An Indianapolis woman has a wild ride:
IFD says Feeney was leaving a hair salon when she veered back towards the salon building, shearing the gas meter and striking the building. From that point, Feeney drove through a bush, hit a fence, turned her car and hit four cars on her way out of the parking lot.
Feeney then drove across Ferguson Ave. and struck DEA Inc., an architecture firm across the street. According to the report, Feeney backed up but went forward, hitting the house for a second time and striking two additional vehicles on Ferguson.
No, she wasn't drunk -- she was driving while 80. Unless we hear otherwise (the story doesn't say), it's reasonable to assume age was a factor in the accident. But older drivers are less dangerous on the road than many people believe. There are several studies, for example, showing they are only slightly more likely than the average driver to cause an accident but much more likely to die in one.
It makes sense to test older drivers more often. Indiana's renewal cycle is four years for most drivers but three years for those 75 and older, which seems not responsive enough to the realities of aging. Iowa has a normal five-year cycle, two years for drivers 70 and older, which seems more realistic. Nearly half the states have no age-related license procedures at all.
