Govt still studying plan to bar drivers above 75 years

If you were worried about the Central government’s reported proposal to bar senior citizens above the age of 75 from driving, you can afford to relax.

If you were worried about the Central government’s reported proposal to bar senior citizens above the age of 75 from driving, you can afford to relax.

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The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has assured the proposal was one of the suggestions received by the panel formed for the purpose and wasn’t a recommendation of the committee itself.

The ministry’s reported proposal to debar senior citizens at the age of 72 and above to drive their own vehicles as part of the process to review the Motor Vehicle Act 1988 had led to confusion a few weeks ago.

J.R. Gupta, president of the Senior Citizens Council that represents senior citizens across the city, immediately wrote to Kamal Nath, the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways.

Expressing resentment, Gupta had drawn attention to the fact that “most senior citizens in cities live alone at the age of 72 and above. They can drive better in comparison to younger generations”.

“Moreover, as we are fully dependent on our own cars, we would suffer (if left) at the mercy of auto drivers or taxi drivers,” Gupta had pointed out in his letter to Nath.

It clarifies the issue of debarring driving after 72 years was actually a “suggestion by one of the stakeholders”, while deposing before the Committee.