Annual tests for elderly, 'wrong'

Subjecting elderly drivers to annual driving tests in South Australia would be age discrimination, the RAA believes.

Traffic and safety manager Rita Excell said yesterday appropriate medical screening for all drivers, rather than practical tests from age 85, was necessary.

Her comments follow a call by the RAA's counterpart in New South Wales, the NRMA, to scrap mandatory annual driving tests for motorists aged 85 and over.

The NRMA said older drivers were already some of the most cautious on the roads and that medical tests should be limited to those drivers who had been identified by family, friends and medical professionals as being at risk.

Ms Excell said it would be discriminatory to put restrictions on age. “Someone younger might be a greater risk on the road,” she said.

The RAA was satisfied with licence conditions for SA drivers which requires motorists aged over 70, or of any age with a medical condition, to have a certificate of fitness to drive signed by a doctor every year. “We oppose practical driving tests for older drivers,” Ms Excell said.

However, Joy Flood, of Glenside, who has held a driver's licence since she was 18, said she would not object to annual practical driving tests for seniors.

“I wouldn't mind it,” she said. “I think it's a pretty good idea.”

Mrs Flood and her husband, Bert, have also made a decision to drive in their “comfort zone” now that they are aged in their 80s.

“We don't drive interstate and we don't drive at night by choice,” Mrs Flood said.

Should older drivers do a practical test to keep their license?