Calls have been made for all drivers over a certain age to be banned from the roads or face a new driving test. On Good Morning Britain today experts debated a rise in crashes involving more elderly drivers, and one guest said people over the age of 80 should be automatically stopped from driving.
Commentator Mike Parry and scientist Professor Robert Winston were on the show to talk about calls for new restrictions on driving licences as people get older. A report from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents saw a 9% increase in older road users being killed or seriously injured and almost 22,500 individuals aged over 70 had their licences revoked in 2018 because they failed to meet medical standards.
And the number of people contacting the DVLA worried about a driver’s ability behind the wheel is rising – in 2023 a freedom of information request found the number of people contacting the DVLA worried about a driver’s ability behind the wheel is rising. In 2022, 48,754 concerns over a person’s fitness to drive were submitted to the DVLA.
GMB host Susanna Reid said: “You might still be a very safe driver at 75.” Mike Parry replied: “Well, I, might be, but I think once you get to your middle 70s, you’ve got to think about it.
“I took my car off my mum at 77, because it was obvious that, you know, her cognitive ability to drive was starting to deteriorate. She didn’t have the confidence to come forward and say I’m starting to feel frightened when I’m driving, but it was obvious that she was, so we made the decision for her and we sold her a little mini car.
“Now, even though I’m still very capable of driving, I am still aware, I’ve got to concentrate a lot more on the road these days than I had to when I was a younger man.
“Once you get over 80, and of course the professor and medical knowledge will put me right on this, but once you get over 80, at any time you could have a heart attack or a stroke, at any time you might have a seizure, at any time, those arteries in your heart which are blocked up might suddenly give up on you. And I just think we’re dealing with a time bomb. By allowing people to drive on the roads over 80, and remember, a modern car with its huge weight is a lethal weapon, and the minute the driver loses control, anything could happen.”
Host Richard Madeley, speaking to Professor Sir Robert Winston, asked: “He’s saying, Sir Robert, that by definition, just by definition or just by the number itself, by the time you reach 80, you are not fit to drive. What do you, say?”
Sir Robert said: “Well, I think that it’s very unwise to make limits about any kind of physical aspect of a person. I think that some people are intellectually completely incapable at the age of 70, and others are not, and it’s like any other aspect of occupation.
“I think we have to be aware that yes, of course there needs to be much better control of age and driving, and I think there should be much stricter arrangements to make sure.” Richard asked: “Do you think they should take a test when they’re 80”?”
Sir Robert said: “Well, indeed, of course, obviously there should be a different licence and I think also the figures that you’ve just quoted, which of course are percentages, therefore the hard numbers are still missing, are really important because of course whilst you’re saying that you might have a heart attack or you might have a stroke, the fact of the matter is that you’re much more likely to have those diseases well before the age of 70 as a sudden thing than actually afterwards and whether or not there are genuinely a large number of collisions or serious accidents as a result of a medical emergency in a car, as is being claimed, I think it’s really questionable. I don’t know what the figures are.”
Mr Parry said: “Well, I, I’ve looked at them. I’m sorry to interrupt there, but the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents says there is a marked increase.”