As of: March 2, 2024, 5:15 a.m
By: Andreas Schmid
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Feedback trips for seniors led by driving students.
Accident research brings these feedback trips into play for people aged 75 and over.
© Imago/Joker
After the debate about health checks, there is a new proposal for driving licenses for people aged 75 and over.
The senior citizens' union suspects age discrimination.
According to some EU politicians, older drivers should have a mandatory health check in the future.
However, after great criticism, especially from Germany, the EU Parliament rejected its original plans: the member states are still free to decide whether and for whom they introduce health tests or not.
Such checks already exist in 14 EU countries.
In this country, Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing is decidedly against it.
The insurers' accident research department (UDV) also rejects these tests.
However, the new head of the UDV, Kirstin Zeidler, has a different suggestion: mandatory check-in driving for all drivers aged 75 and over.
These should last 45 minutes, under the supervision of driving instructors or traffic psychologists.
The idea is that the seniors will then be given non-binding feedback on their driving behavior during these trips.
“Older drivers have a similarly high risk of accidents as new drivers”
“This is not a classic driving test that asks about the traffic rules,” says Zeidler in an interview with
IPPEN.MEDIA
.
“Of course they know the older ones.” Rather, the focus is on responsiveness and attentiveness.
There will then be feedback from the driving instructor.
Possible feedback could be: “Drive your known routes” or “Only drive during the day and not at night or outside of peak hours”.
The feedback is confidential and has no impact on your driver's license.
“However, our experience shows that this can have an effect in reality and that, at best, the senior actually implements the recommendations.”
This could improve traffic safety.
A look at the accident numbers shows: “In terms of their driving performance, older drivers aged 75 and over have a similarly high risk of accidents as novice drivers aged 18 to 24,” says Zeidler.
The causes are different.
Novice drivers have a lack of driving experience and are also more willing to take risks.
Older people have more driving experience, but a decline in cognitive abilities.
“Attention, concentration and reactions are lower,” says Zeidler.
“It is a gradual and completely natural aging process.” However, these skills are essential for safe driving.
“You can’t check this at the doctor’s office, but only when you’re actually driving in real traffic.”
Criticism from the Senior Citizens' Union: "Those who are in their right mind should decide for themselves"
How are these suggestions received by the older generation?
The Senior Citizens' Union doesn't believe in feedback tests: "Our pensioners deserve trust - and not state tutelage," says federal chairman Fred-Holger Ludwig to our editorial team.
“Individual responsibility and freedom have always characterized our view of humanity.” When it comes to driving, this means: “Anyone who is of sound mind can and should decide for themselves whether they want to give up their driving license due to age or not.
We therefore firmly reject these mandatory feedback trips.”
Why should the test be mandatory at all?
“If we do this voluntarily, only seniors who are already sensitive to the topic will come,” says Zeidler.
“That’s why we’re in favor of making this mandatory.”
100 euros for TÜV for seniors: “Of course you would have to pay for that yourself”
A possible problem for seniors: The feedback test would probably have to be paid for themselves.
“A 45-minute trip costs around 100 euros,” says Zeidler.
“Of course that would have to be taken over by the senior.”
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For the seniors’ union, that would be “simply unreasonable,” as Ludwig says.
“And all of this just to prove that they can pursue a skill that many of them demonstrate every day.
For us, this borders on age discrimination.
Accident research responds: “We think this is an appropriate measure.
If you think about how much a full tank of gas costs, it is money well spent, as it gives the person a certain level of security about their own abilities and avoids accidents." (
as)