Starting next year, drivers aged 75 or older need to pass physical and cognitive examinations to have their driver’s license renewed, the Directorate-General of Highways (DGH) said yesterday.
The highway authority said that the renewed licenses would only be valid for two years.
Instead of taking a cognitive test at the DGH’s motor vehicle offices, senior drivers can submit a certificate from a hospital showing that they do not have dementia or any other condition that might diminish their ability to think clearly, it said.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications approved the new regulation, which is to take effect in January next year.
The highway authority is to start offering free cognitive tests to senior drivers from Monday next week at designated motor vehicle offices, so that senior drivers can see if they are mentally fit to drive, the DGH said.
Seniors who do not have a driver’s license can take the test as well, it added.
In July, the tests would be offered in all motor vehicle offices across the nation, the DGH said.
The ministry said that it has made changing the regulations for senior drivers one of its priority projects this year, as the majority of victims killed in traffic accidents are seniors.
Last year, 1,696 people were killed in accidents categorized as “A1,” in which victims are pronounced dead within 24 hours of the accident, the ministry said, adding that among them 553 were aged 65 or older.
The highway authority said that the health examination would check the driver’s eyesight, hearing and mobility.
In the cognitive test, drivers would first be examined for their ability to accurately name the date and place in which they are taking the test, the DGH said.
It would be followed by a memory test, in which drivers would be shown 10 pictures and asked to name the ones they remember, it said.
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