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Barb Mallut's message begs the issue, failing to separate ABILITY from CAUTION. No sane person expects the average 70-year-old to have the strength and speedy reflexes of a 20-year-old, any more than the driver of a 60-ton semitrailer rig maneuvers as deftly as the mouth-breathing kid in his Civic. And the same applies to any impaired driver, whether he has PD, or needs a special van with hand controls, or whatever. In all cases, the right to use public roadways should extend to everyone who can compensate for impaired ability by appropriate caution. Many old drivers who feel uneasy at 70 mph avoid the freeways and do just fine on surface streets; and amputees who can manage a specially equipped van from a wheelchair are OK with me, as long as they respect their own limitations. Just how much impairment is tolerable is the theme of phony "statistical" studies and fierce debates over legal restrictions, but it's really a matter of common sense by the would- be driver. Many perfectly normal and healthy people are a deadly menace on any road, and many handicapped or impaired ones are within the acceptable range of safety, and I don't know any simple rules that can sort them out. Cheers (from an ex-motorcyclist), Joe J. R. Bruman (818) 789-3694 3527 Cody Road Sherman Oaks, CA 91403-5013