Driving Fitness Assessment For Seniors In QLD
A one-on-one fitness to drive assessment with our RACQ approved driving assessor in Brisbane, Sunshine Coast and Gympie.
Assessing an elderly person’s driving ability in a surgery environment may not always be possible, so Drive Check was created, primarily for health practitioners and senior drivers, to assist with determining medical fitness to drive.
The service provides a simple, cost-effective, practical (in-vehicle) option for assessing a person's driving abilities in everyday traffic situations, and includes a comprehensive report back to the referring health practitioner that details the patient’s ability to drive safely and competently.
What Is A Driving Fitness Assessment?
A Driving Fitness Assessment is a driving evaluation for a senior driver. For various reasons, a senior driver may be referred by their treating Doctor or Health Practitioner to Drive Check to complete an elderly driving assessment. These driving assessments are also called a Fitness To Drive Medical Assessment.
The RACQ approved driving assessor will meet the senior driver at their home address at a suitable time and date. For assessment purposes, the senior driver will be required to drive the vehicle supplied by Drive Check. This vehicle is a dual controlled, automatic, mid sized sedan.
The Driving Fitness Assessment will take approximately 60 minutes to complete. During this time, the driving assessor will observe and assess the driving abilities of the senior driver, focusing on overall safety and legal operation of the motor vehicle in a range of familiar and unfamiliar driving situations and conditions. Feedback and corrective tuition (if appropriate) may be included. The senior driver will be returned to their home address at the conclusion of the assessment.
Upon completion of the assessment, the RACQ approved driving assessor will compile a full report and submit this report to the referring Doctor or Health Practitioner.
Service Inclusions:
an independent assessment of a patient’s ability to drive safely and competently,
feedback to the patient on any aspects of their driving that may need fine-tuning,
a detailed report emailed to the GP or specialist with the results of the assessment.
The service is available in all Brisbane and Sunshine Coast suburbs including the Gympie region. Other South East QLD areas are available by negotiation.
Why Do I Need A Driving Fitness Assessment?
As we get older, how we process information, our vision and our ability to move, changes. It’s important to know how advancing age affects our driving. Along with age, medical conditions and the medications used to treat those conditions can also affect critical driving skills and a person’s ability to drive safely.
Responsible drivers should constantly assess their own personal fitness and whether or not it is impacting their ability to drive. The physical changes that can develop with ageing and negatively impact our driving skills include:
Slower reaction times
Slower visual processing and decreased depth perception
Reduced flexibility, strength and balance
Heightened sensitivity to glare during daytime driving
Unable to focus during night time driving
Medical conditions are under increased scrutiny when it comes to holding a current drivers licence in Queensland. When applying for a Queensland driver licence, you must tell the Department of Transport and Main Roads of any medical condition that may adversely affect your ability to drive safely. You may then require a medical certificate confirming your fitness to drive. The tragic story of Jet Rowland from 2004 (which resulted in Jet's Law) demonstrates why managing your medical condition is essential.
Your Doctor may also recommend that your licence be subject to certain conditions. If you fail to report your medical condition, you may receive a penalty of more than $6000 and risk being disqualified from driving.
If you are currently using a prescription medication, or are about to begin using new medication, you should consult with your Doctor and ask them if it will affect your fitness to drive. Alternatively, if you are driving and observe that a medication is impairing your ability to drive, you should immediately book in to see your Doctor to find out why this is occurring. The safety of yourself, your passengers and other road users depend on it.
What To Expect In A Driving Fitness Assessment?
1. The senior driver (patient) must have a valid Queensland drivers licence, and produce their licence to the driving assessor on the day of the Fitness To Drive Assessment.
2. If the senior driver is over the age of 75, or if you have a current medical condition, a medical certificate for a motor vehicle drivers form (F3712) must be completed. Please see your Doctor for completion of this form.
**PLEASE NOTE - The expiry date on this clearance to drive must cover the date of the driving assessment and must be carried by the senior driver while undertaking the assessment. If either of these items are not current, the assessment will not be able to be conducted.**
3. Our RACQ approved driving assessor will meet the senior driver at their home address at a pre-arranged appointment time that suits the client.
4. The senior driver will drive the the vehicle supplied by Drive Check for approximately 60 minutes in familiar and unfamiliar driving situations and conditions. The driving assessor will observe the driving abilities of the senior driver during this time, focusing on safety and legal operation of the vehicle. The vehicle is a mid sized, automatic sedan. The types of driving functions the senior driver will be asked to perform are those that are typically involved in a driving test. ie parking, merging lanes, obeying road signs etc.
5. Upon completion of the assessment, the senior driver will be returned to their home address and provided with feedback if necessary.
6. The driving assessor will complete a comprehensive report on the senior drivers ability to drive safely and competently. This report will be provided to the senior drivers Health Practitioner.
Assessing Fitness To Drive
A Guide For Medical Professionals
Are you a Doctor or Health Professional looking to have a senior or elderly patients driving ability assessed?
Include
- "fitness to drive medical assessment"
- "cognitive test for elderly drivers"
- The steps the health practitioner needs to take.
- What Drive Check can do for the health practitioner.
The service begins with a referral from the Doctor (or call from the client) to arrange a suitable date and time. Drive Check will meet the client at the agreed address and confirm their Licence and Medical Certificate (if required) prior to driving (please note, these two documents must be current for driving).
The client will then be asked to drive the Drive Check assessment vehicle – a late model, dual-controlled, automatic sedan (Note: manual not available) - in various locations and traffic situations (in most cases these locations would be familiar to the client).
It’s important to note that this is NOT a driving test. The focus of the service is on identifying and confirming legal compliance and safe driving habits of the driver, with feedback and constructive coaching (as/if required) provided during the session. A comprehensive report is then compiled and sent to the referring Doctor/Health Professional indicating a “Satisfactory”, “At Risk” or “Unsatisfactory” outcome, along with assessor suggestions/recommendations.
**PLEASE NOTE - We are NOT Occupational Therapists (OT). Patients who specifically require an OT should be referred directly to those services.