While the issue of senior citizens’ or elderly people’s unfitness to drive is at the heart of public debate, its absence from legislative texts could lead to a transfer of responsibility to relatives and doctors when it comes to the withdrawal of a senior citizen’s driver’s license.
The burden of relatives in the withdrawal of a senior citizen’s driver’s license
Denouncing a driver’s unfitness to drive seems in this case to be a practice that falls more on the shoulders of families, raising a number of concerns, not least with regard to the emotional impact and relational balance between loved ones. The idea of a report made by a child or relative of an elderly driver seems, to some, to violate the notion of privacy and individual freedom.
Indeed, the reporting process seems unbalanced, as it imposes a responsibility on relatives that could, in certain situations, lead to abuse or instrumentalization of this procedure for personal reasons.
While this practice can help reduce the risks on the road, it can also be a source of family conflict and stigmatization for the elderly. Relatives who report a parent or family member as unfit to drive could be accused of undermining the autonomy of the person in question.
The role of doctors
Doctors play a crucial role in the process of withdrawing a senior citizen’s driving license, since they are often the first to be made aware of a medical inability to drive. As part of their duty of safety and ethics, doctors are required to report any condition that could jeopardize the safety of the person concerned, or that of others.
According to Sécurité Routière, a doctor can recommend that a driver’s license be withdrawn if he or she has significant cognitive or physical impairments (such as Alzheimer’s disease, impaired vision or neurological problems).
Published by the Editorial Staff on