POLITICAL power rules our lives with decisions by government bureaucrats delivering positive or negative outcomes.
Recently a Queensland MP's daughter lost her leg after an elderly driver's vehicle crushed her while she was waiting for a lift at a Brisbane shopping centre.
It is alleged "the 88 year old male driver's vehicle went out of control".
In an emotional speech to State Parliament, MP Peter Lawlor asked why elderly drivers only needed to seek a certificate from a doctor every five years and did not have to sit for driving tests.
While he acknowledged that "age itself is not an indicator of driver ability", it is generally accepted that as we get older our reflexes and reaction times are slower.
To test this theory, Channel Nine's A Current Affair had us conduct some driving tests with elderly drivers at Sydney Dragway.
As this MP stated, I am also of the strong belief that age and ability/skills are not necessarily on the same page.
This idea of making drivers aged 65 and above display an "S plate", denoting "Senior", on their vehicle is absurd.
If bureaucrats have their way, this warning to other road users will be the magic elixir for saving lives.
How easy is it for pen-pushers, with maybe a background in human psychology now turned political decision-maker, to claim that at 64 years you're OK, but when you turn 65 and you're at risk.
Every driver, irrespective of age, requires skills. Statistics show that unskilled drivers are at greater risk.
Our tests proved that age did not have an impact on skills, with participants saying the "S plate" idea was silly.
The sooner governments wake up and realise that having a licence is a privilege and not a right, irrespective of age, the safer our roads will be.
That's only if they develop and implement stringent skills-based practical re-testing programs and coaching to help all motorists drive to survive.
For more information for to www.ianluff.com.au