West Aucklander Boyd Steel has launched a blue "S" plate sticker, designed to signal there's an older driver behind the wheel.
Isra'a Emhail of RNZ
He knows not for everyone would want it – after all, it’s voluntary. But for Steel, the reason is heartfelt.
Driving around town, he’d often think about his nana — a "pleasant and calm" driver who stayed on the road into her early 80s. He hopes no one ever gave her grief for taking it slow.
"If you drive up behind a car and they've got an L [Learner’s] plate on there, you instantly have no anger or frustration that they're driving slowly. You instantly know that it's a young driver and they're learning," Steel says.
"It's the same sort of thing I wanted for an elderly driver who is aware that they're maybe not as fast as they used to be or not as comfortable."
Would his nana have agreed to it? Steel reckons he would've slapped it on her car and she’d have shrugged it off and laughed.
"She wouldn't even care. Obviously, I know that some people will be like, ‘Oh, I don't want that on my car. I'm not a bad driver’, and that's absolutely fine. It's for the people who actually are well aware of it or they don't even mind."
For some older people, driving is an important means of maintaining social connection and independence. A trip to the supermarket or a weekly coffee can be a lifeline. But one bad road-rage encounter can be enough to knock someone’s confidence, Steel says.
"They could be in their mid to late 80s still driving, but they just drive down this one route and I'd hate to think that anyone ever gave them a hard time," he says. "The longer people can drive comfortably, the better."
Steel suspects most stickers - which cost $14.50 for a pack of two - will be bought by well-meaning adult children.
The early response has been largely positive, he says, with some saying they also worry about their grandparents on the roads.
But not everyone is convinced. Gayle Chambers, president of advocacy group Grey Power, told RNZ in an email that she understands the intent but questions the payoff. If someone feels they need to justify slow driving or their confusion while driving, she suggests avoiding peak and heavy traffic instead.
She's also wary of unintended consequences. With roads getting busier and tempers shorter, a sticker could invite more discrimination, not less, she says.
"Ageism is a real issue around the world and we do not want to see seniors seen as a nuisance."
An NZTA report from 2018 stated male drivers aged 15–19 are about eight times more likely to crash than males aged 55–59, while female drivers aged 15–19 are about six times more likely to crash than females aged 45–49.
The NZTA did "not have a view of the 'S' sticker proposal".
Steel has been road-testing the idea on his own car for a few months and says he hasn’t had any negative reactions — just curiosity.
Although his own dad, a former fire truck driver who recently turned 70, told him he too has lost a bit of confidence driving at night, Steel knows many in their mid-60s or early 70s would not want to display an S sticker just yet.
For Steel, he hopes the stickers will invite a bit more compassion on the roads.
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