Illinois ends yearly driving tests for some older drivers

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[00:00:00]
Brian Mackey: From Illinois Public Media, this is the 21st Show. I'm Brian Mackey. We begin today with a change in law affecting senior citizens in Illinois, particularly drivers between the ages of 79 and 86. They are no longer required to take a driving test every year, so long as they meet certain criteria. That change was part of an effort put forward by AARP Illinois and the Secretary of State's office through legislation. The law is called the Road Safety and Fairness Act.

Joining me now to talk more about this is Ryan Grunnenfelder, senior director of advocacy and outreach with AARP Illinois. Ryan, welcome back to the 21st Show. Thank you for having me.

Listeners, you can join us if you have a question about this change in law. If you have an opinion about it, let us know. 800-222-9455. We're on this for about the next 15 minutes or so. 800-222-9455.

So, beyond what I said in the introduction there, tell me in a little more detail about what exactly is in the — what's it called? The Road Safety and Fairness Act.

[00:01:18]
Ryan Grunnenfelder: Yeah, well, starting yesterday, as when the law took effect, the law raises the age at which Illinois drivers must take a driving test from 79 to 87. And in our view, this removes an outdated age-based requirement that made Illinois the only state in the nation to require a behind-the-wheel test solely because of a driver's age.

The other thing that the law does is that it strengthens road safety by creating a new process that allows immediate family members to report legitimate concerns when a loved one's medical condition, vision impairment, or driving behavior may affect their ability to drive safely.

[00:01:58]
Brian Mackey: Let's come back to that point about the family members, because I do think that's an interesting point here. It is worth noting, though, that the law is not just like — if you're, you know, up to age 86, there's no way you're ever gonna have to take a driving test, right? Because the Secretary of State's personnel — people sometimes throw out that word DMV here in Illinois. We don't actually have a DMV. It's the Secretary of State's Motor Services Division, I think. But anyway, let's just say the DMV — Secretary of State — if someone who works there, you know, maybe has a sense, picks up on something, I guess they can require a driving test. Talk more about that.

[00:02:34]
Ryan Grunnenfelder: Yeah, that's absolutely correct. So what's happening here is, with this increase in the age, it means that people up to age 87 will have the same driver's license renewal requirements as anybody that's younger than that. So they will have to take vision screening actually every year — or every time they renew — within that age group. They will have to pass road tests when required. It's entirely based on functional ability, just like everybody else of any other age, rather than age. I guess that is the most important part of that. Because age doesn't determine whether someone's able to drive or not. It's their functional ability to do so, and they have to pass the medical requirements and the vision requirements just like everybody else.

[00:03:22]
Brian Mackey: What, uh, why did AARP Illinois put effort into getting this law passed?

[00:03:28]
Ryan Grunnenfelder: Well, AARP members — and frankly, older adults from all over the state — had been calling us and emailing us consistently for years complaining that this is a problem and, frankly, they're all calling it age discrimination. They were saying, I am perfectly healthy. I am capable of being able to drive. I don't understand why I'm required to go in and take a mandated driver's test simply because of my date of birth when I am still able to do all of those things.

And it was a pretty intense outreach effort by our members and older adults across the state, and elected officials were hearing it too. They were getting calls from their constituents, and it doesn't matter what their political party was — they were getting calls from their constituents saying this needs to change because this is unfair. And especially since Illinois is the only state in the nation that requires it. So we decided to make it a priority to change the law.

Now, AARP's policy actually goes a little bit further than that and says that there shouldn't be a limit at all. So we compromised with the legislation to set that age-87 level.

[00:04:32]
Brian Mackey: But you anticipated my next question, so I was just gonna say — what about everybody who was born July 2, 1939, or earlier, who's out there saying, hey, I'm still good to drive. Why is this not discrimination against me too?

[00:04:45]
Ryan Grunnenfelder: Yeah, well, it technically is, and AARP policy does support that. But as I'm sure you're aware, when legislation is working its way through the state Capitol, compromise has to be made, and this is the compromise that we're able to make to at least make some adjustments to the law — to bring Illinois more in compliance and in alignment with every other state in the nation.

[00:05:08]
Brian Mackey: Yeah, say more about that. I mean, you mentioned this before — that Illinois was the only state in the country to have such a rule in place.

