Over the last 2 weeks, the Saskatchewan Safety Council has been holding a number of Mature Driver Refresher Courses throughout the province, with one taking place in Moose Jaw over the past week, and numerous others taking place across the province, hoping to give drivers a chance to stay safe on the road.

Safe driving is always a top concern in Saskatchewan; whether it's lowering the number of impaired or distracted drivers, law enforcement is always on the top of their game trying to lower the number of preventable accidents. But what about for older drivers?

In BC and Ontario, medical exams are required for drivers 80 years or older, and in Alberta, medical reviews or examinations start at 75 years or older. Newfoundland, Quebec, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut all have similar programs as well, but not in Saskatchewan.

Right now, SGI does not have any mandatory medicals or mandatory retesting, but they do have other processes in place for medically at-risk drivers. It is mandatory, however, that under the traffic safety act, that health practitioners report drivers they feel should not be or are at medical risk to be driving, at any age, whether it be 15 or 100.

They also rely on law enforcement, driver instructors, and drivers themselves to report drivers medical conditions that could put them at risk.

According to Leann Nixon, who works for SGI's Medical Review Unit, there are a number of things that mature drivers and others should look for when it comes to whether or not they should be driving.

"Maybe getting into a car-crash or mild fender benders, getting lost while driving, having near misses with other vehicles or other people honk at you while you're driving and confusing the gas and the brake pedals," Nixon explained.

As for making sure you stay safe on the roads, Nixon recommends regular eye check-ups, physician visits, checking any medications, never driving while tired or drowsy, and making adjustments to driving patterns in heavy traffic or busy intersections.

It may also seem that mature drivers are one of the more at risk age groups, seniors only accounted for 16 auto fatalities in 2017 and 431 injuries. Those numbers include drivers aged 65 and up and whether or not the senior was driving, so in these situations, they may not have been the ones at fault.

In total, there were 100 fatalities and 4,608 injuries in Saskatchewan in 2017. So there can be a stigma around these senior drivers, and Nixon agrees there is.

"I think as you ask around there may be that stigma that older drivers are not as good drivers and get into collisions," she said. "However, they do drive less, we do know that they do drive less than other drivers and that the collision rate is low in Saskatchewan."

"I have heard the comments about the older drivers and that is really why SGI hasn't brought in mandatory medicals or mandatory re-testing because we feel that we don't want to paint every driver with the same brush because somebody at age 40 could be more medically at risk than somebody at age 80."

Actually, senior drivers are the least at-risk drivers in Saskatchewan, with the average risk rate at around 0.60, while the risk rate for drivers under the age of 20 sits around 1.60.

As for the refresher course, Nixon added that it can be beneficial for seniors and younger drivers. Also, since it isn't regulated by SGI, no results will go back to them so people shouldn't be worried anything will happen to them if they attend the course.

The Saskatchewan Safety Council holds a number of Driver Training Courses across the province, you can find their calendar of training courses on their website.