A Scottish judge has called for compulsory testing of all motorists over 80 years of age “as a matter of priority” after an elderly driver with dementia killed a toddler in Edinburgh.
The sheriff principal Nigel Ross said Edith Duncan, who was 91 at the time, should not have been allowed to drive because she had undiagnosed but significant cognitive impairment from dementia, yet legally held a full driving licence.
In June 2020 she lost control of her Kia Picanto while trying to turn on a busy main road in Morningside, Edinburgh, mounted a pavement and struck three-year-old Xander Irvine and his mother, Victoria.
The Irvines were looking in a shop window and did not see the approach of the car, which pinned the toddler against the window. Xander died in hospital soon after with “catastrophic” injuries, Ross noted.
Duncan, who had previously been a “rule-observant” orthopaedic nurse, had cancelled her car insurance three months earlier because she resented paying “all that money” while only driving once a week.
In a lengthy fatal accident inquiry ruling on the crash, Ross called for the current system of self-certification by elderly drivers to be scrapped and replaced by mandatory cognitive testing of all drivers over 80.
“The current regime of self-certification of fitness for drivers over 70 years of age is significantly defective,” he said. “It relies on self-certification by the applicant driver. It fails to identify unfitness to drive in applicants who either deliberately or unintentionally fail to give correct information on the relevant application form. It fails to recognise that driving ability may decline with age, or that dementia sufferers may be unaware of their own condition.”
Ross said the UK government should require all drivers over 80 to take a short cognitive test to renew their licence, in addition to the current system, where drivers over 70 must apply afresh to keep their licence. Better still, ministers could even consider lowering the age for compulsory cognitive testing to 75, he said.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), which oversees licensing in the UK, said it was studying the ruling.
“Road safety is our absolute priority and we are carefully considering the sheriff’s recommendations,” a spokesperson said. “All drivers must ensure that they meet the medical standards for driving and notify us of the onset or worsening of a medical condition affecting their ability to drive.”
Duncan, who first passed her driving test in 1964 and had no known driving convictions, had properly applied for her licence renewal every three years after she was 70. She seemed unaware that she had dementia, and after climbing out of the car after the crash seemed “quite detached” and calm in an “eerie” way, the inquiry heard.
Ross said the current system was too dependent on people realising they were no longer competent or on family or medical professionals noticing. “It is a somewhat imprecise and unpredictable method of encouraging drivers to recognise their own decline,” he concluded.
