Wissing rejects senior driver's license test
Brussels is planning a mandatory driver's license refresher every five years for people over 70. A medical check is also to be carried out to verify fitness to drive. Transport Minister Wissing considers the obligations to be an intrusive act. Senior citizens are in a position to take care of their own health.
Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing wants to stop plans by the EU Commission to tighten the rules for driving license holders aged 70 and over. "I do not want mandatory fitness tests for drivers over 70, and I am confident that there will not be a majority for this in the EU," the FDP politician told the Funke newspapers. "I oppose the fact that individuals are increasingly being turned into objects, subjected to compulsory examinations and forced to organize their everyday lives according to a catalog of regulations."
"It makes our society more inhumane when we intervene with such severity," Wissing emphasized. "I trust senior citizens to deal with their health without government regulations and bureaucratic control." In addition, "it is the responsibility of the environment, children, relatives and neighbors to talk to old people about driving".
Accident statistics show "no significant numbers of serious accidents" in the over 70 age group, the minister added. "Many older people live in the countryside. It is difficult for them to lead an independent life without a car." As a rule, senior citizens would not drive hundreds of kilometers on the freeway. "Many use their car to visit the supermarket or the doctor in the next town. However, fitness to drive tests include tasks such as driving from Berlin to Hamburg. That is the objective standard." He therefore does not consider a test such as that proposed by the EU Commission to be proportionate.
The draft of a new European transport directive stipulates that drivers over the age of 70 must refresh their driving license every five years. Their state of health is also to be assessed by means of a mandatory medical examination or a self-assessment. According to the Commission's plans, the EU member states should be able to decide for themselves which of the two options should apply to them. The transport directive is intended to help reduce the number of road deaths to zero by 2050.
Against a further lowered blood alcohol limit
At the same time, Wissing opposed calls to further lower the drink-drive limit in Germany. The background to this is the rising number of accidents, especially under the influence of alcohol. "Accidents don't usually happen in the low drink-drive range. There is already a complete ban on alcohol for novice drivers between the ages of 17 and 21, and 0.5 per mille applies to everyone else," said the minister. "I don't see any need to change this."
There is a clear requirement to abstain from alcohol when driving. "The question is at what limit the state can no longer make this the responsibility of its citizens, but must intervene with punitive measures," he said. "We can never create a perfect set of laws for a righteous life anyway. A society cannot function without personal responsibility."
Volker Wissing, the Federal Transport Minister, has expressed his opposition to the EU Commission's plans to mandate a driver's license refresher and medical check every five years for individuals over 70. He believes that senior citizens should be trusted to manage their own health.
In the context of traffic safety, Wissing also voiced his opposition to lowering the alcohol limit for drivers further in Germany, citing the current complete ban on alcohol for novice drivers and the 0.5 per mille limit for all others.
Despite increasing traffic accidents with alcohol involvement, Wissing argues that the state should not intervene with punitive measures until the individual's personal responsibility is no longer sufficient.
Source: www.ntv.de
