A Qualicum Beach resident believes B.C. exams for drivers aged 80 and up to be unfair.
With Parksville Qualicum Beach having one of the oldest demographics in Canada, Judy Southern, who has been involved with the Qualicum Beach Senior乌鸦传媒檚 Activities Centre for nearly 20 years, said she has heard seniors discuss the 乌鸦传媒渦nfairness乌鸦传媒� of the exams.
乌鸦传媒淥ne must arrange an appointment with a doctor乌鸦传媒� if they have a doctor and then pay for it,乌鸦传媒� said Southern. 乌鸦传媒淒octors charge, at their discretion. If one is lucky the doctor knows you well and may not feel that you need a follow-up cognitive test or road test.乌鸦传媒�
RoadSafetyBC, the B.C. government乌鸦传媒檚 agency responsible for road safety, mandates persons 80 and above to renew their driver乌鸦传媒檚 licence every two years. They are required to get a medical examination report to be completed by their physicians.
The medical report includes checks for cognition, eyesight and overall physical health. Medical Services Plan does not cover the cost of the exam which varies anywhere from $50 and up depending on the physician.
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Those that fail the medical exams, however, may end up having to take the Enhanced Road Assessment to determine whether they are fit to drive. It is free of charge but it takes a 90 minutes to complete and includes a pre-trip vehicle orientation, a 45-minute on-road drive and a post-trip review.
RoadSafetyBC indicated a driver cannot pass or fail an enhanced road assessment. It乌鸦传媒檚 just a process to determine the person乌鸦传媒檚 fitness and ability to drive.
Southern understands that as people age, some cognitive abilities change. She also agrees that all provinces do require a review of a senior乌鸦传媒檚 driving. However, she claimed that British Columbia has the 乌鸦传媒渓east humane乌鸦传媒� and 乌鸦传媒渕ost expensive乌鸦传媒� system of any province.
乌鸦传媒淭he road test for seniors is twice as lengthy as for any other age group,乌鸦传媒� said Southern. 乌鸦传媒淪ome seniors who have never had problems driving suffer extreme anxiety at the process 乌鸦传媒� and, sadly, failure is pretty much guaranteed.乌鸦传媒�
Jason Watson, communications manager for the Public Safety and Solicitor General Communications Office, indicated that RoadSafetyBC乌鸦传媒檚 goal is to allow people to drive for as long as they safely can.
乌鸦传媒淭he primary tool we use to assess driver fitness is the Driver乌鸦传媒檚 Medical Examination Report, which a physician completes,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淒octors charge a fee for this exam, and they乌鸦传媒檙e entitled to set the amount, which can vary 乌鸦传媒� but Doctors of BC recommends that physicians reduce or waive the fee for patients who are experiencing economic hardship. This has been the approach in British Columbia for at least a decade.乌鸦传媒�
Watson pointed out not all medical information received from the DMER leads to road testing or further action by the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles.
RoadSafetyBC sends about 70,000 examination reports to drivers 80 and over and statistics every year and data shows that 98 per cent keep their driving privileges.
Parksville resident Dennis Belliveau had a business he sold recently that required him to drive to various locations on Vancouver Island. He is 84 and has had to deal with the RoadSafetyBC mandate. But he doesn乌鸦传媒檛 have any problems with the RoadSafetyBC requirements.
乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檝e have not encountered any challenges at all,乌鸦传媒� said Belliveau. 乌鸦传媒淭he first step of that process is a medical and I have gone through that on both ocassions and had no problems with that. I get a few questions from my doctor. I drive a lot of miles so I have to be very careful. I do 50,000 kilometres a year.乌鸦传媒�
Belliveau said he reads the ICBC guidelines and driving instruction books to keep himself updated with the latest requirements. He advises other seniors to do it as well.
乌鸦传媒淚 want to make sure I am up to speed on all aspects and the reason I pay attention to my driver乌鸦传媒檚 licence, my business depends on me to have a valid licence,乌鸦传媒� said Belliveau. 乌鸦传媒淚f I don乌鸦传媒檛 have one, my business is dead. I can乌鸦传媒檛 go out. So I can乌鸦传媒檛 afford to lose my driver乌鸦传媒檚 licence at least up until a couple of weeks before I sold the company.乌鸦传媒�
Belliveau acknowledged there may be some seniors who find the current process difficult. But at this time, he said, he乌鸦传媒檚 had no issues.
Southern wants to collect feedback from the public to help raise this matter with the government.
乌鸦传媒淵ou might not be 80 years old right now but someday you will be,乌鸦传媒� said Southern.
She said there is a plan afoot to gather people on the steps of the Parliament Buildings in Victoria to protest the unfairness to seniors once the COVID-19 pandemic is over.
乌鸦传媒淚 replied that I was certain we could add substantial numbers from the (Parksville Qualicum Beach) area,乌鸦传媒� said Southern.
Feedback or concerns can be emailed to Southern at jnsouthern@shaw.ca.
Currently, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Watson said, RoadSafetyBC temporarily stopped issuing routine age-based DMERs on Dec. 16.
乌鸦传媒淲e want to support the ability of medical practitioners to respond to priority medical cases affecting seniors and other during this difficult time.乌鸦传媒�
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