Families, doctors can make confidential reports
Couple who lost son pushed bill
JEFFERSON CITY -A driver with senile dementia ended Jason Surotf's
short life in 1993, but on Thursday, the tragedy bore more positive
fruit.
Gov. Mel Carnahan signed a bill making it easier for family,
police and doctors to confidentially report people whom they
believe should no longer be driving.
Surotf's parents, Sheldon and Karen Suroff of Cbesterfield led
a four-year campaign for the legislation.
"It's a bittersweet day for us", said Sheldon Suroff. "I
just hope this bill saves some lives."
Jason Suroff, 21, was driving his father's LincoIn ContinentaI
to a Van Halen concert in Kanas City. At the intersection of
Interstate 70 and Highway 65 in Saline County in western Missouri,
he spotted an elderly man driving right at him. Suroff swerved,
and his car flipped three times. He was killed instantly; his
four passengers survived.
Police found the older driver a 91-year-old man, near the Illinois
and Indiana border, sitting in his pickup with his wife. He
had no memory of the accident.
"We want to save other people from going through what we went
through," said Karen Suroff.
With the confidential report, the state can require additional
driving and physical tests. Those who make the report also cannot
be sued. Three doctors will write test guidelines.
The law also sets up an appeals process for those who have their
licenses revoked and a method for those with temporary infirmities
to, get their licenses back.
Before the change, anyone could report a driver, but their names
were not kept confidential. Proponents said this made it difficult
for families to report loved ones.
Pat Rowland of Concord Village said the breaking point for her
family came in June 1996 when her husband, who suffers from
Alzheimer's disease, drove back from Daytona Beach, Fla.
Lennie RowIand, now 60, sped without stopping through a blinding
rain, terrifying his wife, daughters and grandchildren.
"It was horrible, we were all screaming, 'Please quit, please
quit,'"said Pat Rowland. She finally had his truck and new motorcycle
dismantled.
Everybody said, 'Oh, just take the keys.' That's not easily
done.
Rowland said it is hard for her husband, a retired electrician
at Chrysler, to not be able to drive. "It robs them of their
dignity," she said. "It's humiliating."
Only Illinois, Indiana and New Hampshire require periodic road
tests for older drivers. The bill's handler in the Senate, Betty
Sims, R-Ladue, acknowledged that impaired drivers may still
drive without a license.
