One has not finished in the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) and the institution led by Pere Navarro is already thinking about the changes that are to come by 2022. Modifications, all of them, that are in line with reducing road accidents and for what that it is thought to toughen the renewal of the driver’s license for those over 65 years of age. A topic always under debate and that Traffic could put on the table in a short period of time.
With an increasing number of drivers passing retirement age, health advances and improvements in cars have meant that it’s not uncommon to continue driving in your 80s or even 90s. However, the risks at such an age, both for the driver and for those around him, are greater, and for this reason the DGT is probing a reform from 2022.
This was dropped by the director of the institution in his last parliamentary speech in which he spoke of “an update of the deadlines and tests for the renewal of the driving license for elderly people”. And it is that at present the driving license must be renewed every 10 years… until reaching the age of 65.
With the last reform, the condition that from the age of 70 the card had to be renewed every two years was eliminated.
From then on, the procedure must be every 5 years, regardless of age (in Spain there is no limit to driving as long as you are over 18). Of course, just talking about the B card since the other categories have different deadlines and revisions according to their type, the norm does not stipulate that it has to be mandatory every five years, but rather a shorter term can be set due to illnesses or deficiencies.
“Right now I remind you that the renewal terms for 90-year-old drivers are five years, and that seems to us, perhaps, excessive after certain ages,” Navarro stressed, influencing this possible review. Thus, without letting fall how much would be the maximum term to be able to renew, different institutions in the sector speak of 2 years, a period that already existed before the last major reform on the General Regulations for Drivers (these times were applied from 70 years).
What is needed to renew the driver’s license?
With a percentage of failures of only 1 and 2% among those over 65 and 85 years old, respectively, this reform could also bring a hardening in the tests to pass by the oldest population. Currently, the procedures are as simple as passing a recognition and paying a fee that, in addition, is exempt from payment from the age of 70.
Specifically, these are the steps to take to renew the permit from the age of 65 and without age limit:
– Go to an authorized Driver Recognition Center. The card can be renewed from three months before its expiration.
– Pass the appointment where a brief medical check-up and a simple test will be done. For those under 70 years of age, the cost of the traffic tax is 24.34 euros, for older people it is free.
– If the results are positive, in about a month and a half the new card will be obtained. Until then, you will drive with a provisional permit.
– If the results are negative, a new contrast test can be requested or that the DGT Medical Committee make a new examination.
– In addition, if the tests detect any deficiency that does not prevent driving, the renewal terms can be shortened from one to four years.
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