RACQ member surveys show:
- Of the 60% most concerned about road safety, 90% ranked the safety of older drivers as important or most important and 83% ranked the behaviour of older drivers as important or most important;
- 84% support older drivers being required to re-sit a written road rules test; (RACQ January 2009)
- Of the 84% who believe that older drivers should re-sit a written road rules test, there is not a high level of agreement on the age at which re-testing should commence. 16% suggest 60 years, 14% suggest 65 years, 20% suggest 70 years and 14% suggest 75 years;
- The most popular timeframes for re-testing of road rules knowledge for older drivers are every five years (26%), every three years (23%), every 10 years (13%) and annually (13%);
- 85% believe that older drivers should have to re-sit and pass a practical driving test;
- Among the 85% supporting practical re-testing for older drivers, the suggested ages are similar to those relating to written road rules re-testing. 13% suggest 60 years, 15% suggest 65 years, 20% suggest 70 years and 19% suggest 75 years;
- The most popular timeframes for practical driving re-testing of older drivers are every three years (25%), every five years (23%), yearly (14%) and 10-yearly (13%); and
- 89% believe that doctors should be obliged to notify the Department of Transport and Main Roads about patients who have medical conditions which affect their ability to drive safely.
(Market and Communications Research December 2008)
In Queensland in 2008 there were 75 fatalities (accounting for 22.9% of the road toll) as a result of crashes involving senior adult drivers/riders (aged 60+ years) (Data Analysis Unit 2009). It has been estimated that the number of Queenslanders aged over 60 will increase by 75% by the year 2021 (Queensland Transport 2008, p22).
This aging population is likely to have an effect on road crash statistics, as elderly road users are more vulnerable to trauma than other age groups and are, therefore, more seriously affected by crashes (Townsend and Avenoso 2008, p32).
Driving a motor vehicle is a complex task involving such attributes as perception, judgement and reasonable physical capability. A range of medical and age-related conditions, as well as their treatments, may impair one or more of these factors, thereby increasing the risk of being involved in a crash.
The extent that medical conditions contribute to road crashes is difficult to assess, but there is international recognition and community expectation that medical standards for driving be established and applied (Queensland Transport 2009, p1).
In Australia, the medical standards for driving are detailed in the Austroads publication entitled Assessing Fitness to Drive 2003 (Queensland Transport 2009, p1).
All Queensland drivers licence holders (regardless of age) are required to report to the Department of Transport and Main Roads any long term or permanent medical condition that may affect their ability to drive safely as soon as the condition develops or changes (Queensland Transport 2009, p1).
Typically, this involves such medical conditions as diabetes, epilepsy, heart disease, vision problems, blackouts, psychiatric disorders, sleep disorders and age-related decline, among many others.
Further to this, all Queensland drivers 75 years of age or older must hold a valid medical certificate at all times (Queensland Transport 2009, p1).
At present in Queensland, health professionals are not required to report medically unfit drivers to Queensland Transport, but they are able to if they believe their patient is ignoring their advice to stop driving (Queensland Transport 2009, p3). While they are currently afforded protection from liability if they provide information about a person’s fitness to hold a licence to the Department of Transport and Main Roads in good faith (Queensland Transport 2009, p3), the majority of RACQ members believe health professionals should be obliged to notify the Department of Transport and Main Roads about issues of this nature.
The majority of members also believe that older drivers should be required to re-sit and pass a written road rules test and a practical driving test in order to continue driving.
It is important to note that older drivers are actually less likely to be involved in crashes, but their increased physical fragility results in more severe outcomes in injury severity, recovery time and quality of life if they are involved in crashes (Queensland Transport 2008, p22).
Research also shows that older drivers generally have a good understanding of how aging affects their ability to drive safely and that they self-regulate their driving to help reduce their own risks, e.g., not driving at night or at busy times (Queensland Transport 2008, p22).
Therefore, while it is important that older road users are better protected on the roads (by both the roads and their vehicles), it may not be necessary to subject them to stricter re-testing regimes than the rest of the driving population.
This is especially the case when taking into consideration that driving is important for many older people to maintain independence and mobility (Queensland Transport 2008, p22) and the negative impacts that a loss of this independence and mobility may have on them.
Nevertheless, many drivers can be impaired to the extent that they need to stop driving while others may choose to stop for their own reasons. In all such cases, safe, accessible and affordable alternative transport options are vital in order to help ensure people do not continue to drive when it is no longer safe for them to do so.
RACQ Driver Education works in conjunction with occupational therapists and offers driving assessments and corrective tuition to those who have suffered injury or illness, or have a physical or mental condition that may affect their driving.
The Club’s Road Safety Education Team also delivers presentations and provides feedback and advice to drivers, e.g., the Years Ahead presentations (based on the Years Ahead program developed by RACV).
Priorities: Fitness to drive
- Promote and expand initiatives such as RACQ’s Years Ahead program, which educate older drivers on how to drive safely for longer.
- Educate drivers on their responsibilities and the roles of health professionals and The Department of Transport and Main Roads in assessing their fitness to drive and in licensing them to drive respectively.
- Increase awareness among health professionals and motorists of appropriate driver assessment services available to assist in advising motorists on their ability to drive.
- Increase awareness and use of Assessing Fitness to Drive 2003 by Austroads among health professionals.
- Improve access to health professionals and relevant driving assessment services for impaired or potentially impaired drivers who reside in rural or remote regions.
- Introduce a requirement for health professionals to notify the Department of Transport and Main Roads about patients who have medical conditions that affect their ability to drive safely.
- Ensure that the Queensland licensing system database is equipped to effectively record and update the driving restrictions that may be imposed on drivers required to drive with a medical certificate.
- Investigate and provide alternative transport options to make the transition process from driver to non-driver less traumatic, particularly in rural and remote regions, and support projects to assist in enabling life-long mobility.
- Encourage road environment design that caters to the needs of the elderly.
- Encourage the design of safer vehicles for older people.
- Develop, promote and improve access to public education materials for older road users, such as RACQ’s Refresh handbook and Older Driver Self Assessment Questionnaire.
- Build partnerships with organisations working in the fields of aging, disabilities and health care to help develop and distribute better public education materials to road users.
- Continue to research the impacts of our aging society and, in particular, the effects on road safety, with a view to developing effective countermeasures.
- Monitor the success of the current systems for assessing fitness to drive and make relevant research-based improvements to the system.
References
Data Analysis Unit 2009, Personal Correspondence to RACQ, 03/06/09, Queensland Transport, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
Market and Communications Research December 2008, RACQ Safety Policy Survey: Quantitative Research Report, Market and Communications Research, Spring Hill, Queensland, Australia.
Queensland Transport 2009, FACT SHEET: Jet’s Law: Driver licence holders and medical condition reporting, Queensland Transport, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Queensland Transport 2008, Queensland Road Safety Action Plan 2008-2009: safe4life, Queensland Government, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
RACQ January 2009, Member Issues Monitor Report, The Royal Automobile Club of Queensland Limited, Eight Mile Plains, Queensland, Australia.
Townsend, E. and Avenoso, A. 2008, "Road Safety as a right and responsibility for all": A Blueprint for the EU’s 4th Road Safety Action Programme 2010 – 2020, European Transport Safety Council, Brussels, Belgium.
Contact
For more information contact RACQ Traffic and Safety on 1300 853 658 or 07 3872 8925, or email traffic@racq.com.au.
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