The procedure that will enter into force from next year, when the driver's license will be suspended after the health certificate expires, may become a huge social problem, says Algimantas Križinauskas, director of the Office of Vehicle Insurers.
According to the representative of the insurers, if you cause a traffic accident with an invalid driver's license, all the damage is recovered from the culprit, and if people miss the deadline for health checks and a technical accident can end up with huge costs.
"If the driver's license is suspended and that person commits an incident, the full amount paid to the third party will be recovered from him as the culprit. A huge social problem awaits us just because a person forgot or did not take that certificate. People who insure themselves with civil liability insurance can get into such trouble that thousands will be needed," said A. Križinauskas during the session of the Seimas Law and Order Committee on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, the committee considered a finding by the Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman that amendments to the Road Safety Act, which will come into effect in 2024, may discriminate against older drivers. According to them, the driver's license will be declared invalid if the driver or drivers do not undergo a health check according to the established procedure.
Now, administrative responsibility is provided for driving without a health check - a fine of 30 to 50 euros is imposed. According to the order of the Minister of Health, it is established that persons not older than 55 must have a health check-up once every 10 years, persons aged 56 to 69 - once every five years, persons aged 70 to 79 - once every two years, persons from 80 years - every year.
The TTC of the Seimas decided to apply to the Government in order to create a mechanism to warn drivers when the health certificate expires and they are at risk of losing their driver's license, and also suggests assessing whether the current frequency of health check-ups according to age is proportionate, or whether there is no need to introduce other criteria , for example due to a medical condition. The response from the Government regarding the driver warning system will be awaited until September 15.
Speaking at the meeting, A. Križinauskas said that older drivers cause fewer accidents and the number of accidents increases only in the age group over 80 years old.
"The most sought-after clients of insurance companies are between 40 and 80 years old, because the frequency of traffic accidents caused by them is below five, that is, no more than five accidents per hundred drivers per year, the Lithuanian average is 6,2, and only those over 80 years old the average increases, or six drivers out of a hundred have accidents, and from 56 to 70 there is the lowest accident rate, only 3,8," said a representative of the insurers.
According to him, traffic accidents are usually caused by drivers under the age of 25 - several times more often than older drivers.
"Drivers under the age of 25 cause traffic accidents almost 13 times out of a hundred, two to three times more often than all other older people," noted A. Križinauskas.
Rytis Vosylius, representative of the Lithuanian traffic police, who participated in the meeting, informed that last year 22 traffic accidents were recorded due to the health condition of drivers, of which 18 people were over 55 years old, this year there were eight accidents due to this reason, five people were over 55 years old.
"Of course, age is not the only indicator, because this year there have been road accidents with drivers aged 30, 36 and 43 years old due to the deterioration of their health. But statistics show that older people are at greater risk," said R. Vosylius.
Equal opportunities controller Birutė Sabatauskaitė, who participated in the meeting, noted that the validity of a health certificate depending on age is not discriminatory in itself, but the provision of the law that without that certificate the validity of a driver's license will be suspended raises doubts.
"The division by age groups itself cannot be considered discriminatory, but they should be evaluated as causing administrative difficulties," said B. Sabatauskaitė.
She also suggested thinking about a warning system for drivers, because some drivers do not even know about the procedure that will come into force next year, that they will lose their license if they do not have their health checked in time.
According to B. Sabatauskaitė, the state could also take over part of the financial burden for older drivers for health certificates, because they incur costs more often than other drivers, and a medical certificate costs 20-35 euros.
The controller has proposed to the Ministry of Health to assess whether the frequency of driver health check-ups based on a person's age is really justified, to consider the possibility of linking driver health check-ups not only to age, but to other possible criteria, such as health status or diagnosed illnesses, leaving the possibility for individuals to self-report about a changed state of health.
The author is Milena Andrukaitytė
