Stat Dec rather than medical test for fitness to drive

[wellington_street]

hmmm...

https://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/P ... rists.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Motorists will soon be able to complete a statutory declaration verifying their fitness to drive rather than attend a medical assessment, as recognised in the inaugural 2015 Red Tape Reduction Report Card under the latest State Government efforts to slash red tape.

Transport Minister Dean Nalder said the Department of Transport (DoT) was working on a number of initiatives to reduce paperwork, time and cost for businesses and the community.

Mr Nalder said allowing electronic lodgement of assessments would reduce the administrative burden on medical practices by enabling up to 200,000 applications to be completed online.

"These two new measures, due to be implemented next year, will not only allow for a quicker exchange of information from medical practitioners to the department, but reduce the impost to an anticipated 60,000 drivers having to undergo a medical assessment," he said.

"Drivers who fail to satisfy the department of their continued fitness to drive via this declaration process will be required to undergo a full medical assessment with their doctor, along with new drivers to Western Australia, taxi and bus drivers and people aged 80 years and older."

[Kalgrm]

"No Your Honour, I was not drunk at the time. I have this Stat Dec that proves it!"

(Yeah, I know it's about longer term fitness to drive, but that's where I see it going if taken to the extreme.)

[rolandp]

Maybe the online process to submit the 'statutory declaration' will be so difficult that only those who are able to 'drive' will be able to complete it. Similar to the last phase of the driving test in WA is now a computer assessment on hazard detection and reaction time - fail this and you don't get your licence.

I'm waiting for the time when I can vote online in Australia, where in the case of WA's part of the federal election a proportion of the ballet slips were lost and cost how much to re-run?

Don't be too critical on the media release, it doesn't provide much details and if it saves $s and doesn't compromise safety going forward, go for it.

If it is what I'm suggesting, then perhaps it could be also used for regular testing of all licence holders. This way we all brush up on the road rules, and as example, all licence holders are aware that riding 2abreast is legal on majority of WA roads, that having reflectors on wheels is no longer required during the day light etc.

[Kalgrm]

I would really love to see some of this physical red tape moved into the online world. Your example of driving tests to refresh the memory on road rules is one that I've banged on about for a while now. Bring it on!

Cheers,
Graeme

[Thoglette]

I'm waiting for the time when I can vote online in Australia, where in the case of WA's part of the federal election a proportion of the ballet slips were lost and cost how much to re-run?

I'm not.

I used to design these sort of systems (secure EFTPOS machines and distributed knowledge systems) and a decade ago did a brief review of the state of the art & underlying fundamental theory of voting machines.

Short answer: machine based voting results in more fraud and less transparency as practiced. Yes I could make a reliable system but it is bounded by being "at least as expensive as" the paper based system.

Certainly, advances in machine vision could help speed up the sorting process a little. But paper has (despite the odd loss) a much better record than current electronic alternatives.

One of the joys of paper is that it is takes a lot of effort hard to commit fraud on a massive scale

[rolandp]

CCC investigates bribes for fake driving tests
No system is perfect.