COUNTY VIEW: Putting granny and grandad off the road

There’s a nice little row brewing over a proposal before the European Commission which would see the bar raised considerably for senior citizens seeking to renew their driving licences. In a suite of measures designed to improve road safety, the most controversial will be that requiring drivers over the age of 70 to undergo refresher courses if they wish to continue driving.
EU bureaucrats should be reminded of the seismic outcome of the grey revolution of just over a decade ago, when the Fianna Fáil-led coalition budget sought to curtail the medical card entitlement of citizens aged over 70. No government in history could have so much regretted arousing the slumbering giant of elderly anger, the backlash of which was enough to hound the government of the day out of office.
But to go back to where we came in. The proposed changes in EU driving regulations are as yet in the embryonic stage, but are due for discussion by the full Commission and Parliament soon. However, the details were leaked within the last ten days, and they have generated an irate response from a variety of quarters.
One of the more influential voices has been that of Professor Desmond O’Neill, specialist in geriatric medicine, who has warned that older motorists will be forced off the road by such measures as mandatory driving tests.
Accusing the EU of having a blind spot in relation to the supposed dangers posed by older drivers, Prof O’Neill maintains that there is a widespread body of research which shows that older drivers are among the safest in Europe. Citing the loss of mobility and independence which such measures would cause, he added that, even in terms of cost, blanket screening of older motorists would be ineffective.
Back in 2008, the decision of Brian Cowen’s government to revoke the universal medical card entitlement of those over 70, unleashed a revolution which in its intensity stunned and rattled the establishment. Thousands of older folk took to street demonstrations in uncontrolled fury; in the aftermath, government TDs defected, ministers resigned, the administration fell apart and even a craven climbdown failed to appease the ire of the inflamed grey brigade.
The day following the medical card announcement, three thousand protesting activists of the ‘Zimmer Revolution’ assembled in Westland Row church. There, facing a forest of placards, the hapless junior Minister for Health, John Maloney, was booed off the podium before he could open his mouth, and went back to report to his political masters with his tail between his legs.
But that was merely the starter course. The following day, an all-Ireland protest descended on Leinster House. The oldsters came in their thousands by bus and train and private transport, on wheelchairs and on crutches, bowed but unbeaten. At Heuston station, sympathetic taxi drivers ferried them free of charge to the gates of the Dáil. Neighbouring restaurants and coffee shops sustained them with complimentary tea and scones.
By the time the 15,000 strong army had thronged the streets and pavement outside the Dáil, any government TD daring enough to show his or her face was in line for a merciless roasting.
The Minister for Older People, Maire Hoctor, sent out to pacify the enraged seniors had barely uttered her first words of apology when she was shouted down. The Green TD, Ciarán Cuffe, was given the same treatment. Inside the Dáil, Minister for Health Mary Harney apologised – but to no avail – for the ‘needless distress’.
But it was all too late. The government ship had been holed below the water line and for Cowen, it was the beginning of the end.
It was a lesson which, 15 years on, the EU would do well to pay heed to.