Time to exit the road

By Kevin Cullen, Globe Columnist  |  June 4, 2009

Louis Vesprini took a trip through the drive-through window at the Wal-Mart in Danvers the other day.

Unfortunately, there wasn't a drive-through window at the Wal-Mart in Danvers until Louis Vesprini plowed his Toyota Camry through the store's entrance. He wasn't hurt, but six others were, including a baby in a stroller.

The best the cops can figure, Louis Vesprini mistook the accelerator for the brake. Given that Mr. Vesprini is 93 years old, that's a pretty safe bet.

Elderly drivers mistaking the accelerator for the brake are pretty common in these parts. It happens almost as regularly as House speakers getting indicted. But, as happens whenever members of the Massachusetts Legislature find themselves mouthing "Not guilty, your honor," everybody shrugs and says: "Oh, well. That's the way it goes."

Four months ago, an 82-year-old man used the gas instead of the brakes and hit a parking lot attendant at the Trader Joe's in Brookline, seriously injuring him.

Eight months ago, an 86-year-old man ran over and killed a crossing guard outside an elementary school in Dorchester. The guard, Marie Conley, managed to push a child out of harm's way.

Nine months ago, an 86-year-old man ran over and nearly killed an 8-year-old girl when he pulled into a Randolph school to vote.

Now, you can dig up just as many stories about young people killing themselves and others with cars. And just as the dueling shrinks in Suffolk Superior Court will use competing theories to argue that the German con man who kidnapped his daughter is criminally insane or just plain nuts, you can cite statistics to prove either side of any argument. But elderly drivers, who typically have a small orbit, cause almost four times as many fatal accidents as teenagers when you take into account miles driven, according to a Carnegie Mellon study.

This isn't about statistics. This is about common sense. The idea that, after an initial road test, the only thing the state of Massachusetts tests drivers for is their eyesight is patently ludicrous. Massachusetts is one of only three states that has no additional requirements or road tests as drivers age.

Every year, we have to cough up 29 bucks for an inspection sticker. The state mandates testing how roadworthy cars are, but not the people who drive them. We regulate people who give manicures with more vigor.

A few years ago, after a series of accidents involving young people, the Legislature enacted laws that increased training for young drivers. Accidents in that age group have dropped dramatically.

But young people don't vote, old people do, so you can imagine how enthusiastic most in the Legislature are about creating even minimal standards for a constituency that can kill or severely injure the most important thing on Beacon Hill: a pension.

Senator Brian Joyce, a Milton Democrat, is the Sisyphus of Beacon Hill. Every year, he rolls up a boulder of a bill that would require drivers 85 and older to be tested if they want to continue driving, and every year it rolls back down again.

You read right: 85.

"We have to start somewhere, and 85 is statistically significant," Joyce said.

Joyce fears what we all know: Nothing will change until we have a bunch of dead kids lying in a crosswalk or a playground. If those six people who were hurt at the Wal-Mart, or the seven run over by a 73-year-old woman in Plymouth yesterday, were killed instead of injured, there'd be a new law next week.

Brian Joyce knows it is hard to legislate common sense, that families can probably accomplish more than laws do. Just this week, after years of trying, he finally persuaded his 89-year-old father to give up his keys.

Jerry Joyce was a traveling salesman, so he was an experienced driver.

"He took it OK," Brian Joyce said. "Except I'm grounded."

Kevin Cullen is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at cullen@globe.com