A quick look at census data (more than 11,000 people turn 65 each day in the U.S.), along with my own rough calculations, suggest that several hundred people are turning 70 each day in the great state of California, and every 10 minutes or so, one or more of them email me about their license renewal adventures with the DMV .
I get the usual, always entertaining horror stories about testing: (“They put in ridiculous questions that do not pertain to driving,” said 75-year-old Dahana Klerer of Newport Beach, who flunked twice and added, “I’m not a stupid person but they make you feel really stupid.”) And increasingly, I get success stories: “I had no problem,” said 79-year-old Ruth Gleason of Ridgecrest, who added: “Thank you and Steve Gordon at the DMV for working to alleviate the test-taking fears for over-70 CA drivers.” In a half-century career as a journalist, I never expected to share an accolade with a DMV director.
But this is further proof that life can be filled with new adventures after you turn 70, one of which involves license renewal, which has to be completed every five years after the big 7-0. If you’re wondering why Klerer had such a tough time renewing her license while Gleason had an easy time of it, it’s because Klerer took her renewal test at a DMV office while Gleason opted for the remote, do-it-from-home eLearning course. If you’re coming up on a renewal, repeat after me: ELEARNING IS THE BEST OPTION! To learn more about how to do t.
