Survey finds half of motorists want to ban drivers aged over 80
A survey by an online consumer group has found that almost half of all West Australian motorists think drivers over the age of 80 should be banned from the roads.
The survey by finder.com.au comes as new Department of Transport figures show that the number of drivers aged 90 and over has soared in the last three years.
In 2014, there were 2743 drivers aged over 90 on WA roads; by 2017 that number had skyrocketed to 4306.
The debate around elderly drivers has intensified in recent months after an 87-year-old driver in New South Wales, Edwin Jessop, was sentenced to nine months in jail after pleading guilty to negligent driving causing death.
The family of his 22-year-old victim, Dann Jenkins, called for stronger restrictions on older drivers "before more lives are lost".
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However, Insurance Commission of WA secretary Kane Blackman told The West Australian that drivers over 90 represented less than 0.2 per cent of all drivers involved in crashes.
Under West Australian law, all drivers aged 80 or above need a medical assessment certificate, and drivers over 85 may need to undertake yearly practical driving tests.
Western Australia's oldest licensed driver is 103 years old.
