Here is a question -- when do our driving skills start to decline? Ability deteriorates around 75 but that's just an average. In reality, the age varies for each and every individual. There is currently no uniform way for physicians, or other medical professionals, to identify the exact point in time when a senior should stop driving. The Canadian Medication Association Journal (CMAJ) calls the absence of a standardized system a "growing problem." "In 2025, one in four Canadians will be 65 or older and it is a public health concern to objectively determine and identify whether a senior can drive safely. As Dr. Paul Hebert, CMAJ editor-in-chief explains, "a simple, widely applicable screening assessment tool is sorely needed." Thankfully, Candrive, a study funded by the Canadian Institute of Heath Research, is trying to create a screening that will determine the predictors for someone being a safe (or for that matter an unsafe) driver. By spending five years with 1,000 drivers over the age of 70, the project hopes to create a standard screening tool that can identify at-risk drivers. The study will also go ahead and test the effectiveness of a reverse graduated license program, which would restrict certain individuals from driving at night or on freeways. Needless to say, this sort of initiative is sorely needed and we approve of a driving assessment that tests health conditions. Restricting driving solely based on age is an example of discrimination and it is nice to see that the Candrive program is trying to transcend such arcane and ineffective models for evaluation. Docs need standard method to ID senior's driving skills - (Montreal Gazette)