THSO Wants Seniors To Stay Safe While Driving

The Tennessee Highway Safety Office wants senior citizens to stay safe while on the roadways.

Safety Liaison Fred Sherrill said health-related issues can likely cause accidents among senior drivers.

“One of the big things we try to approach is to make sure their health is good and they’re capable of driving,” Sherrill said. “If they’ve had an incident or something, then maybe that’s something we need to pay special attention to, or maybe they’re on some type of medication that might hamper their driving.”

Sherrill said deteriorating vision in seniors can also lead to a higher risk of a motor vehicle accident.

“As we get older our vision starts to change,” Sherrill said. “Being able to stop at a stop sign and look left or right and see a vehicle coming, then realize the closing distance and whether I can safely pull out in front of it… as you get older you don’t notice it as much, but depth perception is a big thing with the senior drivers.”

Sherrill said vision played a role in an accident last month, in which an 85-year-old Monterey man struck a School Resource Officer near North Cumberland Elementary School in Cumberland County. The officer survived but was transported to a nearby hospital for treatment.

The Tennessee Department of Safety reports 34 seniors age 65 or older have died in motor vehicle accidents across the state in 2019. That total is down slightly from 36 deaths at this point last year.