Seniors in Powell River will now be able to take the DriveABLE computer-based functional cognitive assessment locally instead of travelling to Courtenay.
Nicholas Simons, MLA for Powell River-Sunshine Coast, is pleased with the change but still has questions for the provincial government.
“There are a lot of unanswered questions about this program,” said Simons. “The incremental steps taken by government are not negative but they don’t address the fundamental underlying issue of is the test fair and accurate.”
The provincial government announced October 17 that it is opening nine more locations in interior, northern and island communities where seniors would have to travel a significant distance for testing.
“Today’s announcement of more DriveABLE locations will give seniors more options in rural and remote areas to be assessed closer to home,” said Ralph Sultan, minister of state for seniors in a government press release announcing the change.
Seniors in Powell River will be able to take the DriveABLE computer-based assessment at the Service BC office on Alberni Street. The provincial government pays for both the computer-based test and the road test.
“It makes you wonder why this took so much community pressure in order to actually affect the change,” said Simons. “That the government is telling this company how it’s supposed to act makes you wonder about how well the company did its own research.”
Simons said, though, that he is pleased the government has made changes to address seniors’ concerns.
“I think that it’s important,” he said. “First of all, we convinced the government to allow everyone to take a road test regardless of their success on the computer test. And, if they’re going to do a road test, we argued that they should be on familiar roads and familiar vehicles, so at least we got the familiar roads part. That certainly does a lot to reduce the stress on seniors.”
When seniors reach their 80th birthday, they are requested by the Office of the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles (OSMV) to visit their doctor to check their cognitive abilities for safe driving. OSMV only refers seniors to DriveABLE testing if their doctor’s report raises concerns over abilities. Seniors are required to be checked by their doctors every two years.
But Simons still worries over the test’s wide sweep. “We haven’t been really convinced by government that in fact it’s not taking too many people off the road that would otherwise be safe,” he said. His concern is rooted in the fact the government failed to keep its promise of having the DriveABLE cognitive functional assessment peer-reviewed by independent psychologists.
“Ultimately, I think seniors should be able to be evaluated in a way that is dignified and fair and transparent,” he said.
According to government statistics, OSMV reviewed 140,000 driver medical examination reports in 2011 and required about 2,700 drivers, or about two per cent, to take the DriveABLE test.
Simons said he’s going to continue to work on the issue.
