Daphne is still shaking.
“I slept in the front passenger seat and my grandfather was driving
,” says the 25-year-old apprentice pharmacist.
“I woke up with a start.
We were in the opposite direction on the insertion lane of a departmental road, at 70 kilometers per hour.
Cars brushed past us, honking their horns.
My grandfather couldn’t think of anything better to say than the signposts were wrong.”
Since then, his granddaughter,
“who still does not understand how he managed to arrive in the opposite direction on the expressway”
, has categorically refused to get into his car.
“He is in denial and refuses to see that he is a public danger
,” she protests.
We should stop him from driving!”
These concerns are currently in the sights of the European Parliament.
This Tuesday, February 27, MEPs must study a law brought by French MEP Karima Delli (EELV), which would like to make the guarantee of a driving license conditional on a medical examination every 15 years.
This health examination would also be renewed every five years from the age of 70.
This bill rekindles the debate on lifetime driving licenses for seniors, whose driving worries many families in France...Sometimes to the great despair of those first concerned.
“It is the cross and the banner to make him listen to reason”
“I have not driven for 55 years without being stopped once by the police, so that my 19-year-old grandson will lecture me today,”
storms Émile, 79, joined by videoconference by
Le Figaro.
“My driving may be a little sporty, but I haven't hit anyone so far
,” he wants to point out.
Leo, the grandson in question who is at his side, rolls his eyes.
“Not yet, but it won’t be long,”
he exclaims, much to the retiree’s chagrin.
“The other day, you took a roundabout the wrong way!”
continues Léo, intractable.
This
“little careless mistake”
, as Émile describes it, pushed Léo to act to limit his grandfather’s trips by car as much as possible.
“But it’s the cross and the banner to make him listen to reason
,” he sighs.
Read also Driving license reform in Europe: the Jullians' fight, in memory of their overthrown mother
These mishaps over how seniors behave often end in family quarrels.
“On the fourth sidewalk that we hit with my grandfather at the wheel, I told him: “It’s very clear.
Either you take a ten-minute break to recover your strength, or I’ll take the wheel,”
recalls Amandine.
The 22-year-old medical student still can't understand why her grandfather's doctor didn't stop her from driving.
“He has the beginnings of Parkinson's disease
,” she explains.
“He doesn't look at blind spots and his perception of space is distorted,” she continues.
However, when he was stopped by the police a few months ago for a routine check, he was only asked to take a driving code test.
“We are getting around the problem
,” laments Amandine.
It would have been necessary to test his practice, and not his theory of driving.
He has all his head, it’s his motor skills that he no longer has!”
In France today, nothing prevents elderly people from driving their vehicle.
With the lifetime driving license, without any compulsory medical examination, France is almost an exceptional country in the European Union.
In the Netherlands, motorists must take a medical test every five years from the age of 75 to renew their right to drive.
This is also the case in Denmark and Finland from the age of 70, or in Italy from the age of 50.
In France, if the senior persists in keeping behind the wheel, a family report can be made to the department prefect.
If the latter judges that the alert is legitimate, he can request a medical examination of the license holder by an approved doctor
“expert in fitness to drive”
.
Once the medical opinion has been issued, the prefect can decide to leave the permit as is, or issue a limited permit (over time), or even withdraw it.
The crux of the problem lies in the fact that the doctor alone cannot report the senior to the prefectural authorities, in the name of professional secrecy.
It is up to the family to take the steps.
“At home,”
however, points out Laure, a 23-year-old student,
“my parents don’t realize how dangerous my grandparents’ driving is.”
The last straw for this Lyonnaise?
“My grandmother has much more confidence in her husband's behavior than in mine.
She refuses to get into my car, even though I’ve had my license for five years!”
The oldest are as responsible for accidents as the youngest
However, if drivers aged 75 and over are much more often presumed responsible in serious or fatal accidents, this proportion is equivalent among 18-24 year olds.
In a fatal accident, responsibility falls 8 times out of 10 to these two age groups.
On the other hand, the number of fatal accidents is half as high among those aged 75 and over as among those aged 18-24.
In summary, seniors over 75 are less often involved in accidents, but when they are, they, like 18-24 year olds, very often bear responsibility.
“Very often, seniors are guilty of hit-and-runs
,” points out a gendarmerie brigadier, regularly confronted with these situations.
The latter, who
“drive under the influence of fear, or on the contrary have the impression of being alone in the world”
, without realizing it cause road accidents and various damages.
“They hit cars while parking, or brake suddenly and cause tamponades,”
the brigadier further enumerates.
These road accidents are mainly due to discomfort, inattention or failure to respect priorities.
Critics of this bill are nevertheless concerned about the loss of autonomy of seniors generated by the abolition of driving licenses.
“We need compensation to avoid isolating the oldest
,” argues Christine, 72 years old.
The septuagenarian, who lives in Dinard, highlights the solutions in place to allow seniors to continue to move around.
“You have to be able to rely on your neighbors, on the buses, the shuttles or even the town hall...And accept that at some point, you can no longer get behind the wheel.”