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A question on #XanderIrvine tabled by Dr Scott Arthur on 24-01-2025 has been answered by Lilian Greenwood. https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2025-01-24/26398
February 3, 2025 at 11:31 AM
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#RoadSafetyStrategy @ukparliament.parliament.uk

promises 'cognitive test' as recommended by Inquiry following #XanderIrvine killed on #MorningsideRoad

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Parliament QA.. Scott Arthur Labour, Edinburgh South West I welcome the strategy published yesterday. It will save lives and, as a secondary impact, reduce insurance premiums, which is a non-trivial challenge for many people. I want to talk about the notion of a cognitive test that is set out in the strategy. In 2020, Xander Irvine, who was just three years old, was looking through a shop window in Edinburgh with his mother, when a car mounted the pavement, killing him and injuring his mother. The driver was aged 91 and she died around a year later of natural causes. Despite having dementia, she was able to renew her driving licence just a few months before the accident. The fatal accident inquiry was clear in its recommendation that cognitive tests should be introduced. I believe that all deaths on our roads are preventable; this death was absolutely preventable. The strategy talks about “developing options”, but will the Minister go further today and guarantee that we will deliver in this area? Will she go even further and talk about a timeline for delivering that change? Lilian Greenwood Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport), Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury I dealt with the prevention of future deaths report relating to the utterly heartbreaking case that my hon. Friend refers to. While there is not currently a suitable test of cognitive ability to drive safely, I recognise the need for us to do further work on the issue. We plan to reconvene the older drivers taskforce and expert groups on this subject to consider suitable options. I do not intend to delay—I intend to take evidence and to take action. BBC report, with picture of Xander... Woman, 91, who killed toddler should not have been driving - inquiry Young boy with shoulder length blonde hair, wearing a blue fleece sweater with dinosaurs, smiling standing in front of a patch of flowers.Image source, Police Scotland Published 22 October 2024 A 91-year-old woman with dementia who killed a toddler should not have been allowed to drive, an inquiry has ruled. Edith Duncan's Kia veered off Morningside Road in Edinburgh, hitting three-year-old Xander Irvine and his mother Victoria before crashing into a shop in June 2020. A fatal accident inquiry (FAI) said Mrs Duncan, who was charged over the crash and died in May 2021, had "significantly impaired cognitive ability" as a result of her illness and was unfit to drive or hold a driving licence. It called for the system that determines whether a person is fit to drive to be changed as a "matter of priority", requiring drivers over the age of 80 to take a cognitive test before their licence can be renewed.
January 10, 2026 at 12:45 PM