Did anyone see the BBC Inside Out programme this evening, with a feature about older drivers, presented by Angela Rippon?
The central question being asked was, should older drivers be re-tested regularly? I felt a bit disappointed with the conclusion, which seemed to be that older drivers are mostly able to recognise their own limitations and can regulate themselves, so there's no issue to address, and therefore no reason to consider changing our laws to introduce compulsory re-testing, as currently happens in Spain, Portugal and New Zealand (according to the programme).
I can't help feeling that the BBC have missed a trick here. They quoted a recent example of an elderly driver with dementia who ploughed into a coffee shop in Westerham recently, killing someone. But somehow they managed not to follow through this particular example to explore the effects of dementia on someone's ability to drive - and more worryingly, their own perceptions of their ability to drive, or rather their refusal to acknowledge that their driving skills have declined. Is it just me, or should they have explored the issue a bit more carefully, so as to distinguish the effects of ageing from other factors, such as dementia? It's fair to say that not all elderly drivers have dementia, and not all people with dementia are elderly. Overall, I found it worrying that a very real problem seems to have been dismissed. I feel it would have been better if they could have devoted more time and given a deeper analysis of this issue. I wonder what others think?
The central question being asked was, should older drivers be re-tested regularly? I felt a bit disappointed with the conclusion, which seemed to be that older drivers are mostly able to recognise their own limitations and can regulate themselves, so there's no issue to address, and therefore no reason to consider changing our laws to introduce compulsory re-testing, as currently happens in Spain, Portugal and New Zealand (according to the programme).
I can't help feeling that the BBC have missed a trick here. They quoted a recent example of an elderly driver with dementia who ploughed into a coffee shop in Westerham recently, killing someone. But somehow they managed not to follow through this particular example to explore the effects of dementia on someone's ability to drive - and more worryingly, their own perceptions of their ability to drive, or rather their refusal to acknowledge that their driving skills have declined. Is it just me, or should they have explored the issue a bit more carefully, so as to distinguish the effects of ageing from other factors, such as dementia? It's fair to say that not all elderly drivers have dementia, and not all people with dementia are elderly. Overall, I found it worrying that a very real problem seems to have been dismissed. I feel it would have been better if they could have devoted more time and given a deeper analysis of this issue. I wonder what others think?
