Editorial: A testing time for veteran drivers. By Terry Sweetman, From: The Courier-Mail June 24, 2011
- by Terry Sweetman
- From: The Courier-Mail
- June 24, 2011 12:00AM
THE Australian male, particularly the mature bull, is generally a placid beast – until you question his driving ability.
A recent call from Southport MP Peter Lawlor for older people to undergo regular medical and driving tests, kicked along by a supportive column by me in The Sunday Mail and kept on the boil on talkback radio, has largely become an exercise in male self-righteousness.
Lawlor was motivated by a tragic accident in which his daughter lost part of a leg after she was pinned by an out-of-control car driven by an 88-year-old man.
The response has been a mixture of anger, legal uncertainty and misplaced confidence in motoring skills.
There is confusion over medical certificates but the State Government website tells over-75s: “Your doctor might decide to give you a certificate that lasts for five years, or just six months.”
I suspect confusion about the length of certification comes because diligent doctors err towards caution.
Some doctors are not so cautious, with younger readers relating terrifying stories about incompetent family members retaining their licences through deviousness and/or gullible or inattentive medics.
But one constant claim by those who see ageism around every corner is that older drivers have excellent driving records (better than youngsters) and that their skills are largely undiminished.
It is a proud generalisation that doesn’t always stand up to analysis.
A study by Queensland University of Technology researchers has found that older drivers just aren’t as good as they think.
Says team leader Professor Karen Sullivan: “Our analysis showed little relationship between the participants’ performance on the hazard perception test and the ratings they gave themselves.”
She goes on: “We also found that decreases in the ability to perceive potential hazards were not matched by a reduction in confidence in the ability to handle difficult driving conditions, nor by avoiding these many potentially dangerous driving situations.”
And: “Drivers in the study rated themselves as considerably more skilled than the average Brisbane driver, despite the study’s findings that time taken to respond to potential hazards increased with age.”
The team concluded “self-assessment is not an accurate way for older drivers to assess their driving”.
If it’s any consolation, Sullivan notes other studies demonstrated younger drivers also overestimate their skills.
The study was hardly gunning for older drivers. It was “looking at ways of improving their hazard perception because they are an important group in the road using community and have particular transportation needs”.
Just as sobering for older road users – drivers, passengers or pedestrians – is a finding by Queensland’s Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety that they “share declining functional capacities and increased fragility associated with ageing”.
The research centre reports: “Although the risk of being involved in a crash is re- duced among the elderly, the risk of being killed when a crash occurs is much greater, due to associated fragility.”
It also says that, by 2051, the number of road crash casualties is expected to double among 60 to 69-year-olds, to treble among 70 to 79-year-olds, and to almost quadruple among the 80-plus.
However, little increase is expected among the 30 to 59-year-olds.
CARRS notes “assessment of most at fault shows a U-shaped curve by age, with young drivers having a high level of fault, which declines in the mature years before increasing from age 60, with the most significant increase being in the 75-plus age group”.
As bad as young drivers might be, they tend to get better while older drivers, who might have excellent records, get worse.
And, along with declining abilities to perform a complex task, older drivers are more likely to be taking medication (just as young drivers are more likely to be taking illegal drugs or alcohol, with similar results). According to CARRS, older drivers are commendably less likely to drink-drive, speed or indulge in other deliberate risk-taking behaviour. But, their faults tended to be due to poor decision-making or a failure to detect and act on important information.
It might make older Australians feel a little bit better to know they’re not alone. The United States Highway Administration says drivers over 75 have the second-highest rate, after teenagers, of fatal crashes per 1.6km driven.
We recognise that people under the age of 17 generally do not have the ability, the maturity or the judgment to drive. We should similarly recognise that older drivers generally have declining abilities.
There are plenty of older people who remain excellent drivers into their 80s.
But not all.
Regular testing after a certain age is not discriminatory; nor is it a bid to strip people of their independence.
It is a recognition of unpalatable facts that most us accept in so many other areas of our lives as we get older.
We have regular debates about improving the skills and survivability of young drivers, so there is no reason not to talk about older drivers. It is a debate that we have to have, but when you stir up older people it is wise to use a very long stick.
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