Drivers impaired not just by alcohol

Re: “Curb impaired driving,” guest editorial, Aug. 4; “Crocs blamed for storefront crash,” Aug. 5.

I am sitting in the hospital with a friend who was just hit by an elderly driver who then drove away.

I think we need to seriously refocus our road-safety efforts from drinking and driving.

We have stomped out this scourge as much as reasonably possible. Yet we continue to devote resources to it that could be better devoted to everyday impaired driving.

Why do we allow drivers who are impaired by prescription drugs, inability, medical conditions and plain old age to drive? Yet we freak out when someone has a few drinks.

Let’s refocus on the new low-hanging fruit, impaired driving caused by the above reasons. We have seen older drivers driving into storefronts. How long until someone is killed? How many people have been killed and injured?

Mandatory driving tests, increasing in frequency with age, would go a long way; including a simulator to ensure a driver has the simple ability to turn off the ignition or take the vehicle out of gear with a stuck accelerator. This would be a simple, easy start.

If driving is a privilege, as we are always told, make this user-funded. Let’s get serious about impairment. Most of the impaired driving I see on the roads is not caused by alcohol.

Ken Moseley Saanich