A senior’s experience with driver testing

I turned 80 in 2023. The Secretary of State’s Office wasted no time in sending me a summons to retake my driver license test. This is not a good thing. I need a car to shop and drive to the golf course. I was a bit nervous. The driving test is a highly subjective thing. Since Illinois is the only state in the union which subjects their seniors to this indignation, I wondered if the plan was to remove us from the roads. My old friend Stan commented that while it was irritating to be stuck behind a slow driving senior, he knows that he would eventually become that poor fellow.

It was a weekday and I arrived early, but the office was very crowded. The line went out of the shopping center and looped around the block. I am one of those lucky fellows who has aged well. I went to the end of the line rather than play the senior card. A secretary of state employee spotted me and gently led me to the front of the line. (So much for not looking my age.) Folding chairs were provided for the seniors. I was careful to remain standing so the real seniors would have a seat. There was still a lot of waiting.

Luckily, I did pass the test and was issued a new license good for only two years. The whole ordeal took about three hours. There is a push to get the senior testing law changed, but seniors do not have much sway in Illinois or the law would never have been passed in the first place. It is my fond hope that the politicians who voted for this law will eventually find themselves driving 10 miles under the limit with their left turn single flashing forever.

Winfield Green

Mount Prospect