Up to what age can you drive a car in 2021?
And we will start with the most important thing. In the most popular legal act - the traffic rules - you will not find an answer to the question of how old pensioners have the right to drive a car. The good news for seniors is that there are no age restrictions in any law or other document of Russian legislation.
As of 2021, there is no maximum age limit for being licensed to drive.
If you read somewhere that supposedly additional checks are being introduced for people aged 55, 60 or 80 to determine their health status and ability to drive a car, then this is not true and “fake”. However, such bills have been around for a long time, where, upon reaching a certain age, legislators proposed limiting people’s right to drive, but they never came into force officially.
The legislative framework
Affirmations are good. But let's refer to the regulations of the current legislation.
Since in our case we are trying to prove the absence of a ban on driving a car for older people, we will provide a list of legal acts that could contain such a ban, but you will not find it there:
- first of all, the traffic rules do not regulate in any of the sections until how many years pensioners drive a car,
- just as in the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation there are no existing fines for driving after reaching a certain age,
- there is nothing similar in the special Government Decree on admission to management,
- The maximum age is also not indicated in the List of Contraindications.
Is it true that older people need to undergo medical examinations more often?
Let's go even further! Logically, any age should be regulated by law not as a complete ban on driving upon reaching it, but, probably, as a requirement to increase the frequency of medical examinations or additional examinations. But this is not in the relevant regulatory framework of the Russian Federation.
In 2021, the issue we are discussing is regulated by 2 legislative acts:
- Articles 23 and 24 of the Federal Law on Road Safety contain general provisions on medical support for the transport infrastructure of Russia,
- In pursuance of this law, Order No. 344 of the Ministry of Health was issued on conducting mandatory medical examination of drivers.
You will also be interested in:
- Is the new law on retaking traffic rules when replacing a license true?
- Is a medical certificate required when replacing a license after loss or damage?
- New rules for passing a driver's medical examination and obtaining a medical certificate
Is it possible to drive a motorcycle?
Yes. There are also no specific restrictions that would prohibit riding a motorcycle until a certain age. You can ride a motorcycle even if you are 100 years old or more.
Up to what age is it legal to drive a car?
Most experienced drivers wonder at what age they can drive a car. The Internet is full of all kinds of information on this matter. Not every person will be able to find the answer to this question on their own. Therefore, it is advisable to obtain legislative confirmation of the upper age limit for driving a car from a specialist - a lawyer.
It is well known that persons over 18 years of age can drive. Of course, the basics of driving are easy to acquire long before this age, but acquiring a license is permitted upon reaching adulthood. As a rule, drivers rarely think about the permissible age. This thought mainly worries people of retirement age.
Experts say there is no upper age limit for driving a car. If a driver is able to drive a car according to his physical capabilities, he can get behind the wheel even at the age of a hundred.
In fact, older drivers can face many challenges, and despite their physical health, not everyone is able to drive in old age.
The legislation provides for renewal of rights every ten years. Moreover, there is no need to retake knowledge of traffic rules, but a medical examination is mandatory. Due to the occurrence of many health-related problems in old age, motorists often do not receive permission from a doctor to renew their license. However, there is still an illegal opportunity to buy medical certificates by paying a symbolic amount, without visiting a medical facility.
Obtaining an MTPL policy is also associated with age-related problems. Agents very often tell retirees about additional insurance. Therefore, you need to carefully select companies or you can contact Rospotrebnadzor.
It should be remembered that driving a car is prohibited while taking certain medications. But older people often need to take medications. Often, a medical examination gives a positive result, due to which a person is deprived of his driver’s license, often with the payment of a considerable fine.
There is no upper age limit for motorists in the rules of almost all countries, since the experience of driving a vehicle requires accuracy, deliberation and extreme caution. Therefore, the legislation does not provide for any age restrictions for older drivers.
Do you think there is a need for age restrictions when driving a car?
How often do pensioners need to obtain a medical certificate?
Once every 10 years. This is regulated by the same Federal Law on Safety, which specifies that a driver’s license must be changed every 10 years. In turn, Order No. 344 prescribes (in paragraph 4) the mandatory receipt of a new certificate when replacing rights.
The 2021 legislation has not established any special conditions, as we wrote above, for older people regarding the age at which they need to undergo a medical examination more often.
Meanwhile, there is still an important subtlety here, which lies in the purpose of obtaining a medical certificate - in the presence of diseases and conditions under which driving is prohibited and which are more common among pensioners than among young people or middle-aged people.
