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To quote Patrick Barfield
"Somebody else just made the point that having an incapacitating medical event could be just as fatal while driving a car as flying a glider. Anecdotally you hear of fatal car accidents caused by drivers suffering heart attacks etc but I don’t see the public or regulators clamouring to impose routine medical examinations for all drivers. Why? Because it isn’t justified on a risk assessment/cost-benefit analysis that applies just as well to gliding. " I'd
suggest the reason people are not clamouring for medical examinations for all
drivers is because of self interest - to their pocket. Most adult people
are drivers, and "they" would then have to pay for a medical exam. That's as far
as they will have done a benefit-cost analysis.
And
woe betide any government (electorally) that introduced such a measure.
Governments are good at being tough on small groups that can't hurt at the
ballot box (like pilots). Try introducing a "biennial driving review" for all
drivers on the rationale that it keeps up their skill set - at a cost of well
over $100 - and see how far it gets.
Having
had a PPL for many years, I consider the medical a good reason to get a
reasonable checkup at least every couple of years. Like most guys I only go near
a medic when I have to and that fortunately is very seldom indeed. The only
thing to show up so far on my aviation medical was a hernia, which my GP
commented "gee that's small, I'm amazed he (the DAME) picked it up". But it did
mean I got if fixed while it was tiny and no problem.
Allan Armistead "When once you have tasted flight, you will always walk with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you always will be." Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519 |
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