[00:05:15]
Ryan Grunnenfelder: Yeah, we had been the only state for — well, now [15] years. New Hampshire was the last one that did away with that age-based requirement back in 2011, and then in 2005, Indiana was. So prior to that, every other state — all 47 other states — did not have it. So now 21 years — or I guess 15 years later — Illinois has come into alignment with that.

And let me be clear, too: Illinois driver's license renewal laws are still some of the strictest in the nation. Every neighboring state of Illinois still has less strict renewal requirements, even after this new Illinois law has taken effect.

[00:05:59]
Brian Mackey: Let me remind listeners, this is the 21st Show. We are speaking with Ryan Grunnenfelder, senior director of advocacy and outreach at AARP Illinois, about a new law. It's already taken effect. It raises the age of drivers who have to take their driving test on a yearly basis. Until — well, I guess until a couple of days ago — that was true for everyone aged 79 and up. Now it's aged 87 and older. You have to take the test every year.

We're talking about what went into that change and why it happened the way it did and what this means for all Illinois drivers. If you wanna join us today, 800-222-9455. That's 800-222-9455.

So what do crash statistics tell us about how safe older drivers are, or are not?

[00:06:52]
Ryan Grunnenfelder: Well, that's actually a good reason why we're able to get this law passed. The Secretary of State did a safety data study with the Illinois Department of Transportation in 2023 to see if this was really a valid piece of legislation that was reasonable to pass. And the numbers showed that older drivers in the state of Illinois are the safest drivers in the state. They have a lower crash rate than every other age group in the state of Illinois. And there's a variety of reasons why that might be, but it put the data behind the ability to pass this law because they are shown as being safer.

[00:07:36]
Brian Mackey: You mentioned earlier — I wanna come back to this idea of the family intervention piece of this law — because I'm sure there are a lot of people listening right now who have had that uncomfortable conversation with mom or dad or grandma or grandpa, or maybe they felt like they had to lean on their doctor to step in, or some other trusted family member. Now the Secretary of State's office may be involved with that. Talk about that and how that process works.

[00:08:08]
Ryan Grunnenfelder: Yeah, and I will say that AARP does not have policy on this, so we were neutral on this policy, but it is something that we did hear from people about. They were saying, well, I have concerns about my loved one — or what if I do have concerns about my loved one? And sometimes this comes in the form of, say, somebody concerned about their loved one having dementia or a medical condition that may have popped up that's not dementia, but it still could affect their ability to drive.

With this new law, this creates the process so the family member can report that concern to the Secretary of State's office. They can then independently review it and determine if a driver's license needs to be revoked, or needs to be even considered and not revoked. So it doesn't mean it's an automatic revocation, but it means that the Secretary of State's office may determine that there is a reason to require this person to get a medical exam and come in and take a vision test and come in and take a driver's test and the written exam to determine if they're still able to drive. And from that point, the Secretary of State's office can make that decision, and a concerned family member or loved one will learn whether their concerns were valid or not.

I will say that the data the Secretary of State's office provided [shows] that even when that happens, oftentimes people are still able to maintain their license because they do pass those tests. But at least there is now a process in place that people are able to share their concerns with the Secretary of State's office and make sure our roads are safer because of it.

[00:10:00]
Brian Mackey: I'm curious what sort of pushback you heard when you were advocating for this legislation in the Illinois General Assembly. What would you say to people who say that these rules that we have now are a helpful safety measure?

[00:10:15]
Ryan Grunnenfelder: Mm-hmm. Yeah, I heard that concern many times, whether I was talking with media or legislators or people in the general public, because there has been a tendency — and let's be honest — in the media, oftentimes when an older driver has an accident, it does feel like that it gets reported more often than somebody of a different age. And it has created some sort of a concern among some people that maybe this wasn't a good idea.

But that's why we did the study — to make sure that that is not a valid concern, that actually older drivers are safer drivers. Older drivers are more likely to do things like take a driver safety course, which AARP provides one, or less likely to text while driving, more likely to drive a little bit slower or put their blinker on when they're changing lanes, things like that. And that certainly pans out in the data that we have.

