By: Rodney Glynn-Morris, MD, [2]
I read the article in the Medical Post (26 September 2008) about problems with physicians assessing their patients’ ability to drive when often there are mixed feelings between loyalty to patients and sparing the lives or skins of other road users.
There are two solutions. The cost of running a car—insurance, repairs, fuel, and depreciation—has been calculated as $7000+ a year. You can buy a lot of taxi rides for that!
Anybody over 75 who chooses to spend that sum on a car should be able to afford proper testing, both by an independent physician (not the attending physician!) similar to those designated by Transport Canada to assess mariners and pilots ($171 in BC), as well as having a practical road test ($50 in BC). Of the two, the practical road test would probably save more lives and accidents!
—Rodney Glynn-Morris, MD
West Vancouver
Links
[1] https://bcmj.org/cover/december-2008
[2] https://bcmj.org/author/rodney-glynn-morris-md
[3] https://bcmj.org/node/2821
[4] https://bcmj.org/sites/default/files/BCMJ_50Vol10_pv.pdf
[5] https://bcmj.org/print/letters/driving-assessments
[6] https://bcmj.org/printmail/letters/driving-assessments
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[9] https://bcmj.org/javascript%3A%3B
[10] https://bcmj.org/modal_forms/nojs/webform/176
[11] https://bcmj.org/%3Finline%3Dtrue%23citationpop