3 Virginia Rules That Change Once a Driver Turns 75

Turning 75 comes with cake, cards and a different kind of license renewal.

Virginia changes the rules for older drivers, and the details are easy to miss until it’s your turn.

Here’s what Virginians can expect at renewal once they reach that birthday.

Note: This is general information, not legal advice. Licensing rules and fees are subject to change, so confirm the current requirements with the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles.

1. Five-Year License Term

As a driver renewing at 75 or older, you get a license valid for five years, according to the DMV’s renewing page.

A standard renewal runs eight years, so you’ll be back at the DMV sooner.

The Code of Virginia caps a license issued at 75 or older at five years.

Say your current license expires when you’re 77.

That renewal is your first under the five-year term, which carries you to 82.

If your license comes due at 75 instead, your next renewals fall at 80, 85 and 90.

2. In-Person Renewal

Even before you turn 75, you have to renew in person every other cycle.

In the DMV’s example, you got your original license in 2017, so you may renew online or by mail in 2025 but must renew in person in 2033.

If you’re eligible and renew online at 70, your eight-year license runs to 78.

Under state law, the renewal at 78 has to happen in person.

That means a trip to a DMV customer service center.

After that, you renew in person every five years.

You can stop by any day a center is open or make an appointment.

Either one works.

Bring your ID, since the Code lets the DMV ask renewal applicants for proof of identity, legal presence, residency and a Social Security number.

3. Vision Screening or Eye Doctor’s Report

Once you’re 75, vision is the other half of the visit.

You either pass a vision screening or hand in an eye doctor’s report.

The commissioner can waive the vision exam for renewal applicants under 75, the Code of Virginia says.

Either way, the commissioner can require any renewal applicant, at any age, to be fully examined.

If you go with the report, an ophthalmologist or optometrist has to sign the DMV’s MED 4 form.

Your eye exam has to fall within 90 days before the renewal.

Don’t book it months ahead.

The report has to indicate that your vision meets or exceeds the standards in Section 46.2-311 of the Code.

The MED 4 Eye Doctor Form

For your driver’s license, the MED 4 form has your eye doctor record your uncorrected and best corrected visual acuity for each eye.

There’s a horizontal visual field line too, where the form says fields must be in degrees.

Your eye doctor also lists every visual or ocular condition on the form.

Once the doctor finishes, bring the completed form to any DMV customer service center within 90 days.

If your eye doctor’s report and a DMV examiner’s test ever disagree, state law gives the report precedence.

Your Renewal Notice

Virginia law has the DMV send a notice to the address in your driver’s license file before your license expires.

If you’d rather get it by email, you can ask the DMV to send it to an email address.

At 75 or older, that notice is your cue to plan a trip.

It’s an in-person renewal.

Medical Review Services

The DMV’s mature driver page also points to its Medical Advisory Board, which reviews a driver’s ability to drive safely when necessary.

The DMV’s Medical Review page says its Medical Review Services team contacts you once the DMV learns you have one of the listed conditions.

The team starts by asking for information on your current medical state.

That can mean booking an appointment with your medical provider, who submits DMV-approved forms on your behalf.

A trained evaluator then reviews the reports under policies set with the Medical Advisory Board.

Once the review is done, the evaluator contacts you with the result and any requirements.

The 2015 Shift From 80 to 75

NBC Washington reported in December 2014 that more than 180,000 licensed Virginia drivers were older than 80.

Until the new law took effect January 1, 2015, drivers older than 80 had to renew in person every eight years.

Then the age dropped.

WJLA’s report on the change said that at 75 or older you wouldn’t be able to renew electronically or by mail.

You’d also renew every five years instead of every eight once you were 75 or older.

Mature Driver Courses

The DMV's mature driver page links a guide called Shifting Gears: Keeping the Drive at 75.

It also describes GrandDriver, a program that helps drivers recognize the signs of declining driving skills.

The page stresses self-awareness behind the wheel at any age, but especially as you get older.

The DMV's courses page says approved mature operator's safety courses help drivers understand how aging affects driving abilities.

It lists four approved providers: AAA-VADIP, AARP Driver Safety, the American Safety Council's Mature Driver Course and Traffic School Online.

One catch is that finishing a course doesn't earn you safe driving points.

You may also be required to take a mature operator's safety course as a result of a traffic infraction.