Aging or driving, you have to choose! This is what we think of when we talk about the behavior of the elderly. Because it is often estimated – wrongly – that seniors are more dangerous at the wheel. Road safety figures prove the opposite. In 2017, people aged 65 and over were responsible for “only” 16.9% of fatal accidents. Seniors were under-represented in accidents unlike other younger age groups.
At the wheel, the elderly are therefore not more dangerous but more vulnerable. Certain physical disorders interfere with their driving: sight and hearing which decline or the stiffness of the neck which prevents you from turning your head to monitor the blind spot, for example. They may feel less reassured while still having the ability and inclination to drive. The proof: in France, 64% of people 65 and over own a car. For many, driving is a necessity and it is also a way of remaining independent.
The Prévention Routière association therefore offers internships to enable them to maintain control, confidence and autonomy. In Brech – Morbihan town of more than 6,000 inhabitants where a quarter of the population is over 65 years old – it is the Social Action Center which has decided to set up this day with Road Safety.
It is not at all to sanction people but on the contrary to allow them to continue driving as long as possible and as safely as possible.
Chantal MahieuxDeputy Mayor of Brech
The internships propose to review the code. Between the things we forget and the new regulations, it’s not a luxury as Pierre, 81, recognizes: “I passed the permit in 1958! I discovered new panels, others that I had forgotten. It allows me to recycle and secure me”.
After the theory, there is practice with driving sessions in the company of a driving school instructor. At the wheel, Françoise, 80, frankly recognizes “Be comfortable … also in bad habits! You think you know how to drive very well because there are years. But there are quite a few small mistakes that can be serious. ”
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In 2017, the Haute-Savoie deputy Virginie Duby Muller (LR) made a bill aimed at setting up a systematic medical check-up on driving for drivers aged 70 and over. It was based on figures from the ONISR (National Interministerial Road Safety Observatory), the mortality of people over 65 increased by 9% in 2015 (840 people died). They were said to have been particularly victims of fatal road accidents.
The elected representative proposed a medical examination carried out by a city doctor, to be renewed every 5 years and which would allow either to validate the full capacities of the driver via a certificate attesting to his total capacity to drive; or to pronounce a total or partial ban on driving, for users suffering from certain medical conditions incompatible with driving (cardiovascular problems, vision, etc.).
But this proposal was not unanimous. In 2018, the then Minister of the Interior, Christophe Castaner, spoke out against the idea “to have all people over 60 years of age take tests “. For him, it is “not just a question of age and therefore we should perhaps consider a regular check of the visual state, etc. “ for all drivers.
Remember that in France, the driving license is issued for life, unlike the new European license introduced in 2013 which is now only valid for fifteen years. Specifically for older drivers, European countries have already implemented assessments. In the Netherlands, Denmark and Finland, they have to undergo a regular medical examination from the age of 70. Italy and Portugal are the most “rigorous”: at home, this visit must be carried out from the age of 50.