Recent news reports in the local media have sparked off a national debate on social media – whether elderly people are fit to drive and whether they should be allowed behind the wheel at all.

It is a fact that, as we grow older, our bodies change, our joints stiffen and muscles weaken. Agility is also affected and we might have trouble turning our heads to look back or to brake the car. We move slower and our senses grow weaker.

We also think differently and our reflexes and reaction times are much slower. We might also be on medication and this could affect our driving skills.

The above is all factual but is it restricted to age? And what is that age? Should we put an upper age limit in the same way as we have a lower age limit?

Currently a driving licence is renewed every 10 years and no medical tests or certificates are required on renewal unless you are 70 years old. In that case, you have to produce a medical certificate and the licence is renewed for five years.

This means that once we obtain our licence at 18, we have until we are 70 before anyone bothers to check whether we have any medical condition we might have picked up over the years that could affect our driving.

If today I am diagnosed with a condition that manifests any of these symptoms, I can still renew my licence and it will take Transport Malta another 25 years to realise that. In other words, if I go blind today, the only problem I’ll have in obtaining a driver’s licence is filling in the renewal form.

So the simple answer to whether the elderly should be allowed to drive or not is that they should. The more important question we should be asking is should we be asked to provide a medical certificate on renewal. My answer is yes.

Unfortunately, I do not have statistics related to accidents, road injuries and fatalities associated with the older generation.

But my intuition tells me that most traffic accidents are attributable to the younger generation and more common among new drivers rather than among the elderly.

Car insurers seem to see it this way too. They do not seem to be too bothered about the risk associated with elderly drivers.

Whereas they consider drivers aged under 25 to be of high risk and impose higher premiums for this category of drivers, insurers do not consider the elderly to be of any particular risk and the standard is that there are no higher premiums for pensioners.

Older people are a large and increasing proportion of our population and their mobility is vital to maintain a full and independent lifestyle.

People should not be dismissed from driving based solely on their age. A driver’s licence should not be renewed wherever a physical or mental medical condition does not permit the driver to be safe at all times. The mental condition excludes ‘stupidity’.