Too Old to Drive in NC?

10/19/2011
Kevin Duffan
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Too Old to Drive in North Carolina?

On October 1, 2011, a woman died and two others were injured after a 95-year-old pickup truck driver from Virginia, age 95, struck them in a Smithfield, North Carolina (NC), Walmart parking lot. The age of the driver has concerned some lawmakers about the risks posed by very elderly drivers.

Already in North Carolina, anyone 70 years of age or older is usually required to renew their license in person at a DMV office. Also, when renewing a license, a senior driver has to take a vision test and may need to take a written knowledge test.

Driving is a symbol of independence. As people age, however, many factors can impair driving skills. The AARP offers these warnings signs for when it may be time for an elderly to stop or limit driving:

Almost crashing
Dents and scrapes on the car, fences, mailboxes, garage doors or curbs
Getting lost in familiar locations
Trouble seeing or following traffic signals, road signs or pavement markings
Responding slowly to unexpected situations
Trouble moving the foot from the gas to the brake pedal
Misjudging gaps in traffic at intersections
Difficulty concentrating while driving
Difficulty turning to check over the shoulder while backing up or changing lanes
Getting traffic tickets.

This North Carolina car wreck showed the damage that can occur when an elderly can no longer drive safely. To learn more about what to do when you or a loved one gets hurt in a car accident, check out our online library of articles devoted to the subject.

Category: Carolina Car & Motorcycle Accidents

Labels: accident attorney elderly injured lawyer NC North Carolina pedestrian Personal Injury senior citizen Shapiro Smithfield Walmart

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton is a law firm whose attorneys focus on injury and accident law. We maintain office in Elizabeth City, North Carolina (NC), on East Elizabeth Street, and we have handled thousands of cases in which victims got hurt or killed in car, truck, train and motorcycle crashes caused by others' negligence or carelessness.

We serve every area of North Carolina, including Elizabeth City, Edenton, Raleigh, Durham, Rocky Mount, Roanoke Rapids, Greensboro, Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Halifax, Northampton, Greenville, Goldsboro, Havelock, Kinston, New Bern, Tarboro, Wilson, Ahoskie, Currituck, Camden and the Outer Banks towns of Nags Head, Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills, Manteo, Corolla, Currituck and Dare. In South Carolina, we cover the state from Myrtle Beach and Charleston to Orangeburg, Columbia, Florence, Rock Hill, Darlington, Aiken, Anderson, Greenville and Spartanburg.

Firm attorneys Rick Shapiro and James Lewis have been listed among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008 and the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2009. In addition, our firm has been named a North Carolina "Best Law Firm" for personal injury law since 2010 by U.S. News & World Report.

We also offer free special reports on distracted driving and the Best Guide to Car Accident Injuries in North Carolina.

While not every injury case meets our criteria, we offer free initial confidential injury case consultations. Call us toll-free at (800) 752-0042. If you cannot get through due to high call volume, please leave a voicemail so we can get back to you.

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