OLDER DRIVER DILEMMA

CARSON CITY -- Lifelong motorcycle enthusiast Stephen Emens was driving his Harley-Davidson on Rainbow Boulevard the morning of April 27, 2006, when he suddenly was struck by a Buick pulling into traffic out of a driveway.

The collision killed Emens.

Lois Ostraat, the driver of the Buick, was found guilty of a left turn violation in June by Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Deborah Lippis.

She paid a $500 fine. But she was allowed to keep her license. Ostraat was 79 when she hit Emens, a 56-year-old pilot.

Emens' son Nathan has been left inconsolable by the death of his father and what he perceives as a lack of justice.

"We would have liked to have seen her do some community service and lose her license," he said. "We weren't going for jail time. She just pulled into him, and she showed absolutely no remorse."

A year earlier, Douglas High School junior Bridget Chambers was killed in July 2005, as she was driving her car on U.S. Highway 395 south of Carson City.

Minden resident Forrest Ladd, 79, turned his SUV into the path of Bridget's oncoming vehicle.

Douglas County prosecutors decided they could not bring charges against Ladd because he suffered from progressive dementia and could not understand or remember what happened the day of the accident.

Ladd surrendered his driver's license.

The two cases illustrate a national problem of inattentive older drivers causing fatal accidents.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found last year that drivers over age 74 are involved in six fatal crashes per 100 million miles driven, only slightly less than teenage drivers.

The fatality rate for drivers 85 and older was nine times that of drivers 25 to 55.

Only Illinois and New Hampshire require drivers to submit to mandatory road test examinations to keep their licenses after age 75.

Texas approved a law in 2007 that requires people 79 and older to appear in person to renew their licenses and take a vision test. If the examiner notices they are shaking or having trouble answering questions, the applicant must take a driving test.

The law was passed after a 90-year-old driver ran a red light and killed a teenager. In the first year after its passage, fatal accidents involving senior citizens dropped by 25 percent.

In Nevada, one generally can secure a drivers license at age 16 and keep it without ever taking another road test.

Applicants 70 and older who renew their licenses by mail must include a medical statement from a doctor. If they renew in person, that is not necessary.

But Kevin Malone, a spokesman for the Department of Motor Vehicles, said DMV employees can require drivers of any age to submit to written or road tests if they suspect the driver has physical or mental problems.

"It has to be an extreme case," added Malone, who concedes this additional check is rarely done.

Of Nevada's nearly 1.7 million licensed drivers, 14 percent, or nearly 233,000, are age 65 and older. Nearly 14,000 are age 85 and older. The oldest licensed driver is 102.

Clark County District Attorney Bruce Nelson said prosecutors originally charged Ostraat with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter.

Witnesses, however, failed to show up and the judge refused to allow any more delays, he said.

The left turn violation and $500 fine was the best he could secure in a plea bargain with Ostraat's lawyer.

Ostraat's lawyer refused repeated requests to talk about the crash.

State Senate Transportation Chairman Dennis Nolan said the time has arrived to discuss what can be done to keep drivers off the road when they lack the faculties to continue driving.

"We have to address it," said Nolan, R-Las Vegas. "We encourage and want seniors to lead independent lives, but we have to get them off the road (when they are dangerous to other drivers)."

Nolan said his committee has a traffic safety bill that can be used to begin discussions on older drivers during the 2009 Legislature.

AARP Nevada spokeswoman Deborah Moore said her organization opposes any special test or requirement on older drivers.

"Some people in their 70s and 80s are incredibly smart and better drivers than those in their 40s," Moore said. "By and large, our older drivers are extremely careful. We don't agree with age-based licensing standards."

In her view, it falls upon the families of older drivers to persuade them to give up their licenses when they no longer are capable of being good drivers.

Moore acknowledges older drivers might not always agree with family members who want them to stop driving. AARP considers family persuasion the best approach.

"We are asking the family to take away the car and keys when it is necessary," she said.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.