Impaired by Age?

In July, an 85-year-old Toronto woman was convicted of criminal negligence causing death for striking a pedestrian and dragging her nearly a kilometre to her death. The victim pounded on the hood to draw attention. The car, moving at about 10 km/h, swerved back and forth as the elderly driver continued to drive home, where the mangled body was found near her driveway.

In passing his verdict, the judge suggested that the driver's actions might have been "impaired...perhaps by age." These words raised a red flag. While some critics said the judge's words showed bias against the old, the incident prompted questions about older drivers.

If aging impairs a person's ability to drive safely, Canada faces a challenge over the next two decades. The fastest growing segment of licensed drivers expanding is the age group 65 and older. This is only the beginning - in the next five years the first baby boomers will become 65.

Based on fatalities per million licensed drivers, the second highest rate is among older drivers, where current statistics show driver fatalities increase significantly after age 65.

Canadian jurisdictions are looking seriously at how to deal with the aging driver population. One alternative is a system similar to (or rather, opposite to) graduated licencing. For example, a person might be restricted to driving only in the daylight hours, or might be licensed for city streets but not highways.

The Canada Safety Council's 55 Alive Mature Driver Program is a refresher course for older drivers. It helps them compensate for deterioration in hearing, vision, flexibility and reaction time, with the goal of enabling them to drive safely for as long as possible. The course is available across Canada. For details contact CSC.

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