Can we really continue to drive at the height of old age?

Can we really continue to drive at the height of old age? “It is not a question of age but of aptitude,” answers Sophy Sainten, Director General of the Road Prevention Association. Health problems can concern the motorist throughout the detention of the driving license. »»

In fact, with our European neighbors having set up medical tests – Italy, Portugal, Denmark, Spain -, the effectiveness of such a measure is not proven to be serious collisions, according to the ETSC, a non -profit organization acting with the European Commission and its 2021 report. Brandir the spectrum of the ban with seniors is counterproductive. On the one hand because the elderly who can no longer drive stop on their own most of the time. On the other hand, because the targeting of this population causes the opposite effect: the senior will try at all costs to prove that it is always able to drive ”.

In the Netherlands, where for the past ten years over the age of 75 have to carry out an aptitude test every five years, the road mortality rate in general has been divided by two since the early 2000s, but the number of fatal accidents involving the elderly has increased: many are killed on foot or by bicycle.