Watch out, granny driver alert
We have L-plates for learner drivers but do we really need E-plates for the elderly?
The man behind the plan says they would encourage fellow road users to be more patient behind elderly drivers, especially as the motoring population ages.
But Grey Power says it smacks of ageism and would do nothing to improve safety.
‘‘It suggests there’s some wrinkled old fool in front of you,’’ Grey Power national president Tom O’Connor said. ‘‘One of the things that rankles with us is we don’t like being treated differently.’’
E-plates are the idea of Auckland-based business SafeGrannies, whose founder Nick Carrol said that, if other motorists knew they were following an elderly driver, they would be more patient.
He likened the signs to a learner’s L-plates and said they had proved popular so far with older drivers tired of being tooted at, or concerned about other motorists dangerously overtaking them.
Carrol said he wasn’t suggesting seniors were bad drivers – quite the opposite. ‘‘Older drivers are actually the ones sticking to the speed limit, and in Auckland that’s not fast enough for other drivers.’’ But O’Connor said the plates – which sell for $12 – would make no change to ‘‘the conduct of idiots on the roads’’. ‘‘I’ve got no objection if someone wants to put it on their car but I don’t believe it would help in terms of safety.’’
Automobile Association spokesman Dylan Thomsen said it was dangerous to generalise about older drivers when some were capable of driving well into their 80s and 90s. ‘‘The interesting thing is, when you look at the pure crash numbers, over-70-yearolds actually have the second lowest number of deaths or injuries of any age group, apart from children up to 15. The age groups with the most deaths and injuries from crashes are 15 to 24-year-olds and 25 to 39-year-olds.’’
The NZ Transport Agency says that, by 2030, 25 per cent of the country’s drivers will be over 65, and older people were more likely to be injured in accidents than their younger counterparts.
In 2016, drivers aged 75 and over accounted for 567 injuries and 27 deaths.
According to Statistics NZ, in 2015 there were 534,252 people over the age of 65 with driving licences, about 15.7 per cent of drivers.