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Should older drivers have to abide by stricter standards to renew and keep their licenses? A tragic accident in Raleigh last week claimed the life of a pretty 6-year-old and rekindled that simmering debate.

According to witnesses, an SUV rolled through the extended stop sign and flashing light of a school bus into a group of students on their way home from school.

The 83-year-old driver of the vehicle was so distraught she couldn't bear to talk about the incident. "She wonders how a person can go on living after killing a child," her son told The News & Observer of Raleigh.

It's hard not to feel for both victims of this accident. Geraldine Dietz's driving record was near-perfect until last week, blemished only by a speeding ticket 25 years ago. She also had asked her son to let her know when he considered her skills too diminished for her to continue driving.

Her age may or may not have been a factor in this case. But a proposed bill in the General Assembly could help prevent similar tragedies. That bill mandates road tests for drivers older than 85 and shortens license terms for those older than 75 to three years instead of the current five.

Under the current state law, drivers ages 18 to 53 must renew their licenses every eight years. Drivers 54 and older must renew every five years. Proponents of even tougher requirements note that drivers older than 85 tend to experience more crashes per mile, almost as many as 16-year-old males.

Opponents say the statistics are misleading, because older motorists drive less often and actually experience fewer crashes per driver. They also rightly point out that the scariest people on the road aren't the ones with gray heads, but the ones who are too thick-headed to realize the hazards of driving while texting.

Even so, the aging process brings with it inevitable decreases in reflexes. If not, why the current requirement for drivers older than 53 to renew their licenses more often? And why enforce similarly age-based restrictions for teen drivers?

Remember, the stalled bill would not have kept all older drivers from taking the wheel. Only those who failed the tests. That's being fair, not restrictive. And it's being realistic.

But following blistering attacks from the AARP, among others, the bill has gone nowhere.

Another piece of legislation that, fortunately, didn't stall in Raleigh becomes law on Dec. 1. The Nicholas Adkins School Bus Safety Act, named for a Stoneville teen who lost his life in January, increases the penalty for those who strike and kill pedestrians after running through a school bus' stop arm to a Class H felony, meaning likely jail time.

The 60-year-old motorist who hit Adkins lost her license for a year and paid a $1,000 fine. Soon the punishment will fit the crime.

Meanwhile, a bill that might help prevent the crime is still stuck, indefinitely, in political traffic.