Older drivers
Mandatory tests for seniors behind the wheel? Not with Transport Minister Wissing
Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) has a clear opinion on stricter regulations for older drivers
© Andreas Arnold / DPA
The debate about the ability of seniors to drive has been simmering for years. Many are calling for regular, mandatory self-assessments for older drivers. This is given by the Minister of Transport Wissing now a clear rejection.
In Germany, stricter rules for older people would probably be off the table. Mandatory medical examinations are “not proportionate,” emphasized Wissing. In addition to Germany, Austria and Belgium, among others, also campaigned against such a regulation.
EU states are positioning themselves in the dispute over new driving license rules
According to the compromise, Member States should require driving license holders to either undergo a medical fitness test or provide self-declaration of their health. Drivers would have to show this when they reapply for their driving license every 15 years. The EU Commission had also proposed that driving licenses for people aged 70 and over should only be valid for five years. They would therefore have to provide information about their health more often.
Transport Minister Wissing rejects these additional regulations. He criticized that self-disclosure does not offer any added value for road safety. “I think this is unnecessary bureaucracy,” said Wissing in Brussels, adding that the authorities are already overloaded. Germany therefore did not agree to the compromise, but was outvoted.
The EU Parliament still has to decide its position on the proposed law. Member states and MPs then negotiate the final law. The driving license reform is also intended to introduce accompanied driving from the age of 17 in all member states as well as a digital driving license valid throughout the EU.
Accident researcher contradicts Wissing
According to an accident researcher, Federal Transport Minister Wissing underestimates the danger posed by seniors behind the wheel. Although older people are not involved in accidents more often in absolute terms, this is because they travel significantly less, said the insurer’s head of accident research, Siegfried Brockmann, to the German Press Agency. According to Brockmann, measured in terms of driving performance, just as many people die in accidents involving people over the age of 75 as in accidents involving the high-risk group of 18 to 21 year olds.
Brockmann recommends compulsory trips for older people with professionals as a measure to increase road safety. These could then provide feedback on their driving behavior, but without having the option of taking away people’s driving licenses.
As figures from the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden show on Monday, older drivers are more often to blame than younger drivers when they are involved in accidents that result in personal injury. According to statistics, people aged 65 and over were the main culprits in more than two thirds of these cases (69 percent) last year.