Tun M takes shot at senior citizen driving licence issue: “Alor Setar to KL, no problem”
Jerrica · Oct 11, 2021 04:47 PM
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The issue about limiting the issuance of driver’s licences to senior citizens has not settled yet. Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has joined the fray with a video declaring “age is not the factor”.
In the video, the 96-year-old was seen cruising around town in his Proton X70 while the voiceover explains that our abilities don’t depend on our age.
Though he admitted that in the old days, age does affect the ability to drive, but now, most senior citizens are still active and are still capable of carrying out various activities including driving.
For himself, he told the interviewer that he “still feels comfortable driving without any distractions, I can still drive and my eyesight is still clear while my hearing is still sharp.”
He also confirmed that he only recently completed an eye check-up due to other matters and the doctor had declared that his vision is perfectly fine.
Tun M even joked that although he is perfectly fine with driving at night, his family had advised against it for his safety.
The video ended with him declaring that he has driven from Alor Setar, Kedah to Kuala Lumpur without an issue. That is a 432.5 km drive on the North-South Highway according to Google.
This video is directed at the Royal Malaysian Police’s (PDRM) suggestion to restrict the issuance of driving licences to senior citizens.
Bukit Aman Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Department director Datuk Azisman Alias was quoted by various media for saying that the poor health of elderly road users is the cause of many road accidents.
He even suggested that senior citizens over 70 must go through a health check to determine if they are fit to drive before they are allowed to renew their driving licences.
This has caused a major uproar amongst the elderly and social media has been ablaze with criticism against the suggestion.
The Inspector-General of Police (IGP) has since come out to state this is merely a suggestion by JSPT and nothing has been set in stone.
Even Minister of Transport Dato Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong has declared that this is just an early-stage suggestion and that such an issue will require evidence-based research before the ministry will even consider passing the bill.
There isn’t a time in memory that doesn’t involve staring at cars. After discovering the excitement of watching Schumacher vs Hakkinen, Formula 1 became a major part of life. The love for cars and F1 ultimately led to a job with CAR Magazine. The untimely death of the magazine meant a hiatus from cars at lifestyle women’s magazine Marie Claire before another opportunity came knocking again.
