Spate of elderly deaths on Borders roads sparks concern

Families have been urged to step in to support and protect older motorists after a recent spate of deaths involving elderly drivers on roads in the Borders.

The tragic deaths of drivers and passengers in their seventies and eighties on the region’s roads in recent weeks was raised at a meeting of the council’s Police, Fire, Rescue and Safer Communities Board on Wednesday, December 14.

East Berwickshire ward’s Councillor James Anderson asked if the spate was related to “age-related attention span”.

Chief Inspector Vinne Fisher, local area commander for the Scottish Borders, expressed caution in speculating on the cause of specific incidents, but accepted that in general terms older people were more likely to die as a result of road collisions.

He said: “We have to be really careful about talking about causation factors, especially so soon after these incidents, so I wouldn’t drill into the detail, but the fact is that a number of those killed in recent weeks were older drivers and the fact of the matter is that if you are an older driver then you are less likely to survive a collision than a younger driver or passenger might survive.”

Chief Inspector Fisher said that the force locally was now looking to tap in to various tactics utilised elsewhere across th UK that could be used to support older drivers.

Committee chair, Tweeddale East ward’s Councillor Julie Pirone said: “There is probably a message here to older drivers and the families of older drivers, particularly in the winter weather, that when you want to go out that maybe you should think twice about going out if you don’t really have to and for families to check that their parents and grandparents are really fit to drive.

“I know it’s very difficult in a rural area when the car is the main transport mode but people need to think about that because the people involved in these accidents have been older and unfortunately they have lost their lives because you are less likely to able to come through an accident.

“That’s a really important message to share around communities because if you can help an elderly person rather than having to drive themselves then think about doing that.”