Gananoque mayor phone calls for new kind of driver’s licence
Gananoque Mayor John Beddows needs to have a discussion with the group he serves about driver’s licences in Ontario.
Specially, Beddows wonders if it is time for a 2nd kind of graduated driver’s licence in Ontario to support older people today remain independent as lengthy as attainable.
He posed the question on his community Fb webpage, seeking to produce dialogue with customers of the group and media.
“The ‘G’ program is an ‘all or nothing’ licensing process,” reads Beddows’s write-up.
“As a driver, you have to be medically healthy to operate a private car or truck underneath all weather situations at all hours of the working day. This suggests normal wellness, eyesight, response instances and hearing at a level to securely operate a car or truck at 2 a.m. on Highway 401 in a February snowstorm.
“We all know that as we get more mature, we acquire encounter but at the same time our physical qualities degrade. For numerous seniors, the reduction of their driver’s licence is a important problem as it implies the decline of their independence. At the exact same time, we have to settle for that road safety and the security of others has to arrive right before any 1 individual’s privilege to generate.”
Beddows thinks there needs to be a center floor, and he’s suggesting an thought – graduated licensing that reflects bodily capacity.
“What if, relatively than entirely shedding a driver’s licence when response situations, vision and hearing slide under the full G threshold, we had a graduated licence that mirrored bodily restrictions for operation of a private motor vehicle.”
Beddows states a version of this could be a licence which lets a driver to run their auto on roads with velocity boundaries of 80 km/h or considerably less for the duration of daylight hrs only.
“This would enable a senior retain their licence, maintain their motor vehicle or truck, and match their license to their talents,” said Beddows. “We have to acknowledge that there will nevertheless occur a time when a driver is not capable to travel safely and must lose their licence, but having a graduated program could generate disorders to let some to continue to keep their licence longer.”
To Beddows, this idea speaks to rural and small-city Ontario, the place there is not transit, and taxis are an added cost and pricey for extended trips this kind of as from Gananoque to Kingston and back.
For the most component, a private automobile is important to have entry to providers, check out close friends and to be capable to delight in an independent lifestyle.
“We by now have graduated licensing at the commencing of a driver’s vocation,” explained Beddows. “Why not to the conclusion as properly? Primarily if it balances the need for public security with the need to have to assist protect good quality of life and independence.”
(Keith Dempsey is a Area Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Brockville Recorder and Situations. The Nearby Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.)
Keith Dempsey, Neighborhood Journalism Initiative Reporter, Brockville Recorder and Moments