For those over 75 years, regular driving tests with medical are no surprise but the contents of the test floored Grey Power member Winnifred Sheehan when, at 86, she fronted up at her GP clinic for the examination! Here is her story.
The nurse called me in – eye test and physical all done but, THEN…”Repeat after me – Harry Barnes, 73 Church Road, Woodville, Hawkes Bay.” I duly did so, then said, “oops, I missed out the village!”
The response – “Repeat after me, three more times.” I did so; correctly I believe.
Next question: “How many animals can you name in one minute?” I enquired as to what this had to do with driving! The response – “One minute!”
I quickly carried on and named animals before being given pencil and paper – “show 10 past 5 on a clock face.” There was no arguing with that; I drew a circle and put 10 past 5 on it before asking, “shall I put the other figures in too?” Before she could say anything, I did so. No applause, instead: “Take a seat outside and the doctor will see you.”
Well, I was tempted to ask, “are you a robot or a human?” because there was nothing human about the whole experience. Quite incredible, really.
So, off to the doctor who simply completed the paperwork before advising: “you will need to take a driving test before I can sign this.”
He then handed me the form and I walked out, so dumb-founded that I said nothing.
On arriving home, I checked the form and was even more flabbergasted to see a score of 24/30 had been marked against ‘Alzheimer’s disease’ etc. I may forget things as do many at this age but surely this was a joke! This whole episode was completely off the planet.
Without ‘blowing my own trumpet’, I have been driving for 70 years and have never had an accident. I have driven many thousands of miles and, belonging to various clubs locally, I am used to traveling around. What’s more, I am often asked to drive others because I am known as a good driver.
And, with that, I will certainly be tasking my GP to remove that 24/30 from my medical record, it is an affront.
Related: Urgent call for revised seniors driving licence procedures
