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WATCH OUT- "I AM ON THE ROAD AGAIN"
It was the time for me to go to renew my driver’s licence. The letter in the mail from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, Senior Driver Licence Renewal office, recently informed me that I had to attend an assessment session on Exeter Road on July 24th at 11.15 a,m.
Fifteen senior citizens, 80 -104 years of age, assembled in a conference room to be greeted by Mark Saunders from the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) to take us through the process. He went over why the Ministry of Transportation wanted us to be assessed. A very small percentage of the seniors are not able to pass the tests because of medical problems.
For the most part we seniors are not the driving problems. Check out the accident statistics and you will find that for the most part drivers in their early twenties, thirties end up in the hospital. It is tragic that many end up dead- on- arrival at the ER after texting while speeding down the Veteran’s Park Way.
Mark Saunders, our instructor , asked us to go through some vision acuity testing that we all passed with flying colours We were then asked to find 102 H’s on a large piece of paper in five minutes to better evaluate the presence and severity of visual scanning deficits and evaluate our reaction time. To complete the test we seniors were told to draw a clock with all of the numbers from 1-12 indicating that the hands registered was 11.10.
Wonder of wonders we all passed and are now deemed okay to drive. Mark treated his " special students" with patience, respect along with a good sense of humour. He reminded us seniors that: "If we needed to go in the middle of the assessment we were free to go. "He would prefer that we not go in the classroom but rather make our way to the men’s/ women’s washrooms down the hall and to the left."
Permission forms in hand I made my way to the ServiceOntario office on Hamilton Road to be photographed/signed in to get my drivers licence renewed.
I do not have to go through the assessment process for two years and there are no restrictions on my driving. My wife, Ella, is my
back seat driver who always tells me that I am driving too fast through the amber light on Hamilton road.
If you have questions about the Senior Driver Licence renewal program, you may visit Ontario.ca/seniordriver or call 1-800-396-4233.
Folks please drive with caution: " I am back on the road again. Going to Places I have never been."
Len Lesser is an education/career counsellor in Dorchester, Ont.
Len Lesser