Healthier seniors still driving into their 80s

More seniors are driving later into their 80s and are increasingly deciding themselves when to stop getting behind the wheel of a vehicle, according to the Office of the Seniors Advocate.

In releasing two annual reports about supports and services for seniors in B.C. on Tuesday, Isobel Mackenzie said 74 per cent of seniors over the age of 65 still have a driver's licence.

In 2019-20, a total of 75,300 seniors over the age of 80 were required to take driver fitness medical exams. Beginning at 80, the exams are required every two years on the grounds that medical conditions affecting driving are more common after that age.

“We saw a six per cent increase over the previous year of people going for the in-driver medical exam,” she said during a virtual news conference.

“That reflects, to some extent, that people are driving further into their years after 80. That reflects that their health is better.”

Mackenzie went on to say that there was an 18 per cent decrease in the number of people referred for the enhanced road assessment test, an on-road driving test.

“That is telling us that if a senior is no longer able to drive, they are likely deciding that on their own,” Mackenzie said.

“The number of (those) people who go into a doctor's office and walk out with their driver's licence intact and no further testing needed is 94 per cent, approximately. So that's a good thing as well.”

Both the Long Term Care Quick Facts Directory and the Monitoring Senior Services Report include data for the year ending March 31, 2020. They don't show the full effect of the pandemic on seniors.