Veteran drivers with limited driving licence

Emilio Sevilla Sevilla, an 80-year-old resident of Madrid, was faced with a reality last September. When he went to renew his driving licence, the doctors at the psychotechnical assessment centre told him that he had lost his distance vision and that he could not drive at night. He had undergone cataract surgery and was advised to have his internal lens cleaned in case this would improve his visual acuity. But he did not even try. Since then, he is one of the 350,000 Spaniards who are restricted in some way from driving. Some, like Emilio Sevilla, cannot drive at night. Others are limited to a certain distance from their place of residence. This ensures that they can go shopping, withdraw money or go to the hospital, especially in rural Spain. In the most serious cases, their licence is revoked, which happens to 30,000 drivers a year.

Emilio Sevilla lives next to the Retiro park in Madrid, but when summer comes he moves to Tórtola de Henares, a town of 1,000 inhabitants located 10 kilometres north of Guadalajara. His wife, María José Zamora Ruiz, 77 years old, is from there. Emilio has had a driving licence since March 1974 and in this time he has not had an accident. He claims to have driven more than half a million kilometres, especially during a period of work when he drove about 200 kilometres a day. He started with the legendary Seat 600 and since then he has had several cars: “I really liked driving, I had a passion for it and I don’t think I do it badly,” he says.

The situation changed over the years, after he underwent cataract surgery. There he lost 50% of his distance vision in one eye. Or so they told him at the psychotechnical testing centre. “I always go to the same one and they are very strict, but I admit that I prefer not to drive at night because I am not safe,” he says. Those over 65 undergo a driving licence inspection every five years – three in the case of professional licences, such as truck or taxi drivers – but for Emilio it has been reduced to two. “I don’t even know if I will do it because I live in an area where the car I have will no longer be able to drive in.” [un Seat Ibiza diésel sin distintivo de contaminación]so I would have to buy another one. I don’t know if it will be profitable,” he adds.

While this is going on, Emilio and his wife take advantage of the opportunity to travel. They recently visited Soria. “Without a driving licence you feel a bit under a mortgage. In Madrid there is no problem, because there is very good public transport,” he points out. The problem will arise when he has to go see his daughter in the northern part of the Madrid region or return to Tórtola del Henares. “They told me to go to other centres that were easier, but I didn’t want to,” he concludes.

27.9 million permits

Emilio Sevilla’s driving licence does not have any annotation that highlights the restriction he has. Sources from the Traffic Division of the Civil Guard acknowledge that there is no record of these drivers and that, therefore, there is no strict or differentiated control over them. These sources explain that these drivers are detected in the same way as with the rest, that is, in controls or in queries to the databases of the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT). Then the restriction codes pop up: 61 for prohibition of driving at night, 62 for a limited radius of action, 64 for a maximum speed, 67 in the case of not being able to drive on motorways or 68 for authorisations only with vehicles with automatic transmission. “They do not carry any type of external identification as is the case with the L that a new driver carries,” conclude the sources from the Civil Guard. In Spain, there are already 27.9 million drivers, according to the latest Traffic census.

Sources from the DGT recall that these types of restrictions have existed for “years” and that they are becoming more frequent. They also state that they do not have a detailed census of driving licences with restrictions, so they do not know how many drivers are affected by them in Spain. The concept of the restricted licence is, in fact, so unknown that even civil guards and local police dedicated to traffic did not know of its existence.

The general secretary of the Spanish Association of Psychotechnical Medical Centres (Asecemp), Bonifacio Martín, explains that these restrictions do not only affect older people, although they do have a greater impact on them: “There are more and more people over 65 years of age. The European Union’s policy is to extend driving licenses more and more, but always in a safe manner.” In some cases, the reductions are made by kilometres from the point of residence, which usually range between 15 and 50 kilometres. “This makes their daily life easier and prevents them from making long trips that can be dangerous due to lack of attention or fatigue. Additional risks must be avoided and these trips are usually limited to familiar places,” explains Bonifacio Martín.

A problem that has not yet been resolved, according to the director of Asecemp, is second homes. His association has sent a report to the DGT in which it asks for this fact to be regulated, since many drivers spend the summer in tourist areas or in towns. Under the law, they would not be able to drive, even though they know the area and are not dangerous for other users or for themselves.

The Director of Prevention and Road Safety at the Mapfre Foundation, Jesús Monclús, highlights that the most worrying aspect of driving is the initial stages of cognitive decline, as the symptoms are often not recognised. This involves not remembering where the car keys are or where one has parked. “Older people tend to be slower in processing and making decisions, but this does not make them more dangerous. They have fewer reflexes, but they make the best decisions by taking fewer risks,” says this specialist. “We must normalise the process and be aware that, as we age, we lose conditions and faculties,” he adds.

“For your safety”

Jesús Monclús points out that the problem is worse in the rural population, where life changes completely when they cannot go to the garden, to the doctor or they stop being “socially useful if they cannot go to pick up their grandchildren from school”: “The elderly can feel like an invalid because they cannot do everything they used to do.” “It is not about taking away or limiting the license at random, but about making the person see that they are there for their own safety,” he concludes.

The National Confederation of Driving Schools of Spain (CNAE) is betting on refresher courses when renewing a driving license. According to its general secretary, Sergio Olivera, signs, regulations, risk factors —such as mobile phones— and vehicles have changed a lot in the last 40 years. “It has nothing to do with what most of us learned when passing the exam. Cars now have driving assistance systems [los denominados ADA] and there are people who ask to disconnect them because they do not understand them,” says Olivera.

The other side of the coin comes when the medical centre no longer allows the renewal of the licence. This is what happened to Virginia López, 73 years old and a resident of San Fernando de Henares (Madrid). She had been driving since sh
e was 20, but an injury to the macula – part of the retina – caused her to lose vision and have to undergo surgery. “I can only see if I get very close, with magnifying glasses and magnifying glasses,” she explains. “I miss driving because it was my passion. I didn’t expect it, but without seeing I can’t do it. Before I used to go to see my brothers, to the shopping centres and I was very independent. I travelled a lot,” describes Virginia López, who has also had to give up other hobbies, crafts, especially dressmaking.