The following letter was sent to Minister of Public Safety Shirley Bond and copied to Coast Reporter.
As one of the many seniors who lost a driver's licence in the recent series of tests with ICBC, I would like to point out some of the failings of the system used.
Both the SIMARD and DriveAble tests seem to have been designed by and for a generation raised on computers and video games and do not take into consideration the experiences and maturity that comes with the senior years.
Competence in the latest video game is not a substitute for the driving skills most seniors have fine-tuned over many years of day-to-day experience on the road.
Today's seniors are more independent, healthier, better informed and educated than ever before. To arbitrarily and unnecessarily remove a huge factor in self-reliant and independent living is a short-sighted policy indeed. It throws a burden on a younger generation already often overwhelmed with the demands of family and careers.
For the many seniors who live in the more rural areas of the Sunshine Coast, public transit is not an option. A move to an urban area is unwelcome, upsets a well thought out plan for the retirement years and involves inadequate choices of suitable and correctly available housing.
While it is important to remove obviously incompetent and dangerous drivers from the road, it is unrealistic to assume that these people all automatically belong to a certain age group. A better method of testing is imperative. The current system is unrealistic, and it's time for a better plan.
Rose Nicholson
Roberts Creek
