Show us the statistics for DriveAble
Dear Editor:
Mr. Bill Bland, Vice President of Business Development for the British Columbia driver program DriveAble, was quoted in last week’s Pioneer article ‘Driving test revs up seniors’ as saying, “I don’t want my son or daughter killed by a medically at risk driver.”
Fair enough! Neither do I. But why pick one driver demographic from the pool and work them over the coals when they, in all likelihood, are the less likely group to be involved in a fatal motor vehicle incident?
I have found nothing to indicate that seniors are statistically any more of a risk or danger to others than plentiful, rowdy, lawbreaking clowns in the 18 to 45 age group.
Actually, I believe the opposite to be the truth. If facts or “scientific research” show otherwise, why not bring those statistics forth to support DriveAbles’ worth to the community?
Having said that, I see no reason why our caretakers shouldn’t require elderly drivers who have been assessed with risk factors to take the test, as onerous as it may be in certain cases. Only a silly fool would want to risk disgracing his or her final years, knowing they have been the responsible party in a motor vehicle disaster. I favour the tests, if only for this reason.
But to be fair to all, let’s not stop there. If this test is designed to test, “anyone a doctor or police may have identified as a potential candidate,” as Mr. Bland was quoted as saying, then let’s get the docs to work on this as well as the RCMP.
Put the boys in blue aplenty out on the road to Panorama or anywhere along Highway 93 between Castle Mountain and Radium and pull in everyone they find with cognitive impairment.
If testing for cognitive impairment/functioning (which I take to mean one’s ability to perceive awareness, reasoning, and judgement) is the purpose behind the tests, labs throughout B.C. will be packed to the rafters with subjects showing numerous signs of cognitive impairment.
I’ll bet the north forty that very, very few will be 80-year-olds. And yes, of course, lots of them will bear Alberta addresses.
Alvin Shier
Canmore, Alberta
You know Alvin? you make a very good point regarding seniors vs teenagers and young adults in general although you did not mention young adults. Statistically, you are correct, seniors are less likely to cause fatal accidents vs young adults. That I suppose is the reason that insurance companies use actuarial tables to understand stats and how those states determine, in the end, insurance rates for drivers of all ages.
Unfortunately, some seniors do not take the ethical imperative of taking themselves off the highways when they should, as in when they understand that they themselves are not “sharp ” enough to handle the responsibility of driving. I know one lady, now 93 years of age, that recognized that she was not “sharp” enough any longer and took herself out of the drivers’ task. That landmark event happend when she was in her 80′s. She was in my opinion, ethically strong.
I would venture to say that one of the main reasons for the reluctance to remove a person from the drivers loop, is the loss of freedom of movement – when and whereever you want to go, you have that freedom of movement now curtailed. And that can be a serious deterrent to a senior’s self image.
All that being said, a doctor sees a person at least once a year for an annual checkup. That doctor is relatively qualified to make a cognative judgement of a senior, a young adult, a guy or a gal. That is the first line of assessment, the testing is the last line and will apparently only affect about 2 – 3 % of seniors, the age catagory targeted. ((The testing as I understand the system, is there for us as well should we feel a former spouse needs some professional help ))- that’s a joke folks. Chill. But seriously, the testing is there for other age catagories as well.
Thanks for the additional comment David. I’m not sure “loss of freedom of movement” or “a seniors self imagine” should thrump taking him or her (albeit kicking and screaming) off the road in the name of making them safer. I pick safer roads over loss of freedom or movement anyday. But that’s just my opinion, based on what I’ve witnessed first hand in over 4 decades in collision repair. Let me tell you some of it is not a pretty site.
Agreed on all points – 100%.