Elderly man incurred 148 penalty points in one driving test – but went to court to get his licence back

An elderly man who made enough errors to fail a driving test more than seven times over has appealed against a decision to ban him from driving.

An elderly driver who amassed 148 penalty points during a driving test – enough to fail the test seven times – has appealed to a tribunal to reinstate his licence.

The 86-year-old man was considered medically fit to drive and held a driver’s licence until 2021 when his sleep specialist physician wrote to his general practitioner recommending he undertake a practical driving test to ensure he was “medically and mentally fit to drive”.

The man subsequently had a practical driving test in November 2021, where he “incurred 148 penalty points, in circumstances where the (test) was unsuccessful if 20 or more penalty points were incurred”.

He undertook a second practical driving test in February 2022, where he amassed 94 penalty points – enough to fail the test almost five times over.

In the interim, his licence had expired and the man was told it would not be renewed.

The man sought a review of a decision of the Registrar of Motor Vehicles to refuse to renew his driver’s licence before the SA Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

During his two driving tests the elderly man disobeyed a stop sign, tailgated other vehicles, exceeded the speed limit, failed to signal before turns and failed to give way at a roundabout.

In its ruling, the tribunal found the man had “recorded a number of driving errors and breaches of the Australian Road Rules” during the tests.

Those breaches included disobeying a stop sign, failing to give way and driving at an excessive speed during the first test. After that test, it was recommended his licence be suspended and that he undertake driver training before any further testing.

During the second test, the man failed to signal his intention to turn on two occasions and failed to give way at a roundabout, causing the assessor to intervene. He also failed to keep a safe distance from vehicles in front and the assessor noted he failed to check mirrors, lacked steering control and lacked judgment.

It was recommended that he be refused a licence.

The man first sought an internal review of the decision, then appealed to the tribunal.

The man had told the tribunal he “had difficulty hearing or following the assessor’s instructions” and said he was “unfamiliar with the test vehicles”.

“Those explanations do not satisfactorily account for or mitigate the serious errors committed during both (practical driving tests), some of which had the potential to put other road users at risk,” the tribunal found.

The tribunal noted there was a “significant negative impact” on the man not being able to hold a licence, but that he had “made a number of serious errors, demonstrating that at the time of the assessments, he was not competent to drive a motor vehicle”.

They found “the correct decision” was not to renew the man’s licence.

Originally published as Elderly man incurred 148 penalty points in one driving test – but went to court to get his licence back