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GPs’ role in elderly driver tests in focus
With the number of senior drivers more than doubling in 14 years, GPs’ role in conducting fit-to-drive tests is again in the spotlight.
On 30 June 2024, there were 773,034 drivers aged 80 and over across Australia, compared to 384,118 in 2010.
A record number of drivers aged 80 and above are now driving on Australia’s roads.
According to Australian Infrastructure and Transport statistics released in January, there were 773,034 drivers aged 80 and over on 30 June 2024 compared to 384,118 in 2010.
Over this 14-year period, a breakdown of the data shows this trend is consistent across every state and territory.
The data is particularly pertinent, following two fatal accidents involving senior drivers that took place in Victoria just months apart, raising questions around the potential need for the state to introduce mandatory health checks for people aged 75 and over to renew and maintain a licence, similar to those in other states.
One of those fatalities was in Wantirna South – a crash which resulted in the death of a 59-year-old woman and a 60-year-old man, and the hospitalisation of their two-year-old grandson after they were struck by an elderly driver.
Speaking to 7NEWS, the boy’s mother called for change, while her partner said, ‘Victorian legislation is way behind’.
‘You can’t guarantee everyone can still drive when they are 70, 80, 90 years old,’ he said.
In the wake of the crash, Victoria’s Acting Premier Ben Carroll also announced plans to discuss the possibility of assessing elderly drivers’ fitness to drive.
But the prospect has raised some concerns, including among GPs.
Professor Dimity Pond, who is a GP with a special interest in cognitive impairment, told newsGP she is surprised by the number of elderly drivers on Australia’s roads, particularly given the risks that ageing poses to cognition.
‘We’re doing a very good job in health at keeping people alive for longer and, in many cases, with a good quality of life as well,’ she said.
‘But the risk of cognitive impairment or dementia approximately doubles every five years from the age of about 75.
‘And, of course, we know that people over the age of 80–85 have five or six chronic diseases on average and some of these things may impair or slow down their physical reactions when they’re driving too.
‘Age is a risk factor for driving problems [and] that’s really difficult to dispute.’
The Federal Government’s July report on road fatalities reveals that people aged 75 and over account for the greatest increase in deaths in the previous 12 months up to June 2025, with 23 more deaths – a 13.9% increase from 165 to 188.
Professor Pond, who practices in New South Wales where drivers aged 75 and over are required to undergo mandatory annual medical assessments to maintain their licence, believes self-assessment is inadequate.
While she acknowledges doctor-based assessments are not without their flaws, she says as people get older and develop some degree of cognitive impairment, they often lose insight into their driving.
‘If we rely on people self-reporting, there will be some that won’t do that and it might not be for wanting to conceal something; it might be because they simply don’t realise they’re not driving safely anymore,’ Professor Pond said.
Meanwhile, she notes there are numerous other factors that can make it hard for people to contemplate giving up their license.
‘I have actually reported a couple of people to the road traffic authority,’ Professor Pond reflected.
‘One particularly striking example was a patient of mine who I got quite a few comments from the patient’s neighbours and other staff about her poor driving. In the end, she went to another GP, and she apparently studied up on the memory test and got a high enough mark that she didn’t count as having dementia.
‘Then she got her license, and she drove into a tree at 60 km an hour. She was in hospital for six months, then she was in rehab for six months, then she went to the nursing home, and six months later she died. So, that was a very sad, and painful, end to her life.’
Over the years, Professor Pond admits to having lost patients over raising the issue.
While some GPs in Victoria may be apprehensive at the possibility of having to conduct annual driving assessments, she says it can actually help to provide some scaffolding around having what can be a challenging conversation with patients, and help to prepare them for what’s to come in the future.
But given the significant life change that it can be, Professor Pond recommends GPs plant the seed sooner, rather than later.
‘On people’s 80th birthday, or around then, I say, “okay, and what are you going to do about driving?”,’ she said.
‘In my experience it takes two or three years before they are willing to give up their license; it’s a long process of getting adjusted.’
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