Juliette Mely // Photo credits: MAGALI COHEN / HANS LUCAS / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP 9:58 a.m., February 28, 2024
Vision test, hearing test, reflex evaluation: these medical examinations may be compulsory every 15 years for all driving license holders.
The objective: to ensure that drivers are fit to get behind the wheel.
But among motorists, opinions differ.
Leaning on her cane, two empty shopping bags in hand, Marie-Léna, retired, is preparing to do her shopping in a Plaisir hypermarket in Yvelines.
Without a car, she wouldn't have been able to do them.
So for her, risking losing her license is unthinkable.
"We live in a region where, without a car, we don't go very far, we don't do many things. If I have to go to the hospital, I couldn't go there by taxi, I couldn't go there by public transport. So I need my car,” she worries.
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Checking reflexes: a key exam
Yolande, 59, gets out of her car in perfect condition.
It has just been repaired following an accident with a 75 year old person.
For her, medical visits would help avoid a certain number of dangerous situations.
"Roundabouts where very elderly people stop right in the middle, the flashing lights, they no longer know and we feel that elderly people are no longer at all aware of what it is like to drive in an urban area ", deplores the self-employed woman.
Controlling reflexes, particularly those of the brake pedal, is essential according to Zineb, instructor in a Plaisir driving school.
“When we see a child crossing quickly, an elderly person who will take a reaction time of 3-5 seconds is not the same as a young person who will take two seconds for example,” explains the instructor.
In one second, the car has time to travel around ten meters.