RSA treating mature drivers unfairly

SINCE the new laws on provisional drivers came into effect there has been a surge of tests taking place for the ‘unlawful’ mature drivers who have been driving for years without a full licence.

While I am fully supportive of the RSA’s policy on road safety, I feel that these people are being treated unfairly with regards to the test. There is a much higher pass rate for the 17-30 age group. Is it fair to judge, say a 65-year- old woman with a previous unblemished 30 years on the road (albeit, unlawfully) in a mere 30 minutes, during which time before and after the poor woman is having a nervous breakdown?

Should her previous ‘clean’ record not be taken into account and a more lenient approach taken by the testing authority towards this particular demographic?. Statistically, speed and in particular by young male drivers are the cause of fatal accidents yet this category have no problem passing their driving tests. Are the RSA ‘driving’ the wrong people of the road?