Pressing problem of older drivers

Globally, the increasing number of senior citizens behind the wheel are making the roads more dangerous.

HIS car and driving licence. These were the things my late father hung on to for as long as he could even though he was unfit to drive.

I thought of Dad after reading about Prince Philip causing an accident on Jan 17 and giving up his driving licence at the age of 97.

He was coming out of Queen Elizabeth’s Sandringham estate when he hit a car with two women and a nine-month-old baby. His Land Rover overturned but he was miraculously unhurt. It was also fortunate that the only injuries sustained by those in the other car were a broken wrist (the passenger) and cuts to the knee (the driver).

But Philip did not surrender his licence immediately and the tough old duke was photographed driving just two days later without wearing his safety belt!

We can just picture it: Despite Queen E showing her concern and displeasure, Philip had stubbornly refused to surrender his precious licence until the police reportedly gave him “suitable words of advice”.

sans Britain’s roads maybe safer one elderly driver but I do feel sorry for Philip because he must be as bereft as my dad was when we stopped him from driving.

Dad was in his early 80s when we noticed his driving was getting more erratic and dangerous.

He forgot to signal before changing lanes; he would slow down and not realise it, causing traffic behind him to honk at him; his misjudgement of distance and other objects often led to sudden braking and confusion.

Dad was also diabetic and over time, he had lost most of the sensation in his feet, impairing his ability to manage the gas and brake pedals.

As the very nervous front-seat passenger, Mum was constantly yelling at him and she dreaded being driven by him.

Terrified he was an accident waiting to happen, we had no choice but to take away his car keys.

We wanted to sell his Volvo 240 – which he had lovingly maintained for years – but he would have none of it.

He was determined to keep his licence and car as he harboured hopes that he would one day get behind the wheel again. That day never came.

He became bedridden. It was only then that he allowed his car to be sold.

Prince Philip and Dad belong to the same generation that regarded the ability to drive as a necessary life skill.

My sisters and I always remember what Dad said to us. To him, as an honest police officer who didn’t earn much, all he could do was to arm us with a good education and a driving licence because these were the tools we needed to be independent adults.

All of us sat for our driving test as soon as we turned 18. My licence has been in my wallet ever since. That means I have been driving for more than four decades and, touch wood, without a serious accident in all that time.

I used to love to drive and had enjoyed doing car reviews as a journalist. That was then. Now I drive out of sheer necessity, when I can’t get anyone else to chauffeur me.

I can still drive well but studies tell me that as we age, we are more vulnerable to bright light, which can affect our depth and colour perception and peripheral vision.

Indeed, Prince Philip, in his letter of apology to the driver of the other car, said he failed to see her oncom- ing vehicle because he was affected by the sun shining low over the main road.

Older drivers can also suffer from slower reflexes and a diminished alertness.

All that would seem to make an old driver a road hazard. A 2011 Carnegie Mellon University study revealed that in America, the fatality rate for drivers over 85 is four times higher than for teenagers, usually believed to be the most reckless category of drivers.

Time and time again, we read of accidents caused by elderly drivers who jump kerbs and crash into crowds, often with fatalities.

The cause is almost always due to the elderly driver hitting the accelerator instead of the brake pedal. The Japanese police call this, quite aptly, a “pressing problem”.

While elderly drivers have the lowest crash rates of all age groups in Malaysia, it is not so in developed countries with a sizeable ageing population.

In Japan, for example, more than a quarter of the total fatal accidents in 2016 were caused by drivers over 65, according police records.

In Britain, there was a 31% increase in casualties from crashes caused by slow vehicles in 2017. Who were the “culprits”? Cautious old drivers – and there is now a record number of them in the country – who hogged the middle lane.

Despite studies showing older drivers do self-regulate by driving short distances, avoiding rush hours and not driving at night, few are willing to forego their cars completely.

For Prince Philip, Dad and many older folk who have driven for most of their adult lives, that earned right is akin to their independence and being in control of their lives, to be mobile and to go anywhere they wish.

So when should someone be forced to surrender his driving licence? That’s a debate that surfaces every time an accident involving an elderly driver occurs and calls are made to institute a maximum age limit or mandatory cognitive tests for renewal of licences after a certain age. In the United Kingdom, it’s 70 and in Singapore, it’s 65.

There are no such checks in Malaysia as yet. Still, it is a growing

concern as the number of Malaysians above 60 will double by 2030. Insurance companies have taken note and impose extra conditions on drivers above 65.

In my slightly younger days, I never worried about getting about.

Despite the inadequate public transport system, I assumed I would have alternatives like my children, Grab and, if the worst comes to the worst, taxis.

Now as a person who is crossing over to the elderly group, I am getting anxious about my future independence and mobility.

I do aim to retain my driving licence and be able to drive responsibly for as long as I can and not add to the “pressing problem”.

The thought of me maiming or killing someone because I couldn’t differentiate between my accelerator and brake pedals chills me.

When I reach that doddery state, I think I will surrender my licence and car keys without a whimper.

Hopefully by then, free buses will be a standard state-wide service and a disabled- and old-people-friendly MRT is fully developed. And my children are kind to their old mother.

Aunty is aware Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is still driving at 93. But even he says those in their 90s shouldn’t drive and he does so only on the weekends and with someone beside him.