Seniors fight push for elderly drivers to hand licences in

http://www.news.com.au/seniors-fight-push-for-elderly-drivers-to-hand-licences-in/story-fn7x8me2-1226275191486


POLICE are urging loved ones to convince struggling elderly drivers to hand in their licence in a bid to improve road safety.
Recent fatal crashes involving older drivers have prompted the plea.

But seniors groups labelled the move discriminatory and believed it would not reduce the number of collisions.

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VicRoads data shows that there are 3.5 million Victorians with licences, including 108 that are aged more than 99.

There are 393,000 drivers aged between 70 and 99.

Victoria Police Superintendent Neville Taylor said some of the state's best drivers were those who had been driving for decades, but it was important for them to know their limitations.

"It is highly important that as people get older and may have concerns about their changing driving ability, that they talk with their family and also seek medical advice where appropriate," Supt Taylor said.

"Similarly, it is important that family and friends also talk with an older driver should they have any safety concerns about their driving or road behaviour.

"We understand these can be difficult conversations to have, but they are important ones, not only for the safety of the family member, but for all road users."

Police praised drivers such as 100-year-old Maisie Griffiths, who after 82 years of driving boasts a clean record: no speeding fines, parking tickets or accidents.

"It's (driving) part of my life," she told the Herald Sun.

"You just have to be mighty careful.

Diamond Creek Highway Patrol Sgt Wayne Burton said people concerned about elderly relatives or friends should talk to them or get VicRoads to intervene.

"It is not because you are dobbing them in, it is because you care for them," Sgt Burton said.

Stats show that seven people aged above 70 have died this year in car crashes, the same figure that accounts for deaths in 18 to 20-year-olds.

Five of the deaths for the over-70s related to running off a straight road.

A 93-year-old man died in Ivanhoe last month after he hit the accelerator instead of the brakes and ran through an intersection.

A 74-year-old woman was hospitalised and her passenger died after she hit a bridge railing near Echuca last month.