To the Editor:
(Re: “DriveAble testing is fair for everyone, says Ministry of Justice”)
I’m not against a medical test relating to a person’s ability to drive safely or, if necessary, having a person take a driver’s test. But this was already in effect, including the fact that a person couldn’t take a driver’s test here in town in their own car. What is the fair way to test them?
I have no idea what a person’s ability to be able to repeat back a group of unrelated nouns and 30 shopping items in one minute, and writing out some numbers has to do with the ability to drive safely.
My grandchildren said they would not want to do it, relating the added pressure of the fact that if you can’t do it, you lose your independence, making it all the more difficult. It’s amazing that these young people relate to the stress load that the minister of justice is causing the seniors of B.C.
How vindictive and unfair is having people who live in a rural area set up for a driver’s test in an unfamiliar car in a strange city? (Not to mention using a computer!) My own daughter will not drive a vehicle with which she has not had time to familiarize herself, and she drives all over Alberta with her truck pulling a six-horse trailer.
One more thing: As people get up in age, they often cut their driving to just their own area, which allows them independence. The government is encouraging seniors to work at keeping active.
Don’t forget the cost factor that has to be paid to be able to try to pass those tests, plus the expense of travelling for your out-of-town driver’s test, which for some is very difficult to raise.
In your letter you say you have expanded the number of DriveAble locations for testing. You seem to be very proud of that fact. These locations certainly prove to me that you do not relate to people living in small-town areas.
I also believe that this system is set up for seniors not to pass it, as I have heard of so many having to turn in their licences. I can’t understand this all-out effort to get seniors off the road. It is my understanding it is not the seniors that are causing the majority of accidents.
Compare the opinion of MLA Michelle Mungall in the same paper as your letter. Now I ask you, who do you think has the best ability to relate to what is necessary for the province of B.C. and work at trying to do it, the NDP or your party?
Connie Kolthammer
Canyon