5 hours agoShareSaveAmy GladwellBBC South West InvestigationsLauren WoodheadBBC England Data UnitShareSaveEady familyClaire Eady believes that if the rules for older drivers were different her mum would still be here today.Last summer 79-year-old Geraldine Gibson died after pulling out into oncoming traffic near her home in Cornwall.”I never thought I would have to say the words ‘my mum’s been killed in a car crash’,” said Mrs Eady, who said regulations for drivers over the age of 70 were “unsafe and inadequate” and needed an overhaul.At the moment there is no upper age limit for driving in the UK, with around 500 licence holders aged between 100 and 108.The government said it was committed to improving road safety.Claire EadyMrs Gibson was trying to cross the A30 at Plusha near Launceston to meet a friend when she pulled into the path of another car.An inquest heard there was nothing the other driver, who suffered minor injuries, could have done to avoid it.National Highways told the hearing the junction had since been altered after other accidents but Mrs Eady, from West Sussex, said older age was “absolutely a factor” in her mother’s crash.She learned her mother was struggling to manoeuvre beforehand and had a separate near-collision.Mrs Eady said she believed arthritis and an earlier stroke may also have affected her mum’s driving.”I don’t think my mum ever would have thought she needed to stop driving because there were too many things that depended on her being out in a car,” she said.Drivers have a legal responsibility to notify the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) of conditions affecting their fitness to drive, but Mrs Eady said this felt insufficient.”You can’t really rely on the individual to do that… especially if it’s their only way of getting out,” she added.She said she would like medical professionals to be legally required to notify authorities and for there to be mandatory testing for those over 70.What are the current rules regarding older drivers?Drivers must renew their licence aged 70 and every three years thereafterThere is no upper age limit for driving in the UK, with about 500 licence holders aged between 100 and 108Drivers have a legal responsibility to self-declare medical conditions that could affect driving to the DVLAGuidance by the DVLA states health professionals should inform the agency if a patient cannot or will not, but it is not a legal requirement As the UK population ages, the number of older drivers is also increasing, with licence holders aged 70 and over going up by about 200,000 a year, according to the DVLA.Department of Transport statistics show older drivers make up about 14% of all licence holders but account for a quarter of those killed on the roads, and that people aged over 75 and under 25 are at highest risk of being killed or seriously hurt in a crash.Rob Heard from the Older Drivers Forum, which supports motorists to continue driving safely for longer, said the “vast majority of older drivers have a wealth of experience, confidence and tolerance”.But he added: “As we age, our relative frailty means that older drivers are often over represented in serious injury collisions, particularly for the age group of 80 and above.”Mr Heard said elderly drivers were more likely to crash due to illness or errors in judgement, while accidents involving younger drivers were more likely through speed or taking risks.He said he supported mandatory referrals of medical conditions by health professionals and advised concerned family members to encourage mature driver assessments.The BBC has had exclusive access to a report, which said many people were “unaware” of their legal obligation to inform the DVLA of certain medical conditions and health professionals were “reluctant to” do so.The research, prepared for a coroner in April, showed less than 10% of DVLA notifications were made by medical professionals and other third parties.The report’s author, Dr C …
