Immediately after the accident that killed Don and Gwyndalyn Ostler, he was taken to the police station and passed a quick response test. A careful driver who won't get into his car at night, avoids the freeway and always keeps an eye out for "stumble bums" who run red lights, the 86-year-old grandfather of 30 and World War II veteran has been a wreck since his accident.

I know this because two of his granddaughters wrote to me.

"If we thought he needed his drivers license taken away, we would have done it," wrote Barb Novich, who lives in Idaho Falls. "We did not feel he was in any way a hazard on the road."

I used Novich's grandfather as easy proof for my theory that older drivers who want to keep their licenses should be tested more often than the rest of us. And that sent drivers - old and young - to their keyboards.

Nick Newman agreed with me. A 70-year-old retiree, he depends on his car and acknowledges a certain "fear of a future without driving. Being able to drive gives me near total freedom to go anywhere, anytime," Newman wrote. But with limited bus service, "many people, with or without a driver license, must and will drive to survive and live while knowing the risks."

Younger drivers would take the litmus test even further.

"We are so politically correct these days that we cannot even admit when someone is an all-out danger to society," wrote Deon Santistevan. "I think everyone with a drivers license should be made to go in every two years after the age of 65 and have an eye test, a depth-perception test, a reaction-time test and a memory/senility test."

Glen Purdie said every Utahn qualifies for retesting.

"There are a great many drivers who like to tailgate. I thought there was a law about that," Purdie wrote. "There are many drivers who don't know what a stop sign means. There must be many Utah drivers who are colorblind because of the large number who don't bother to stop at the red light."

And, "if you do much walking [which I do], you are taking your life in your own hands crossing streets because drivers don't seem to care much about waiting for a slow pedestrian."

Cars are a necessity, a luxury and an identity rolled into one. And for people of a certain age, they are a last grasp at independence and dignity. For their children and grandchildren, they are a way to stave off shuttling mom or dad to the doctor's office, grocery store and church.

I know this all too well. My own 94-year-old father-in-law drives 25 mph everywhere he goes. But taking away his keys would be a demoralizing blow. I'm crossing my fingers that I never end up where Novich is.

walsh @sltrib.com