Health - Not Age - Should Determine Drivers' Ability

Using age as the sole determinant for driver testing is unfair and possibly discriminatory, according to a new study led by Dr. Holly Tuokko from UVic's centre on aging. "Age is used as a proxy for health and medical conditions and those conditions are just as important in a 40- and 50-year-old as they are in an 80-year-old," says Tuokko who, with Victoria lawyer and UVic law faculty lecturer Fiona Hunter, completed the study on aging drivers for the Law Commission of Canada.

The study calls for a greater awareness and involvement by physicians in considering how their patients' health may affect their driving. Currently in B.C., physicians are required to report clients with any medical condition that would affect their driving to the superintendent of motor vehicles. Most other provinces have similar provisions.

The age limit for required testing varies between provinces. In B.C. drivers are required to have a medical test once they reach 80. While Tuokko admits the accident rate for drivers increases if they are over 80, she says it's likely caused by debilitating health conditions rather than advancing age itself. "The accident rate for drivers aged 65 to 75 is actually lower than the rate for drivers aged 16 to 24."

While advocating for better awareness of drivers' medical conditions at any age, Tuokko and Hunter warn communities that removal of drivers from the road without offering transportation alternatives will just create new problems. "There's evidence that the loss of a driver's license does result in increased depression in the driver and an increased burden on that person's caregiver." Tuokko says imaginative solutions are required to allow former drivers to maintain a sense of independence. For example, instead of leaving its school buses idle during the day, a town near Edmonton uses them to take seniors into the city to shop, do banking and keep doctors' appointments.

Instead of being arbitrary, Tuokko and Hunter say policy decisions must be based on research. If the research data to support such decisions doesn't exist, she advocates more study to ensure decisions such as age-based driver testing are based on solid data.

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