He was among older drivers backing the change, Bruce told Kerre Woodham Mornings on Newstalk ZB yesterday.
“I’ve always got through the test, but to be honest, some of the questions are quite silly.”
Casey Costello is Seniors Minister in New Zealand. Photo / Mark Mitchell
This included asking a person to immediately repeat a sentence said to them, and then repeat the sentence again after other questions had been asked.
“I think if I threw [that] at you and then a whole pile of questions, you’d probably have the same [problem].”
Before Tuesday’s announcement, most GPs were using the Mini-Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination test on older drivers seeking to renew their licences, Grey Power president David Marshall said.
It tests attention, memory, and fluency with questions including what day and date it is, repeating a name and address said to participants, and naming as many animals as possible in one minute, with the highest score for those naming more than 22.
The test also included drawing a clock face with the hands at 10 past 5, and ending with the participant again asked to repeat the name and address given to them earlier.
However, the tests were applied inconsistently, with some not testing all applicants, or only asking them some of the questions, Marshall said.
There was also no evidence cognitive tests reliably predicted driving ability, with a subsequent NZ Transport Agency and Office for Seniors-funded University of Auckland study leading to this week’s changes, he said.
“[The study was] to see, ‘Is there evidence that supports the use of a cognitive test for driving ability?’ And basically the answer is no.”
The first page of the Mini-Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination New Zealand Version A, covering attention, memory and animal-naming fluency tasks.
The second page of the Mini-Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination New Zealand Version A, featuring clock drawing, memory recall and final scoring sections.
ZB caller Bruce said he’d always got through the test because his doctor took a “really sensible view”.
“But I think some of them were a bit unfair to some people who get really nervous.
“I think if you go to your own doctor, he knows whether you’re a bit gaga or not.”
Newstalk ZB host Kerre Woodham spoke to seniors about changes to driver licensing cognitive testing for older drivers. Photo / Jason Dorday
Woodham countered that her “darling mum” was able to renew her licence when she had early onset dementia.
“Bad move.”
Another caller, Pat, said she turns 84 next week and has a 7m motorhome she drives around New Zealand.
She had words of assurance for other over-75s renewing their licences.
“It’s just no problem at all … I’ve recently done my new relicensing test and I had to do it with the doctor’s nurse.
“The new test is easy. It’s just a matter of being able to go from A, B to C to D, you just draw lines around this piece of paper to these numbers like join the dots.
“The second test was a little bit more difficult because it was join the dots again, but you went A1, B2, C3, D4 around this chart.”
An 88-year-old caller told Woodham he stopped driving nine years ago because of failing eyesight.
“I didn’t get someone to say, ‘Well, you can’t see, therefore you can’t drive’. I took the decision myself because … if I can’t see clearly things I’m putting anybody at risk that I come across, plus myself.
“Why do I want to take that risk?”