License renewal slightly different for Nevada’s older drivers

While licensing rules for older drivers vary widely from state to state, in Nevada, the only thing that sets them apart from rules governing other drivers is how licenses can be renewed.

Renewals for all state drivers are required every four years, and every eight years all drivers must renew in person at a Department of Motor Vehicles office, where they are given an eye exam and staff can require a written or road test if they suspect mental or physical impairments that might affect driving. On the alternate four years, drivers age 70 and younger can renew by mail or online.

But for drivers age 71 and older - about 10 percent of the state's 1.728 million drivers - renewals for those alternate four-year periods cannot be made online and only by mail if they include a vision-screening report and a doctor's note saying the driver is physically fit to be on the road. The renewal rule for older drivers was signed into law in 1995.

"Older Nevada drivers are no different than older drivers anywhere else," Kevin Malone, public information officer for the DMV, said Monday. "The thing about older drivers, in general, is that they have a wealth of experience, but they slow down as they mature."

Malone said it isn't a case of more accidents with older drivers, "It's just that they don't survive them as well, with some being very critical or fatal, whereas a younger person might walk away from the same accident."

Erin Breen, director of UNLV's Safe Community Partnership, which works with local organizations to improve traffic and pedestrian safety in the valley, concurs that older drivers are generally more knowledgeable about driving laws and even more likely than many younger drivers to follow them.

Where the breakdown occurs, she said, is they don't realize when their driving skills start to diminish.

"Because we don't have a good infrastructure here for older drivers to get around, they have a tendency to stay in their vehicles longer than they should," Breen said. "A lot of them may come to a point where they think to themselves they shouldn't be driving, but that can be too late. It may have nothing to do with eyesight. It could be about diminishing physical skills, dementia, even the medication they're taking."

Breen would like to see more than a doctor's note and the eyes of older drivers tested to make sure they're not a detriment to others, as well as themselves.

"We need to have more occupational therapists who do driving assessments, but it comes with a price tag. They're expensive," she said. "But any time a senior is in an accident, it should send up a red flag. I don't think going to an education class is enough."

Contact reporter Joe Hawk at jhawk@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2912.