Lekhraj Sharma in the driver's seat (TOI Photo) MUMBAI (The Times Of India), November 20, 2007:
It's not only the young and restless who love to cruise, even the city's Grey Beards are taking to the wheel.
Statistics available with the city's Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) show that 80-year-old grandfathers are now vying for licences along with babyfaced 18-year-olds.
Take Lekhraj Sharma, who recently gave a driving test at the Andheri RTO. The officials were skeptical on noticing that he was 82 years old, but his physical agility and mature driving skills won them over. "I don't plan to take the car out on busy roads and there is no question of me being drunk at the wheel," says the Andheri resident.
The city's three RTO offices are coming across more case like Sharma's, especially since there is no upper age limit for procuring a driving licence (the minimum age is 18).
"The number of elders obtaining driving licences may be 1 to 2% of the total number of licence-seekers, but it is a significant number considering that earlier we never had them coming to us," says an RTO official at Tardeo.
Considering that the RTOs receive around 2,500 applications for learners or drivers licences every day, the number of elders making a pitch is sizable.
Sharma, an advocate by training, took driving lessons to win a bet with his son.
"My son felt I would not be able to learn driving at my age," says the Andheri resident. After six weeks of training on the sly, he has now learnt to manoeuvre a vehicle with ease.
With today's greying population being healthier and wealthier than in the past, it has perhaps become easier to pursue unfulfilled dreams at a later age.
Martha Barretto, 60, travelled from her Lokhandwala residence to a driving school in Churchgate after she retired from the State Bank of India recently. Barretto could fulfil her desire of owning a car only after she got her retirement benefits. The driving lessons and a licence were the next logical steps. Driving schools are happy with the older tribe.
"Some of the senior citizens are turning out to be good drivers. They do not have the 'jawani ka josh' and they are careful drivers as they have come across many accidents in their lifetime," says Vinayak Joshi, a defence driving consultant for over 32 years. Being mature, they would never indulge in rash driving, he adds.
But the seniors-on-wheels phenomenon comes with an advisory. Joshi believes licences should be granted only after thorough medical checks are conducted. Persons with high blood pressure, diabetes, heart problems and poor eyesight should not be encouraged to take up driving, he adds.
There is also no denying the fact that reflexes get blunt with age. Joshi recalls the case of a 78-year-old advocate who discontinued his driving lessons due to poor reflexes. "Proper functioning of the shoulders, knees and ankles is the key to driving." E A Khan, chief executive officer of the Western India Automobile Association motor training school at Churchgate, concurs. He remembers a 65-year-old student who took much longer than others to master the brake-accelerator routine.
"She would take long to switch from the accelerator to the brake," he says.
But all was not lost. Khan advised her to keep moving her right leg even while resting at home. "Today she is a seasoned driver," beams Khan.
In fact, advocate Sharma's 71-year-old wife Lalita is so happy her husband got a licence that now she wants one too. "I accompanied my husband on a few lessons and am confident of doing it myself. It is not as if we want to drive on the Expressway. It's just to fulfil a desire," says the grandmother.
By Sandhya Nair, Times News Network
Copyright © 2007 Times Internet Limited.
