The B.C. government has is facing criticism over announced changes concerning a driver testing system called DriveABLE, which measures a number of criteria which affect a person's ability to safely operate a motor vehicle.
In a May 19 press release, provincial Minister of Justice and Attorney General Shirley Bond outlined some tweaking to the DriveABLE program, including some changes intended to make it more convenient and less stressful for those being tested.
"The changes will ensure that British Columbians can do their driving assessments closer to home," the government communique disclosed, in part, "and will alleviate the potential anxiety some seniors are experiencing around doing an on-screen assessment."
The closest centres to Castlegar for those requiring testing are Nelson, Kelowna, and as of May, Cranbrook.
Topping the list of changes will be a stipulation that a person's road-readiness will not be solely determined by how they do in the office with a computerized test. They will have the option of a road test based on the results of the in-office procedure, and the final assessment is to be based on the office and road tests, with consideration given to available medical information. The assessments may be booked at no cost to the citizen.
New Democrats say the the government is finally getting around to acting on something that has been frustrating and upsetting seniors for years.“Opposition MLAs have worked with seniors in communities throughout B.C. to identify problems with the DriveABLE system and seek solutions," said New Democrat public safety critic Kathy Corrigan in a March 19 press release. "But as with so many issues, there has to be a huge public outcry before the Liberals act to fix very real problems. B.C. seniors have been through a lot of anxiety waiting for the Liberals to take action.”
A University of Alberta spin-off company, DriveABLE was founded to provide evidence-based practices for identifying the medically impaired driver. One of the tools used by the roughly 10-year old outfit is called a DCAT - DriveABLE Cognitive Assessment Tool. Putting a subject through six texts, the DCAT's proponents claim that "performance on 22 different variables relevant to driving" may be precisely measured.DriveABLE literature touts the "science-based" system "backed by award-winning research."
The government appears to have decided to try and make the whole operation less daunting for those required to be assessed.Here are some details from the government's Monday press release:
* The service delivery model will be improved as quickly as possible by reducing the amount of travel for rural B.C. The service will be offered as close to home as possible by allowing more people to benefit from DriveABLE's regional expansion and additional mobile services."
The changes don't satisfy the system's critics.
“The Liberals threw a system in place that wreaked havoc on communities all over B.C.,” said Corrigan. “I’m not sure the band-aid they placed on the system today will be the fix that’s needed.”Here are some statistics, as supplied by the government document:"Of the 3.1 million B.C. drivers - 84,000 of whom are over the age of 80 - only about 1,500 are referred to take the DriveABLE assessment.
People are referred to the superintendent by physicians when they have been identified as having cognitive issues that may hamper their ability to drive safely."Although the Opposition questions whether the DriveABLE system is the best such program on the market, it continues to improve according to the governing Liberals.
"DriveABLE is currently available at 17 centres throughout the province, up from three in 2005," it is stated in the press release. "Other locations are being considered in addition to the mobile services."