Doctor: Drivers' health assessment system should be revised

A family doctor has said the procedure for issuing drivers' health assessments should be reviewed after an 83-year-old who killed a small child was declared mentally unfit.
An eight-month-old child died and their mother suffered serious injuries and is still recovering after the collision with a car in Tartu in May 2023.
The driver, a man, who caused the accident could not be charged as during the investigation it was found that he might not have understood that he committed the act, said Kairi Kaldoja, a prosecutor at the Southern District Prosecutor's Office.
Postimees reported the man had dementia.
"In his case, we can say that he is not guilty. Despite the fact that he was in the driving seat, despite the fact that he drove into people, he is not guilty because he did not do it deliberately, but because he was ill. Perhaps it was his state of mind that caused such a tragic outcome and that is why we cannot punish him under the law," she explained.
Despite his condition, the man had a valid driving license and shortly before the incident, he had received a new health certificate from a family doctor.
Ruth Kalda, a family doctor and professor of family medicine at the University of Tartu, said the whole assessment process needs to be reviewed. It is impossible to completely understand a person's condition during a single appointment.
"One option is to change the procedures. A decision is taken by a committee, and assessed by different experts. We used to have this commission, but it is now left to the GP. Or the other option, really, is that in order to apply for a driving license, if you are over a certain age, you have to prove your driving ability in a traffic situation," Kalda told Wednesday's "Aktuaalne kaamera".
However, the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) said elderly drivers are not a big problem in Estonia.
"We cannot deny that there have been some accidents on the roads with tragic consequences, but there is no reason for the police to believe that elderly road users in Estonia are now killing people en masse on our roads or committing disorderly acts. There are certainly problems in all other spheres, but we do not have such sad statistics across the board," said the PPA's Taivo Rosi, who is based at Tartu police station.
He said relatives should pay attention to the condition of their elderly parents or grandparents and whether they are safe in traffic as drivers.
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Editor: Merili Nael, Helen Wright
Source: Aktuaalne kaamera