an example (no cdl, but probably drove close to 30k a year). Safe driver all throughout his life, past 6 years 3 accidents, none were considered at fault but each one as he describes them, I can see what is happening, his reaction ability is too slow for the speed he drives. The last one was directly related to his previous one because he cant turn his neck after that one, he had right of way, and only glanced at a left hand turn, got hit...

And he protests that he drives as good as he ever did... at 78. Its just not true.

 

It is a subjective thing; the last time I was a passenger with my father driving [73 at the time] he blew through 2 stop signs driving home from the cabin, this on a road he travelled a lot but he stopped at the 3rd and most crucial one.

Yet the week before he was hospitalized at the end, leaving the house on his BMW touring bike and the rear brake rod broke andhe rode it down the hill and managed to stop with the front brake and downshifing to turn the bike around and ride back up and into the garage.

Each of his (3) BMW's had something strange break and those parts were sent back to Germany for analysis.

As I get older, I understand how easily one can get beyond their abilities but no way to know it.

I hope I have more of Mom's genes, her oldest brother lived to 94 and out lived his first two wives and was with number 3 when he passed!