Why are physicians not adequately protecting the public by preventing dangerous older drivers from driving? What should physicians be doing differently?
Many Canadian physicians have been given the legal responsibility of determining if their patients are safe to drive from a health-related perspective. Such a responsibility is not universal, as many jurisdictions in the U.S and Europe do not require their physicians to make such judgements . Unfortunately, even though most Canadian physicians have been delegated this role, the reliable tools to assist them in assessing who is & who is not safe to drive have never been developed. Many physicians do not even know if their older patients are drivers, and often by the time a physician is made aware of driving safety concerns the patient may have already had a collision. This is precisely why the CanDRIVE research program is being developed to provide front-line physicians with the tools they need to assess driving risk in an accurate, fair and just manner. Physicians across Canada need a recognized approved screening tests to evaluate patients’ medical fitness to drive.
