Warnings cut road trauma, but at a cost

Gerber, Paul

doi:10.5694/mja12.11574

To the Editor: A news article in the 15 October issue of the Journal highlighted the contentious issue of doctors warning older patients that their driving skills may be impaired and the cost of such medical warnings1 — matters that had been raised in the New England Journal of Medicine2 and the BMJ.3

Melbourne, VIC.

Correspondence: paul.gerber1@bigpond.com

Competing interests:

I am an 88-year-old driver.

1. Overs M. Warnings cut road trauma, but at a cost [news]. Med J Aust 2012; 197: 435. <MJA full text>
2. Redelmeier DA, Yarnell CJ, Thiruchelvam D, Tibshirani RJ. Physicians’ warnings for unfit drivers and the risk of trauma from road crashes. N Engl J Med 2012; 367: 1228-1236.
3. O’Neill D. Medical screening of older drivers is not evidence based. BMJ 2012; 345: e6371.

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