"No, you should not be driving"

is what I want to say to someone I know.

J...phoned me yesterday. This happens occasionally. It usually happens when she is worried about something.

I reminded her to turn her clocks back an hour and then waited.

"I had to go up to the hospital," she told me. She has a range of medical conditions so this was not unusual in itself. "I had a medical for my driver's licence."  

That is not unusual either. She is some years older than I am and she is classed as "disabled". Her licence to drive means she can go out alone. I know it has been a lifeline for her even though someone else now takes her to do her shopping.

"They said I had to do a driving test." 

I responded to that with a neutral comment but I was thinking, "This is the person who did the medical test thinking they do not want to tell you it is time to give up your licence."

J... has had three quite serious accidents in the last three years. Nobody has been injured, one collision related to a bus stop, another to a car parked across the street and the third to a stationary car. She has also been pulled over by the police for straddling a line ("I couldn't see it properly") and failed to renew her licence and her registration on separate occasions. I have personally observed her back into a tree and remove the bark from it. She was getting "lost" coming to a group even when I gave her a very simple map to follow. She no longer comes to the group.

On the last occasion she was without her car for several weeks. It had to be towed. It could have been driven but she was not prepared to take it to the other side of the city and get a taxi back. It was "too expensive" and her insurance would pay for towing. In reality I think she knew she could not safely drive that long distance on a particularly busy route. 

She should not be driving. I know she should not be driving. I may not be able to drive myself but I can observe others who do. I also know I am not the only person who believes she should not be driving. It is quite likely her own doctor believes this but does not want to say it. It is likely that doctor sent her off to the hospital with some sort of excuse and the hospital is passing it on to an unfortunate driving tester. 

The driving tester may even give in and allow her to drive "only in day light" and within a small radius of her home. I do not think that is the answer. It is other road users who need to be considered. 

This is what does not happen of course. I can understand it. Take away someone's licence to drive and you take away all sorts of other things as well. I think of it often as I head out into extreme weather and think how nice it would be to "just hop in the car and go". If you have had a licence then the lack of one can mean major changes to the way you live. I do not want to wish that on her but I also think other road users need to be considered. 

I wonder whether the tester will have the courage to say, "No" or whether I will get another call down the track telling me, "I had a bit of an accident today." The problem is that it likely will not be an accident and someone else may get hurt.