End of road for senior drivers with hearing, vision problems

Wallis Wang

Drivers who are 65 years old and above and suffer from hearing damage, single-eye eyesight and night blindness or have implanted heart defibrillators will be banned from driving commercially, transport authorities have proposed.

The Transport and Logistics Bureau lowered the age requirement for occupational drivers' mandatory annual health checks to 65 from 70.

Eyesight and hearing tests have also been added to compulsory tests.

Authorities said they are considering a subsidy for drivers and a consultation will be conducted with the transport industry in the second half of this year.

The Legislative Council panel on transport will discuss the suggestions tomorrow.

An amendment bill will be tabled in the Legislative Council in the first half of next year, with a target to launch the change by the end of 2024.

In a paper submitted to Legco on Tuesday, the Transport Department said the number of elderly drivers has been increasing over the past decade.

The number of licensed drivers surged from two million to 2.35 million from 2013 to last year, with the proportion of elderly drivers aged 60 or above rising from 12 percent to 22 percent. Four percent of drivers last year were aged 70 or older.

The city saw a surge in elderly drivers of commercial vehicles, with the proportion of senior drivers aged above 60 rising to 49 percent, from 27 percent. The number of traffic accidents involving elderly drivers increased from less than 400 in 2013 to nearly 1,100 last year.

Drivers of commercial vehicles - including taxis and minibuses - aged 65 or above should undergo health checks every year, the department said.

They must have a 6/9 vision in the Snellen chart test for at least one eye. The other eye with poor vision should reach 6/18 vision.

They also have to have a binocular horizontal field of vision of at least 160 degrees, extending 70 degrees horizontally and 30 degrees vertically.

Drivers with hearing damage exceeding 40 decibels, single-eye eyesight, double vision, night blindness, cognitive disorder and brain tumor, and those who have implanted heart defibrillators and oxygen supplement devices for lung diseases, will be banned from driving commercial vehicles. But they can still be allowed to drive private cars.

The department said it should be given the power to require drivers to submit their medical reports.

If drivers refuse to submit them, the commissioner for transport can cancel or suspend their license or refuse to renew it, the department said.

"The government's proposal to introduce stricter health check requirements is not intended to preclude drivers of a specified age from continuing to work," the department said.

"On the contrary, we hope senior drivers could undergo regular health checks through the new measures to monitor their physical condition and find out potential health risks, preventing diseases that may affect their driving ability and extending their careers."

The department will set up guidelines on the medical reports of drivers and medical professionals will refer to guidelines to conduct health checks. The cost of the checkups has not been set yet.

"Upon completing medical guidelines and consulting the industry, the government will actively consider sponsoring drivers to do the health checks," it said

The transport sector has warned the tightened health checks could lead to an exodus of taxi and minibus drivers as many of them find the process too complicated.

Some elderly drivers would feel being "labeled" by the health checks or uncomfortable disclosing underlying health conditions, representatives of the sector said.

wallis.wang@singtaonewscorp.com