Drivers over 70 years of age will be able to renew their driving license for free. This year those born in 1956 or in previous years will be able to. But those born in 1955 were also able to do so last year. And, although you have read that the regulations have changed, the truth is that everything remains the same.
And that’s an advantage for elderly drivers.
From 1956. If we look back at the calendar, it is the line that marks who can renew their driving license for free and who cannot. And traffic regulations state that drivers aged 70 or older will renew their license completely free of charge. This rule, although you may have read the opposite in some media, is the same one that has been applied for years.
And it is that on social networks and in the media we have read that “from 2026” drivers over 70 years of age will renew their driving license for free and that from the age of 65 onwards they will have to do so every five years (instead of the usual 10). It is a rule that has not undergone any change and that, as already The DGT itself told us last year When this information went viral again, it is something that has been applied for a long time.
At the moment, the price of renewal of the driving license is 24.58 euros to which the cost of the medical examination must be added.
What does the norm say?. When we want to renew the license to drive a car, three large groups are established according to the General Driver Regulations (Art.12.2):
- From 18 to 65 years old: the driving license is renewed every 10 years
- From 65 years of age and older: the driving license is renewed every five years
- From 70 years of age and older: the driving license is renewed every five years but the renewal is free
Of course, it must be taken into account that a doctor can decide some restrictions. For example, it can shorten driver’s license renewal times and require a person over 70 years of age (or any other driver) to re-pass the medical exam, in which their driving abilities are evaluated. earlier than what would be required by general regulations.
Yes, but. Indeed, those over 70 years of age can renew their driving license for free but, as a general rule, they have to do so more frequently than the rest of the groups described above. But they are also the age group on which the most restrictions are imposed.
According to Mapfre, 61% of drivers People over 65 years of age have some type of limitation when driving and the DGT raises these figures to 81% of the elderly. A driver may be limited in the range in which he or she can drive, prohibited from driving at night or at maximum speed. Traffic officers know this because on our driver’s license Each of these limitations would be reflected with a code.
Too long? If an 18-year-old driver renews his or her driving license every decade, he or she will have to pay the renewal fee up to five times. The last one would reach the age of 68 and from then on, if the deadlines are met every five years, the license would be renewed for free on another five occasions until the age of 93.
The big question is whether driver’s license renewals extend too long in time. The director of the DGT himself already pointed out in November 2021 that it seemed excessive “that a 90-year-old person can have their driving license for five years without renewing it.” Despite this and despite the fact that a decade without passing a medical exam before renewing the license can also be too long even if we are under 65 years old, nothing has changed.
Contradictory. One of the ideas that has been floating in the air for a long time is whether a person should lose their driving license after reaching an age. The European Union has been adamant about this idea: no. And from Brussels they consider that It would be a discriminatory rule and that it is the medical examinations that must continue to set the limits.
María José Aparicio, deputy director of the DGT, I was aiming for 2021 that “in Spain, 28% of those killed in traffic accidents were over 65 years of age (data from 2019). These figures are going to worsen, if we do nothing, due to the aging of the population.” But this is probably due to the physical condition of these people, who are more likely to have more serious consequences in minor accidents.
And these people over 70 years old are only immersed in the 12% of accidents and they crash four times less than the youngest, according to data from Mapfre. In addition, another problem is added. A good part of them They keep older and unsafe carseither because they have a tighter economy or because they do not want to make the investment. And it is also the group that adapts worst to the mandatory ADAS systemsdriving aids that They also cause confusion among younger people.
Photo | Daniel Silva and DGT
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