203 people over 65 died last year, 12% of all drivers killed, according to the DGT. The elderly do not have more accidents than other age groups, but in a traffic collision mortality is higher. Elderly, doctors and experts agree in rejecting the age limit for driving, claiming that the disability criteria not check the age, but the loss of function.
According publishes the journal Public on its website, those over 65 years account for 23 per 100 population in 2031, six percentage points more than now, according to a study of the CSIC. Ever more elderly people driving, but far from increasing medical checks at advanced ages, as suggested by some experts, the DGT in 2009 extended the terms of validity of license. That is, drivers between 45 and 65 years before the medical examination should be renewed every five years go to do ten, and those over 70, it must be renewed every five years instead of two. The term of license for drivers under 45 and between 65 and 70 is maintained at ten and five years respectively.
The elderly are more vulnerable and that triggers the statistics: "With the same mileage, the elderly have more accidents," said Juan Carlos Gonzalez, medical adviser to the DGT.
associations warn drivers of danger involved in limiting the preventive control in the elderly. Juan Antonio Sánchez, psychologist Road Safety department of the Royal Automobile Club of Spain (RACE), ensures that after 55 years "capabilities visual, hearing and reaction "are starting to deteriorate, so that" it must "review frequently as they affect driving. At age 60, he adds," is accelerated cognitive decline and dementia may occur early. " The Royal Automobile Club of Catalunya (RACC), is preparing a report on the elderly who drive, claiming that medical tests be "more comprehensive" especially those that evaluate the driver's visual capabilities.
The English Society Traffic Medicine reports that many schools "do in-depth reviews, look just above," said its president Fernando Pérez Torralba. Pilar Sayol agrees: "At the last review, I made four questions and I watched the eyes and ears at a time." Meanwhile, the English Association Driver Recognition Centres (CRC), that demands more resources and training, warned of "difficulty of physicians to detect when progressive disease." Its president, Juan Luis Arevalo, is convinced that extending the term of the license "will lead to more accidents."
But it seems that one thing they do agree on the elderly, doctors and experts and to reject the age limit for driving, claiming that the criterion disability does not check the age, but the loss of function.
Source: publico.es
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