[00:11:17]
Brian Mackey: You know, it's interesting you mentioned that. I think of this — when we were preparing for this, I was thinking of that Jerry Seinfeld bit. This is, I don't know, probably 25 years old now, where he talks about going to visit his parents in Florida, and he says everybody there drives like they're constantly looking for an address, right? And this gets to the idea that some people might say some older drivers are a little too safe. And we're in a fast-paced time. People — God knows there's certainly a lot of reckless drivers out there. We've talked about that on this show. That phenomenon — it's almost like, you know, maybe it's a hazard. I wonder what you say to that.

[00:11:53]
Ryan Grunnenfelder: Yeah, I can see that. Even when I'm driving, there are times when I feel like I'm getting a little bit impatient. But I am also recognizing — especially since I worked on passing this law — that oftentimes when it's an older driver, they're making sure that they are being safe drivers. And while I might not love it that they might be driving at or below the speed limit, or maybe slow to change lanes or something like that, I do appreciate it because they're making sure that they are a safe driver who are following the rules of the road and, in turn, ensuring everybody else is safe around them.

[00:12:27]
Brian Mackey: All right, let's go to the phones. We have Jim on line one from Northern Illinois. Jim, thanks for calling in.

[00:12:33]
Jim: Yeah, hi. Thanks for taking the call. I was just gonna state that while I understand the concept behind it being discrimination, at the same time I know that children of elderly parents are very reluctant to take away a driver's license, and elderly parents can hold that against children if it does happen. And I heard them state that they can ask that they come in to be checked out, but I think the children of elderly parents are gonna be reluctant to do that also. And I don't know — I know there's — you stated that there's an age where it still does take effect, correct?

[00:13:22]
Brian Mackey: That's right. So under the current law, it's gonna be age 87. Now you have to do this annual test.

[00:13:30]
Jim: OK, well I guess my last comment is that while passing the visual and the other tests that might be required of somebody isn't the same as riding with them. So that's my last comment.

[00:13:45]
Brian Mackey: Jim, thanks for calling in. We appreciate that. Ryan, anything you wanna respond to there? And maybe you have some advice — I'm sure, you know, lifespans are now such that I'm sure you have AARP members who have parents who are drivers that they're concerned about now.

[00:14:00]
Ryan Grunnenfelder: Yeah, I actually really appreciate the concern, and that is something that we hear oftentimes — when is it appropriate even to have that conversation with a loved one to say it's time to put your license away? And AARP actually has a program called We Need to Talk, and it's available on the AARP.org driver safety website. It actually helps caregivers and loved ones learn how to have that difficult conversation with their older family members who they're concerned — that it may be time to hand over the keys and stop driving. So I would urge anybody who has that concern to go on our website and check out that particular program. It's called We Need to Talk.

[00:14:42]
Brian Mackey: What about for somebody who is an older driver, wants to keep driving — maybe it is a little increasingly uncomfortable with the conditions out there on the road? Goodness, I'm in my late 40s, I feel that way sometimes. And I think my reaction times and all that are still pretty good. How can older drivers keep themselves safe? And we only have about 1 minute left.

[00:15:04]
Ryan Grunnenfelder: Well, there is the AARP driver safety program — and actually a law was just passed during the spring legislative session that allows someone to get a discount on their insurance after four hours of training through that particular program. I know that [the] National [Highway] Traffic Safety [Administration] also has a driver safety program, too. But if you enroll in a driver safety course, you can learn how to become a safer driver, learn how to use the new vehicle technology that is in all of these cars now, a reminder on all of the rules of the road, and how to — you know — [improve] reaction times and things of that nature. That is something that is really helpful for older drivers to be able to stay on the road, and it is critical for them to be able to do so because of their constant need to get out there and go to doctor appointments and take care of themselves, whether it be getting groceries and things of that nature.

[00:15:54]
Brian Mackey: Mahjong, book club, whatever it is, golf course. All right, Ryan Grunnenfelder is with AARP Illinois. Thanks so much for being here today.

[00:16:04]
Ryan Grunnenfelder: Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

[00:16:06]
Brian Mackey: And once again, the new law in Illinois — now you don't have to take an annual driver's test every year until you are age 87 and older. We'll have more here on the 21st Show after a short break. Stay with us.