Spain is an aging country. And it is increasingly so: the percentage of people over 65 has gone from 13% in 1990 to 19% today. As we have seen on other occasions, to the increase in the elderly population we must add another trend: the prolongation of the years of life. We are living longer and longer. Which translates into an aspect that is both underground and omnipresent in the public sphere: we are enjoying more and more years in which we can drive a car.
Issue on which the DGT proposes reforms.
Which? Those announced by its director, Pere Navarro, a few days ago. The organization is considering reducing the frequency of renewal of the driving license for those over 90 years of age. Currently, all those drivers over 65 who wish to remain so must renew their license every five years. Navarro considers such a term “excessive” for nonagenarians or centenarians. He did not detail what the new one would be, if it were approved, ranging between the three and the two.
He explained it in Congress on Tuesday as follows:
Review and update the psychophysical health conditions for driving due to the aging of the population. Basically, what is envisaged here is a review or update of the renewal deadlines and tests for the elderly.
Why? The measure is part of the Road Safety Strategy designed by the DGT for the next decade, but it includes a question that has long been discussed both in road forums and at street level: are older people a danger behind the wheel? Navarro’s answer is emphatic: no. The reform announced by the DGT would be timid, very timid, since it would maintain the same terms and renewal requirements. for people under 90 years of age.
The way. In a context of progressive aging of the population, the announcement may mark the path of the DGT in the medium term. As we saw at the time, there are countries that more strictly regulate the access of those over 65 years of age to drive. The United Kingdom automatically expires the card after the age of 70, forcing those interested to renew it, a clear disincentive mechanism. Denmark obliges to renew it every year from the 80’s; while Finland reserves at the discretion of the doctor the possibility of the patient to continue driving (and reviews verified by two specialists).
Shorter renewal schemes starting at 75 have already been proposed (by the Salamanca Prosecutor’s Office), but they have not gone any further.
Are we going there? Most likely not. At least for now. Claims figures that brandishes The DGT does not suggest it: “They register four times fewer accidents than those under 25, but their serious mortality is much higher.” A fact that we knew. Older people only star in around 12% of the accidents registered each year by the DGT (2016, out of a total of 12,000) and they collide about four times less than young people. Their higher mortality rate may explain the misgivings of other drivers: up to 30% consider them dangerous.
The melon is another. And it does not rotate so much around the frequency of reviews (which, too) but around their laxity. 81% of drivers over 65 years of age leave the “suitable but with restrictions” recognition, an umbrella that allows them to hit the road despite certain physical limitations (and with some restrictions, such as distance or time limits). The recognition system is broken, despite the fact that the majority register diminishing visual (61) or perceptual (11%) abilities.
In Spain, only 4% of the elderly are left without a license due to a medical check-up, a figure lower than the European average (6%). Nor do they face specific tests and recognitions, something suggested in other forums. The DGT seems to be taking the first step towards a specific regulation, but for the moment limited to +90. Along with the low accident rate, the reason is clear: if there are more and more drivers over 65, there are also more voters in that age group. And they vote a lot.
Image: Andrea Piacquadio