When should an elderly person lose their keys?

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - High crash rates involving the elderly might have loved ones questioning, when is the right time to take away the car keys?

In 2012 more than 20,000 crashes across the Hoosier state were caused by someone between the ages of 65 and 103.

Sergeant Joe Watts, with the Indiana State Police says, “Most of our contact with elderly drivers comes in two phases; one a traffic crash. Most times they are pulling out in-front of someone and two, elderly drivers driving in the wrong lane."

In 2011 three people died in a car crash caused by an elderly driver. In 2012 the number jumped to 13.

“Elderly drivers may not have the same reaction time, may not have the same reception time as what the signs say and they can sometimes find themselves in an environment where it's happening fast and it's happening quickly and an accidents is the result,” said Watts.

It may be a hard question to ask but drivers or loved ones need to ask themselves, when is it time to pull the keys?

Watts says, "When we come across that one vehicle, that one person we feel shouldn't be driving, we will contact family members. And what we want to do is not look like we are targeting the elderly drivers, we are concerned about their safety and the safety of others so we do the right thing and we contact family members and tell them the whole situation and hopefully the family members can deal with it."

A hard task but Watts says, sometimes necessary to keep everyone on the roadway safe.

The Bureau of Motor Vehicles requires drivers between the ages of 75 to 85 to re-take a vision test every three years and every two years for those 85 and older.