101-Year-Old Texas Veteran Renews Drivers’ License ‘To See If I Could’

In Texas, if you want to stay on the road after 85 years old, you need to renew your license every two years. That makes sense. We gotta make sure our elderly citizens are staying sharp, right? Thomas “Ed” Davis from Boerne, a WWII and Korean War veteran, is making headlines for renewing his license at 101 years old—just to see if he could.

“Wasn’t much to it, really,” Davis told WNEM.  “I filled out a form, they held up a card and said, ‘Can you read that?’ I could read it, so there I was.”

I feel like it should be a bit harder than that. Reading road signs is far from the only skill required to drive on public roads. Thankfully, Davis is still sharp enough for his age to drive his Chevy Silverado. “Chevy’s have always been my favorite of the trucks,” Davis said. What’s he using his GMT800 pickup for now that his construction days are long behind him? “Oh, well, I went and got some lumber yesterday.”

Ironically, Davis isn’t even the oldest member of his family to renew their driver’s license. His older brother did so at 103 years old. I don’t know what they’re eating in that house but whatever it is, it seems to be working.

Understandably, there are some concerns about centenarians driving on public roads. Even in Germany, the country whose road rules should be the gold standard for all countries, there’s debate about whether a skills test should be required for elderly drivers to renew their licenses. However, Davis has his wits about him and understands that he isn’t the most capable driver anymore. All of his trips are local and “quite a bit” under the speed limit.

He’s also aware of any fears that come from a man of his age being behind the wheel, “Are y’all scared back there?” he asked the WNEM team, who rode along in the back of his Silverado.

I’m not sure if Davis will want to renew his license again in two more years. Hopefully, he does, though, so he can at least tie his brother’s record.

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