Safe Speed Forums

Over-75s face new driving challenge
By Ben Webster

Elderly licence holders could soon be required to take a special test every five years

ELDERLY drivers are to be required to take cognitive tests to keep their licences, under plans to reduce the number of accidents caused by those with fading skills.

Motorists aged 75 and over will have to visit an assessment centre and complete a half-hour paper-based test designed to examine their fitness to drive. They will also have to pass a sight test before obtaining a five-year driving licence, under proposals made after a review by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

Elderly drivers will have to repeat both tests every five years if they want to keep their licence. The cost of the tests has not been decided, There are more than 1.5 million drivers aged 75 and over and the number is rising rapidly because of greater life expectancy and the growing desire among the elderly to remain highly mobile.

The proportion of people aged over 70 with a driving licence has risen from 15 per cent in 1975 to 47 per cent in 2004. The number of very old drivers is also growing rapidly, with 23,000 registered last year who were aged 91 or over.

Studies have indicated that elderly drivers are more likely to be involved in collisions causing death or injury. The Institute of Advanced Motorists said that older drivers had slower reaction times, took longer to spot hazards and were more likely to become confused by traffic rules and road layouts.

Motorists aged 70 and over are required to complete a form every three years on which they must declare any medical condition. The DVLA may require a driver who declares a condition to be assessed by a doctor.

Research commissioned by the DVLA suggested that the system was being widely abused, with only 10 per cent of people with a notifiable condition admitting to it on forms.

Speaking at a conference organised by the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, Alastair Kennedy, who conducted the research, said: “People rely on cars and there is a lot of incentive for them to keep quiet about any conditions.” He said that people were likely to be more honest about conditions they had if they were required to attend a centre for a cognitive test.

The study also discovered that the present system relied on GPs telling elderly patients that they were no longer fit to drive. GPs told researchers that they did not like performing this role and had no training in assessing driving skills.

Age Concern said that it accepted the need for sight tests but called for more research on the validity of cognitive tests.

Gretel Jones, Age Concern’s policy adviser, said: “Such a blanket system risks stereo- typing the elderly as bad drivers. People who are perfectly fit to keep driving could be deterred from undertaking a test and would lose their licence.”

Sue Vernon, an occupational therapist who works with drivers with medical conditions, said that some had failed cognotive tests but were safe drivers.

The DVLA will soon be starting a public consultation on the proposals.

BEHIND THE WHEEL

DVLA figures on the elderly drivers who had a licence in November 2005

Aged 76-80 844,043
81-85 453,773
86-90 121,694
91-95 21,405
96-100 1,555
101 plus 34

It's my view that you would get 95% of the benefit for only 5% of the controversy by simply requiring the sight tests.

...IMO an eye test every five years should be a mandetory requirement of holding a driving licence at ANY age.

I think a theory test should be compulsory every five years as every day I see drivers who blatantly do not know how to use and apply the Highway Code.

It's my view that you would get 95% of the benefit for only 5% of the controversy by simply requiring the sight tests.

I assume most are familiar, for example, with the basic concept of Rule 103

I think a theory test should be compulsory every five years as every day I see drivers who blatantly do not know how to use and apply the Highway Code.

I wonder how that will be applied to those holding driving licences from other EU countries who live in the UK, as you are no longer required to convert a licence from another EU country into a UK licence, even if you live here, although you can if you wish and do so without taking another test. In theory there is nothing to prevent one from getting an address in, say, France, then changing your UK licence for a French one and using that to drive in the UK. All the ex-pats living in Southern Spain still just keep their UK licences and their UK registered vehicles. They insure them with a Spanish insurer and get a Spanish 'MoT', but keep their UK plates. This is, apparently, quite legal.

Now THAT I have a problem with. IMO if you want to drive in a certain country you should have to pass a test there. Rules and regulations and general driving styles vary so widely that I don't think that licences can be safely transfered.