Until what age can you get a driver's license?
To obtain a car license that allows its owner to drive a vehicle (hereinafter referred to as a vehicle), the age limit is important. Even very young people simply dream of learning to drive a car and quickly obtaining a driver’s license (hereinafter referred to as a driver’s license). However, not all of them know at what age this can be done officially. The opposite situation also happens, when a fairly adult person wants to learn how to drive a car, but has no idea up to what age one can obtain a driver’s license. We will talk about this point in detail below.
Special studies that were carried out by AZT (Allianz Technology Center) in close cooperation with the European Organizational Council for Safe Roads clearly demonstrated that the highest likelihood of creating emergency situations and getting into an accident appears among those drivers whose age exceeds 75 years of age. . This is explained by the fact that older people are much slower to navigate the area, have difficulty concentrating, and also experience a certain muscle weakness in stressful situations. These and some other points are the reason for the difficulties that older car drivers have behind the wheel.
However, updated information from Russian insurers, analyzing the data of car owners purchasing a CASCO policy, provided different information. According to their information, only 4% of elderly people get into accidents, and this figure is half that of middle-aged and young drivers.
It should be noted that no orders of the Ministry of Health contain restrictions for older people to acquire a driver’s license. Some representatives of this age category are considered by doctors to be people with physical disabilities. In such a situation, they are equated to citizens who have certain physical limitations, and on an individual basis they may be required to undergo a medical examination more often than younger people (for example, once a year).
According to experts, the main criterion influencing the final decision on issuing a license is the medical assessment of the driver’s health. Indeed, during a medical examination, specialists not only assess the state of health, but also make a certain forecast for the future.
It’s hard to argue with this opinion, because one person can be athletic, attentive and collected at the age of 60, while another at the age of 40 can have poor eyesight, distracted attention and poor physical shape.
So it turns out that restrictions on obtaining a driver’s license should be based specifically on the state of health of the driver, as well as his behavioral reactions.
You should study in advance the rules for issuing a driver’s license for representatives of different age categories and be guided by such information!
Last update: 04-09-2020
What are the possible contraindications?
We provided a complete list of all diseases for which driving is prohibited or limited in one of our previous articles.
Let us note the most relevant ones for old age:
- dementia,
- amnesia,
- Alzheimer's disease,
- almost all mental disorders and diseases affecting mental activity,
- also, if after a stroke there are consequences in the form of dementia, blindness, amnesia, then driving is also prohibited.
Until what age can you drive a car?
Retirement doesn't mean you have to give up driving.
There are no clear age restrictions for driving for motorists. They are introduced only for professional drivers who sit behind the wheel in connection with their work activities. For himself, a person can travel then and as much as he wants.
For example, 80-year-old Julia Albu made a road trip through Africa in an old Toyota car. It took her almost six months to travel, and during the ride the woman was able to pass:
- Zimbabwe
- Zambia
- Tanzania
- Uganda
- Sudan
- Ethiopia
The traveler herself notes that the path was not close and dangerous, but she wanted to somehow diversify her life. The children have grown up, the husband has died, and a person at such an advanced age no longer worries about danger as much as before. With age, the woman felt freedom.
A man who is 82 years old lives in St. Petersburg. The Russian not only manages to take part in trophy raids in a UAZ, but also wins races.
Restrictions in Russia.
In Russia there are no age restrictions for drivers. Every ten years, citizens are required to undergo a medical examination, after which they can continue to drive cars. The main requirements for examination remain good vision and normal health. Therefore, if an elderly person drives a vehicle, he is in good health and is quite capable of assessing the situation on the road and reacting to it appropriately.
It is noteworthy that in other countries the requirements for drivers are more stringent. In Italy, after 50 years of age, motorists must undergo a medical examination every 5 years, and after 75 years - every three years. In Spain, once every 5 years you will have to renew your driver's license after the age of 65, and similar rules apply in many countries.
Bottom line.
You can often see elderly drivers driving on the roads, which raises the question of how old you can drive a car in Russia. In fact, there are no restrictions in this matter, since everything depends on the person’s well-being.
If a motorist sees well and reacts adequately to what is happening on the road, and has passed a medical examination, then he can drive a vehicle. We can only hope that the commission of doctors conscientiously does its job and does not make mistakes by issuing certificates to elderly people who are not entirely healthy.
Source: https://zen.yandex.ru/media/car.ru/do-kakogo-vozrasta-mojno-vodit-mashinu-5d64f8e7f73d9d00adebab82
Photo: pixabay.com