Expert suggests 50-year-olds refresh driving lessons

A controversial report has suggested Australians aged over 50 could be subjected to mandatory driving lessons.

The study from the University of NSW in Sydney suggested that drivers, with or without clean driving records, should be reexamined in order to make roads safer in Australia.

Seventeen to 25 years age group account for 19 percent of all road deaths and over 65-years represent 21 percent, according to the road trauma Australia statistical summary from the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics.

Despite this, UNSW Scientia Professor Kaarin Anstey, an expert in cognitive aging, says common driving mistakes aren’t always age-related but can stem from a longstanding habits formed years ago.

“A lot of these are just bad habits that drivers have brought with them from their younger years,” she said.

“We see a lot of people not checking blind spots, not taking right hand turns properly, cutting corners, or not maintaining their lane position.”

Antsey said drivers as young as 50 should complete extra driving lessons as part of “normal life.”

“People don’t naturally ask themselves ‘do I need to update my driving skills.’”

“It could be something like, when you turn 50 you’re invited to have an extra driving lesson just to check in on your driving.”

“At the moment you’d only get that if you had something wrong with your driving,” she said.

Anstey has been leading studies at NeuRA aimed at improving older driver safety, most recently through a controlled study called the ‘Better Drive Study.’

The trial involved three groups of drivers over 65, who were monitored for 12 months, with each group receiving different levels of support and feedback.

One group had a refresher on rules, another had video-feedback and the third had both video feedback and tailored driving lessons.

The results are yet to be analyzed but Antsey said it was clear that intervention could improve older driver performance and safety on the road.

“We haven’t yet analyzed our results as we’ve just completed our last assessment,” she said.

“But in our pilot study, which was very similar, we found that of the people that had our intervention involving driving lessons and video feedback, we moved a significant proportion from unsafe to safe drivers, and we reduced their driving errors.”

In NSW traffic offenses including speeding, driving under the influence and street racing can result in immediate loss of licence.

But Anstey says “the all or nothing approach” does not work and there’s a lot to gain from tailored intervention instead of simply stripping away licenses.