A Scots toddler was killed when he was struck by a car driven by an OAP who ‘should not have been driving due to her dementia’, a sheriff has ruled.
Xander Irvine suffered catastrophic injuries when he was struck while with his mum, Victoria Irvine, in Edinburgh on June 30, 2020. He was hit by a car being driven by Edith Duncan.
The 91-year-old suffered from dementia and lost control of her Kia Picanto car in the city’s Morningside Road at around 12.25pm on the day in question.
Just 42 minutes later, the three-year-old passed away at the city’s Royal Hospital for Sick Children, after being rushed there for treatment.
A sheriff has now recommended that the current system of pensioners declaring they are fit and able to drive be overhauled, including limiting self-certification to people aged under 80 and requiring anyone over 80 to undertake a cognitive assessment before a renewed licence is granted.
In 2019, the year before the fatal collision, Ms Duncan was involved in a previous accident, a collision in a car park, which was not deemed “significant in coming to a diagnosis” of dementia.
A Fatal Accident Inquiry was held at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, and the written determination of Sheriff Principal Nigel Ross has now been published after the inquiry.
The document states that Xander’s death could have been avoided, as Ms Duncan should not have been driving at the time due to suffering from dementia.
The determination states: “The cause of the collision was the loss of control of the vehicle by the driver and owner, Edith Duncan. Ms Duncan lost control of the vehicle while attempting to perform a turning manoeuvre.
“As a result of loss of control, Ms Duncan drove her vehicle onto the opposite carriageway, over the kerb and onto the pavement, striking Xander and his mother.
“The loss of control was entirely caused by Edith Duncan’s inability to perform safely what would otherwise have been a routine turning manoeuvre.
“She was, at the time, suffering from significantly impaired cognitive ability as a result of frontotemporal dementia, and was unfit to drive or hold a driving licence.
“The collision could have been avoided by prior revocation of Ms Duncan’s driving licence. Revocation was both reasonable and required in light of her cognitive impairment and consequent inability to drive safely.
“Had reasonable precautions been taken, prior to the collision, to assess Edith Duncan’s cognitive ability, these would have identified that she required further assessment of her driving ability.
“That further assessment would have, in turn, led to the conclusion that she was significantly cognitively impaired and unfit to hold a driving licence.
“The DVLA would have revoked her licence on that basis. Accordingly, had her cognitive impairment been detected, the incident would have been avoided.”
He also said the case showed that “the current regime of self-certification of fitness for drivers over 70 years of age is significantly defective” as it “relies on self-certification by the applicant driver”.
Sheriff Principal Ross continued: “Edith Duncan’s age-related cognitive decline could have been detected in advance, but only by formal testing.
“If Edith Duncan’s condition had been detected, her licence would have been revoked and she would not have driven her car on 30 June 2020.
“Edith Duncan was permitted to keep driving as a result of a significant and preventable defect in the present system, which allows drivers with dementia to self-certify fitness to drive.”
And he suggested that “the serious failure in the system” could be removed if the authorities are to introduce compulsory age-related testing.
He explained: “The minimum effective type of testing is a short initial cognitive assessment, and introduction would be feasible, proportionate and effective.
“The short initial cognitive assessment (‘SICA’) should be in a form similar to cognition tests currently available to GPs, and should become compulsory for applications from age 80 onwards.
“Separately, the current application for renewal of driving licence form D46P should be extended as a matter of priority, to include further relevant questions.
“No changes to the duties on the police, medical practitioners or insurance companies would have avoided the incident, or are otherwise necessary.”
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