Senior driver allays white-knuckle fears

84-year-old driver James Bramwell is put through his paces by licence tester Mohammed Kalim in an over-80s practical test. Picture / Brett Phibbs

Let's face it, hitching a lift with some senior citizens can be a white-knuckle ride.

Cornering can be problematic, and entering a roundabout can induce thoughts of going over Niagara Falls in a barrel.

Of course, every generation boasts its dodgy drivers - under-25s still rule the roost for auto accidents - but for a sheer fingers-embedded-in-the-dashboard adrenalin rush, take a spin with certain seniors.

Driver licence tester Mohammed Kalim is one man who does it regularly, and the Herald this week sat in the back as he took an elderly driver for his two-yearly practical test.

After five years on the job, one would expect to see in Mr Kalim the 1000-yard stare of a combat veteran: the look of a man who has seen too much.

Instead, Mr Kalim strides purposefully and cheerfully across the Westgate Shopping Centre carpark, ready to put Mt Albert man James Bramwell through his paces.

Mr Bramwell, 84, is sitting his second two-yearly driver test, and there is a palpable nervousness beneath his bonhomie.

"All I will say is left or right," Mr Kalim says as Mr Bramwell manoeuvres his Daihatsu Charade.

And with that, it's into the wilds of Waitakere. The Herald does not wish to give the exact route, lest anyone with a driving test pending feels an urge to do a little swot.

After a few kilometres, Mr Bramwell is asked to make a u-turn in a quiet cul de sac - a feat he executes admirably.

It is the first of a number of tasks he performs more than adequately, though some of the finer points of driving could use a little work.

One doesn't need to be a driving instructor to sense Mr Bramwell is a little heavy on the brake and accelerator, and it seems he puts the front wheels in a spin (it's called a sustained loss of traction in the district court) while leaving one intersection from a hill start.

But the Daihatsu is no General Lee, and in every other respect Mr Bramwell seems to have a good grasp of the road code and the road he's driving on.

The test examines him in heavy-traffic situations, his open road expertise and skill at pulling over.

He is also quizzed on what constitutes a road hazard before being allowed to return to Westgate.

Once back, Mr Kalim draws out the tension, game-show style.

"How do you feel?" he asks.

"All right, a little bit nervous," comes the reply.

He then tells Mr Bramwell that his driving skills - while not 100 per cent - are "not bad".

There's more small talk until (as the tension builds to a point where a commercial break would normally be taken) Mr Kalim finally gives Mr Bramwell the good news.

"I have passed you. You are good for another two years."

Later, after Mr Kalim has taken his leave Mr Bramwell admits to a few pre-test jitters.

But the former power board employee - with 52 years' experience on the road - is philosophical about the Government dropping tests for over-80s. "I just go by the rules."

Mr Bramwell believes he has the skills to continue driving into his 90s, he's just not keen on having to demonstrate them every two years.

"I could drive a lot better if he [Mr Kalim] wasn't there. If the wife was there, and not him, I would have been right as rain."