Evidence of a professional eyesight test should be fundamental when renewing a driving licence from the age of 70 as an ‘MOT’ of driver fitness, according to the Older Driver Task Force*, a team of experts and organisations in this field, which has written to the Department for Transport’s (DfT) head of safer road users. As NHS eyesight tests are free for the over 60s, there is no extra cost to the motorist and there are also other potential benefits beyond road safety too.
Under ‘Cassie’s Law’ when a police officer believes that the safety of other road users would be put at risk if a driver with insufficient eyesight remains on the road, they can ask for the licence to be urgently revoked. The Task Force says there is a need to raise awareness of this among police forces, provide more training and carry out random testing to help identify the scale of the issue.
The main purpose of the Task Force is to help to enable older road users to drive more safely for as long as possible. People are living longer and being able to continue to drive into old age has significant benefits for the individual as well as the community at large.
In the letter, Older Drivers Task Force Chair, John Plowman asks for DfT contributions and involvement in these initiatives; in developing a national standard for mature driver assessments; and towards further research and understanding of the specific challenges older drivers face, particularly at right-turns at T-junctions.
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He highlights opportunities in vehicle development to address the needs of older drivers, saying that crash testing can be modelled digitally to address the physical characteristics, such as frailty, of older people.
- Older drivers (70+) do not pose a significant risk to other road users, but their relative frailty means that they are over-represented in serious crashes – particularly those over 80
- For drivers over 80, the rate of being killed or seriously injured, per licence held, is as high as for those aged 21-29
- Serious injuries among the young reflect inexperience; for older drivers it’s about their fragility
- We have an ageing population so expect huge increases in licences held by older drivers
- So older driver deaths will increase if we do not take decisive action now
- Car driver deaths in the 70-79 age group are forecast to increase by 40% over the next 20 years, and by more than a quarter in the 80+ age group
The full report on which the letter to the DfT is based is available here: https://roadsafetyfoundation.org/project/safe-driving-into-old-age/ and further resources here: https://oldermobility.com/#about
