Fitness-to-drive rules should not be ‘heavy-handed’, says RSA chief

Liz O’Donnell appeals for balance and care in the way rules are applied

Rules covering people’s mental and physical ability to drive should not be applied too stringently, the chairwoman of the Road Safety Authority, Liz O’Donnell, has urged.

She appealed for balance and care in the way the rules were applied.

Launching medical fitness-to-drive guidelines in Dublin, she said “we must not use medical fitness rules in a heavy-handed way”. There was emerging evidence, she said, “that being forced to stop driving is linked to feelings of loneliness and isolation which in turn can lead to further mental health issues”.

Ms O’Donnell noted that the new guidelines embodied “an ethos of promoting mobility and attempts to strike that vital balance”.