BOSTON -- A hearing is under way at the Statehouse in Boston on whether to change the testing requirements for older drivers.

NewsCenter 5's Todd Kazakiewich reported that several recent crashes have elderly drivers in the spotlight.

"It's one thing to discuss this. It is totally another to close the lid on a coffin," said Nayan Patel, the cousin of Diya Patel, 4, who was struck and killed by an elderly driver earlier this month. She was on a scooter when she and her grandfather crossed a road in Stoughton.

"To actually look us in the eye and say, 'We are going to do everything that we can to make sure that this doesn't happen again.' If this is avoidable, why shouldn't it be avoided?" Patel said.

The bill that proposes mandatory testing of drivers 85 years and older is sponsored by Sen. Brian Joyce.

"Drivers 85 and older have the highest rate of fatal crash involvement. These statistics may grow worse as our population continues to age," Joyce said.

Others who testified said that senior citizens should not be singled out.

"Not just testing of drivers at just one particular age of 85, but is there a problem with the person's vision, cognition, physical abilities, where age may not just be the only factor?" said Diana Flannery of the Massachusetts Association of Occupational Therapy.