Safety suggestion
E-plates for elderly drivers
We have L-plates for learner drivers but do we really need E-plates for the elderly?
The man behind this plan says they would encourage fellow road users to be more patient behind elderly drivers, especially as the New Zealand’s motoring population ages.
But Grey Power says the idea 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 Aucklandbased business SafeGrannies, whose founder Nick Carrol said that if other motorists knew they were following an elderly driver they would be more patient.
‘‘A large percentage of road rage could be removed if they were aware who was in front of them.’’
He likened the signs to a learner driver’s L-plates, and said they had proved popular, so far, with older motorists who were tired of being tooted at, or concerned about other road users dangerously overtaking them.
‘‘The elderly community thinks it’s fantastic.’’
‘‘It suggests there’s some wrinkled, old fool in front of you. One of the things that rankles with us is we don’t like being treated differently.’’ Grey Power national president Tom O’Connor on the proposal.
Carrol said he wasn’t suggesting that seniors were bad drivers – in fact, it was quite the opposite situation.
‘‘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 each – 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.’’
Older drivers tended to be more cautious but the plates wouldn’t change the way New Zealand drivers treated each other on the roads.
‘‘It’s not a horrendously bad idea, but it’s not a particularly good one either.’’
In Waikanae, 79-year-old Frank said he wouldn’t dream of putting an E-plate on his car. ‘‘I’m tempted to get one for the wife, though,’’ he quipped.
He was aware that he drove slower than he did as a younger man but he had not witnessed others getting frustrated by his driving.
Automobile Association spokesman Dylan Thomsen was not aware of plates for older drivers being used in other countries but he said they could be a positive thing for someone who felt more comfortable using them.
It was dangerous to generalise about older drivers when some were perfectly capable of driving well into their 80s and 90s, he said.
‘‘The interesting thing is, when you look at the pure crash numbers, people over-70 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 years old and 25 to 39 years.’’
The New Zealand Transport Agency says that, by 2030, 25 per cent of the country’s drivers will be over 65, and older people are more likely to be hurt in accidents than 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 who held driver’s licences, making up about 15.7 per cent of the country’s driving population.