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Out with the unpopular DriveABLE drivers’ re-assessment program, Mungall says

A newly designed program to re-test seniors’ driving abilities will be introduced in March, Nelson-Creston MLA Michelle Mungall says.
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The controversial DriveABLE cognitive assessment and re-examinations currently in use to re-assess the driving ability of seniors will be changed in March, Nelson-Creston MLA Michelle Mungall said on Thursday.

Gone will be the computer tests and the requirement to use provided vehicles for road tests, she said.

“The new ERA (enhanced road assessment) will be more accessible to seniors living in rural areas like ours,” she said by telephone from Victoria. “By removing the cognitive computer test component and making the road test longer it will actually test a driver’s cognitive ability behind the wheel, not their competency with a computer. These changes represent a major improvement from the past system and will make the processes much less stressful for those seniors required to undertake a road test.

“As Opposition members we had been dealing with the insanity of DriveABLE,” she said. “After forming the government, we learned that staff already had a solution—it just needed a government that would take on making the change.

“I have had so many seniors in my office explaining that the use of computer technology for testing was unfair,” she said. “The new program is much more reflective of how people live their lives. It will be much better for seniors and other drivers, too.”

“The new assessment puts the focus more sharply on whether someone is still safe to drive their vehicle,” Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth said in announcing the change. “The new process is the result of consulting experts and looking at many options, including what other jurisdictions are doing, so drivers can be confident that others around them are qualified to be at the wheel.”

This new approach will:

• Extend the current ICBC re-examination to 90 minutes from 75 minutes, incorporating new components to assess driving errors that may result from cognitive impairment and other areas of medical concern.

• Eliminate the in-office, computer-based screening that’s currently part of the DriveABLE assessment, which many drivers have said adds unnecessary complexity and stress.

• Instead, ICBC driver examiners will gradually increase the complexity of driving tasks, provide a break and feedback midway through, and have clear parameters for ending an assessment early if necessary, all to help maximize safety in real-world driving conditions.

• Let drivers use their own vehicles, as many drivers have said that having to operate an unfamiliar vehicle affects their on-road assessment results.

• Improve access and convenience, with approximately 70 ICBC locations delivering the ERA provincewide.

There will be no cost to drivers for the ERA testing.