Senior driving licence renewal update

There is an ongoing lack of consistency in GP evaluations of senior drivers for their licence renewals throughout New Zealand. Our ongoing national and local publicising of this discriminatory situation has achieved some practical improvements as outlined below:

1. NZTA took steps in late 2024/early 2025 to address the long waiting time to secure an On Road Safety Test (ORST) with the accredited examiners around the country. This has resulted in waiting times being significantly reduced.
2. NZTA have clarified that the ORST is free to all drivers 75 or older (NZTA has been made aware that some staff within the organisation were unaware that drivers could make their own appointments, and this has been addressed in April 2025.) This is a far less expensive third party assessment than being referred to an Occupational Therapist where the costs vary from $800-$1300 as reported by our members.
3. NZTA announced in March 2025 that seniors may now initiate their journey to renew their licence up to 6 months prior to their eligible birthday. The renewal will still take effect from their birthday.
4. NZTA will commission the University of Auckland to conduct a literature review on the evidence supporting the use of cognitive tests to assess driving ability in seniors. Grey Power has consistently raised the very real concern that a cognitive diagnostic test for early stage dementia did not appear to have any credible published clinical evidence as to its ability to predict driving ability in patients with no history of dementia.
5. The NZTA Safer Drivers team alongside the Regulatory System Design team will review the renewal letters and existing support material and will consider adding information on what drivers can expect ahead of their renewal date.
6. The NZTA Safer Drivers team will continue to engage and communicate with health practitioners on Medical Aspects for Fitness to Drive, including options for cognitive tests (once we have the literature review), On-Road Safety Test, conditional licenses, etc. This action will hopefully mean that more GPs consider alternatives to the expensive referral to occupational therapists with the free of charge ORST, or a negotiated conditional licence that may restrict the driver to daytime driving, or to driving within their rural town for example.