2024-02-28 09:15:05
In a context where administrative and normative simplification has become a sort of political mantra, new rules would nevertheless work towards public health. This is the case of a proposal from the Transport Committee of the European Parliament, which aims to call into question the principle of a lifetime driving license. The measure is discussed within the framework of a European directive aimed at modernizing and harmonizing the rules governing obtaining this administrative document. A vote by MEPs was expected on Wednesday February 28.
The idea is to require, every fifteen years, from the date of obtaining a driving license, a medical examination. This fitness test would aim to regularly monitor vision, hearing and reflexes to determine whether the driver can continue to drive safely. The measure would be unprecedented in France, Germany and Poland. But Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark and Italy already apply systems which make the renewal of a driving license conditional on an assessment of the state of health.
This proposal, put forward by environmentalist MEP Karima Delli, is part of a set of measures whose objective is to reduce the number of road deaths by 50% by 2030. In 2022, some 20,000 people have lost their lives following a traffic accident in the European Union. Even if the end of the lifetime license should only make a modest contribution to the objective set, the initiative responds to a double necessity.
Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers Driving license: the medical reasons which lead to a visit every fifteen years
Add to your selections
First, if it is possible to save lives thanks to a simple precautionary measure, it is difficult to justify continuing to let people drive who, objectively, by their age or state of health, represent a danger to themselves, but also to others. Accidents caused by unfit people arouse legitimate anger and incomprehension among victims and their loved ones. The maximum must be implemented to avoid circumstances that are predictable.
Indisputable medical evaluation grid
Then, the absence of rules regarding driving authorization often places families in situations that are difficult to arbitrate. Making a loved one understand that it is no longer reasonable to get behind the wheel is not easy when it has the consequence of limiting their autonomy and mobility. The application of a universal rule based on an indisputable medical evaluation grid would make it possible to avoid many conflicts in the face of which families are sometimes helpless.
The lifetime license rule was set at a time when older drivers were a tiny minority. Even if healthy life expectancy continues to increase, the aging of the European population must encourage legislation to be adapted to this demographic upheaval. Certainly, the accident rate for elderly people is proportionally lower than that for younger people, but it will inevitably increase as more elderly people become more numerous on the roads.
The terms of the end of the lifetime license deserve to be discussed. In particular, it is necessary to adjust the frequency of examinations according to age and to imagine solutions to facilitate the mobility of people whose license would be withdrawn. On the other hand, the principle should be the subject of a broad consensus, as is already the case in a certain number of European countries. Nearly two out of three French people are already in favor of it.
Also read the survey: Article reserved for our subscribers Old people at the wheel, shouting matches around the corner
Add to your selections
Reuse this content
1709114949
#driving #license #life
