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Saskatoon city council should not wade into a debate about whether the province should mandate when and how seniors renew their driver’s licences, a city advisory committee says.

Council’s traffic safety advisory committee heard Tuesday morning that Saskatchewan is one of just three Canadian provinces with no laws governing when seniors renew their licences. The other two are Manitoba and Prince Edward Island.

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Carl Kuhnke, who heads the Saskatchewan Centre of Excellence for Transportation and Infrastructure, brought the “highly politically charged” issue to the committee’s attention and asked if his colleagues had any interest in advising city council to lobby the provincial government for laws to bring Saskatchewan more in line with the rest of the country.

They did not; some argued that would be better done by other levels of government.

In Alberta, drivers must get a medical report signed by a doctor in order to renew their licence at age 75, at age 80, and every two years after that. In Ontario, drivers who turn 80 must take part in a 45-minute group education session that covers new traffic laws and how aging affects driving. Drivers go through in-class screening and may also be required to do a road test or get a doctor’s note.

Al Reichert, a committee member with the Saskatoon Safety Council, said providing education about how driving ability changes as people grow older could be more useful than forcing people to get a medical exam or undergo tests at a certain age.

“I don’t think legislating this is going to be the answer,” he said.

ahill@postmedia.com

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