How do you tell an aging parent or friend that their driving is no longer up to snuff? How can you ignore the tell-tale accumulating dents, the grandkids covering their eyes when grandma's backing up at the mall or the long line of cars following Uncle Charlie as he putts down the highway at 60 km per hour?
Some of us hope that the seniors' doctors will break the bad news and notify the authorities of the decreasing capabilities of their patients. Or we hold our breath and hope the traffic cop will pull our aging driver over and confiscate the licence on the spot.
To allay some of those grim possibilities, the government of B.C. requires drivers over the age of 80 to pass a road test to continue driving. And while there are some folks who are no longer capable of driving, there are increasingly, because of better health and awareness, many senior men and women who are still good drivers.
If you live on the Sunshine Coast at present and are required to take the mandatory seniors' test, you have to go to Vancouver to do so. Regardless of your driving abilities, if you're not used to driving in the rat maze that passes for the Lower Mainland, you're at a disadvantage. Negotiating streets where honking is a way of life can send anyone's blood pressure soaring. On the bright side, if you pass a driver's test in that city you're probably good to drive anywhere on the planet except perhaps Rome or Vietnam.
The Sunshine Coast Regional District and our MLA Nicholas Simons think having seniors go to Vancouver with the accompanying expense and discomfort is just plain wrong, and we couldn't agree more. As an area of the province with one of the highest senior populations, the Sunshine Coast needs to have its own testing centre, and sooner rather than later. It's promising that the powers that be in Victoria are acting on this need. We'll keep you posted on the outcome of the talks with Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Shirley Bond.
Arguably, next to compromised health, the worst thing that can happen to a senior is the loss of their precious driver's licence.
It's not hard to fathom why someone who has been driving for 65 years or more might suddenly find their independence seriously curtailed when his or her licence is relinquished. There's no need to add insult to injury by having that happen in Vancouver. In the interests of safety and compassion, the tests need to be available here. Let's drive that home to Victoria.
