For the three seniors from the University of Chicago Laboratory School, their ambitious bicycle trip over spring break was a celebration of their friendship before they likely went their separate ways to college.

“3 friends, 3 bikes, 500 miles, let’s do this,” wrote one on her Facebook page.

But the trip — which they planned for months and was chaperoned by one parent — was cut tragically short Wednesday when police said an 86-year-old driver veered across a rural stretch of highway in southern Illinois and collided with the trio, killing Faith Dremmer and injuring Kaia Tammen and Julia Baird.

“Our daughter kept saying, ‘I’m starting a new life … I can’t wait to graduate,’” said Tammen’s father, Bruce, as he waited at the hospital. “They were very excited about this trip. They were very aware that this was the end of high school for them.” [Chicago Tribune]

I’ve stayed close on this story for the past day now and every time it’s updated, it just says that “police continue to investigate,” with no mention of criminal charges being filed. From the comments, it appears this happened on or near a dangerous curve that commenters say many people often approach with too much speed. The story reports that the driver was “beside himself” at the crash scene.

Though this appears to be a tragic accident, at what point do we dismiss age as a factor when deciding to charge people with crimes? If this driver was between the ages of 16 and 55, you could surely bet they’d be charged with something by now. Probably not involuntary manslaughter or reckless homicide, but at least driving too fast for conditions, improper lane usage, failure to yield. Something.

Illinois has some of the toughest license renewal requirements for the elderly in the country, and when this man turned 87 he would have had to take a road test every year to renew his license opposed to every two years for drivers 81 to 86. Two years is a long time at any age, but people can break down physically and mentally especially rapidly at this man’s age.

It’ll be a political firestorm for anyone who tries to tackle it, but we tell teens they’re too young to drive and pass laws raising the age limit before they can get their licenses. How many lives have to be cut short in “tragic accidents” before we tell the elderly they’re simply too old to drive?