Elderly drivers to be offered help to pass driving test

IT'S NEVER too late to get your driving test. That's the message the Road Safety Authority (RSA) has given to more than 2,500 people aged over 65 who are still on provisional licences.

The authority has just written to these drivers to offer them help and support in taking the test.

More than 2,000 people aged 65 to 70 are currently awaiting a driving test and a further 500 over 70-year-olds do not have full driving licences, according to the authority

Its chief executive, Noel Brett, said many of these older drivers had been scheduled for tests and had received test dates. At the end of last year, people over 60 accounted for 2.1 per cent of people holding provisional licences.

Mr Brett said the RSA was not being ageist when it took the decision to write to older motorists. "We wanted to reassure them about the driving test. Some older people find it stressful."

He said tests could be scheduled at a quieter time of day for older people and they could be given a longer period in which to complete the test. Mr Brett also said that driving test supervisors could be allocated to these tests, as they would not be working on the tight schedule of driver testers.

But he stressed the test would not be "dumbed down" for the more mature candidates. "We will not be compromising standards."

Mr Brett said one 77-year-old recently passed the test and there were many more who could do the same.

The authority also sent a leaflet to all older drivers, explaining the test in simple language. "The initial response to the letter is positive with many callers whom we have been able to assist," Mr Brett said.

Last week, the RSA said the target that all learner drivers who were waiting for a test last October would have been tested by the end of March had been met.

The average waiting time for a test is now 14 weeks and that is set to fall to 10 weeks by the end of June. A spokeswoman for the Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey, said June 30th was still the deadline for banning holders of a second provisional from driving unaccompanied.