Right: One of the most controversial demands regarding older motorists is to have mandatory reporting made law, including by doctors and other health professionals. Found a word you're not familiar with? Double-click that word to bring up a dictionary reference to it. The dictionary page includes an audio sound file with which to actually hear the word said. |
Further implications
The question of how to deal with ageing drivers will probably become more acute with time. As the baby boomer generation moves into its sixties and beyond the number of elderly drivers on the road will increase. It has also been suggested that the baby boomer generation will be more ambitious drivers in old age than other generations have proved. They are thus likely to drive for longer distances and in more challenging driving circumstances than many elderly drivers currently do. This more adventurous behaviour is likely to put both the ageing boomers and other road users at greater risk.
Blanket testing and blanket restrictions do not appear to be an appropriate means of addressing the problems that elderly drivers potentially pose as they are too insensitive. They do not acknowledge that many elderly drivers are not a road hazard. Blanket tests which might needlessly remove elderly drivers from the road would unfairly penalise these drivers, depriving them of the life opportunities and independence that easy access to transport provides.
The new testing schemes being developed within both Australian and the United States seem to offer a solution. These tests would only be applied to elderly drivers whose health circumstances or driving behaviour suggest that these drivers need closer investigation.
In Western Australia mandatory reporting of long-term or permanent medical conditions or driving impairments for all licence holders was introduced in 2008, and has been effective in identifying potentially high-risk drivers of all ages.
Elderly drivers identified as at risk would receive both further medical tests and practical driving tests depending on what their individual situations seemed to require. The tests would be tailored to detect the characteristics relevant to driving competence. The result of an adverse test result would not be automatic loss of licence. Rather, the elderly person's medications would be reviewed and they would be offered opportunities such as physiotherapy or a course of driver-instruction to help develop their skills. They might also be given a restricted licence in a manner more sensitive and appropriate than the way in which restricted licences are currently issued.
All of the above reforms would have the dual advantage of reducing the road risk posed by elderly drivers and of retaining elderly drivers' freedom and independence where possible. The downside is that such initiatives will be expensive. They would require a significant investment in new testing procedures and staff training among driving testers and instructors. There would need to be educational programs to heighten doctors' and physiotherapists' awareness of their responsibilities in this area and perhaps some new tests of physiological competence would have to be developed.
Coupled with the above, there would need to be a massive publicity campaign to shift popular attitudes toward elderly drivers so that younger drivers and the community at large become less prejudiced and punitive. Elderly drivers need to be able to trust that they will be treated fairly if their driving competence is called into question.