The number of traffic incidents involving drivers aged 65 or older have been increasing every year, despite a policy that took effect in 2017 requiring drivers aged 75 or older to pass a physical and cognitive test every three years, data from the Ministry of Transportation and Communications showed.
The number of car and motorcycle incidents involving people aged 65 or older has increased 78 and 93 percent respectively over the past seven years, while the number of people in that age category caught driving without a license has also increased, the data showed.
In 2017, 1,050 traffic incidents involving people aged 65 or older driving heavy motorcycles were reported, while 643 incidents involving people aged 65 or older driving small passenger vehicles were recorded, the ministry’s road safety information inquiry Web site showed.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Those figures increased to 2,029 and 1,146 respectively last year.
For the first three months of this year, those figures were 501 and 306 respectively, and if that trend continues, this year’s totals are likely to be a record high.
The policy implemented in 2017 requires people aged 75 or older to renew their driver’s license every three years to pass a health examination, a cognitive test and submit a certificate proving that they do not have moderate-to-severe dementia. If they refuse to return or renew their license, it would be revoked.
In the first year the policy went into effect, just more than 80 percent of drivers aged 75 or older who were required to renew their licenses did so, while as of the end of last month, 90.9 percent had renewed them, Highway Bureau data showed.
As the data refer to traffic incidents involving drivers aged 65 or older, while the license renewal policy is for drivers aged 75 or older, there is no clear correlation between the incident numbers and the policy, bureau official Wei Wu-sheng (魏武盛) said yesterday.
The bureau is planning to commission a study of the issue, he said.
Since the license renewal policy was implemented, no official academic research has been conducted on its effects, said Lee Chung-yi (李中一), a professor in National Cheng Kung University’s Department of Public Health.
The ministry should investigate the main causes of traffic incidents involving older drivers, to understand whether they were caused by cognitive or physical issues, Lee said.
It should “also pay attention to older drivers who choose to drive without a renewed license and how to prevent them from doing so,” he said.
Motor vehicles offices provide special care for drivers aged 70 or older, such as sending helpful information to those who have been fined for a traffic offense, Wei said.
The bureau is discussing whether that policy should be extended to drivers aged 65 or older, he said.
Asked if the license renewal policy might also be extended to cover a wider age group, he said that as it would affect a large number of drivers, the bureau has not discussed the matter.
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