News Story 5. News Headlines.
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This Article was written by Ray Massey: [Transport Editor:] it was publish in Britain on 4th. September, 2003... by 'The Daily Mail'. 
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The Police chief notorious for his crusade against speeding is spearheading a new crack-down on old folk at the wheel.  Richard Brunstrom has revealed that officers wielding hand-held 'impairment meters' are to subject drivers to roadside tests lasting up to ten minutes.  The timed task, thought to involve push-button responses to a visual image, are understood to be the equivalent of rubbing one's tummy while patting one's head.  
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Drivers who fail to show quick enough reaction times or the ability to carry out a number of tasks at once face fines or even lifetime bans.  The RAC yesterday condemned the project as a 'fatwah', or death sentence, on the elderly motorist.  But MR. Brunstrom boasted that the campaign, also intended to weed out those who drive when they are too tired or under the influence of drugs, would be 'a sea-change in road policing', saying, 'If we can pull this one off , it will bring fatigue and age centre-stage.  
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The 48-year-old chief constable of North Wales, who as head of the technology committee of the Association of Chief Police Officers has already spearheaded the spread of speed cameras across Britain, said 'impairment of the ability to drive would be the next big issue'.  'We will go large on impairment over the next few years,' he said in an interview. 'I can give you plenty of examples of people being killed by tired drivers. We've had lots of stick over speed cameras, for which I make no apology. But the next big killer is impairment.'  
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The meter is being developed as part of a Home Office initiative.  Prototypes have been tested by the Police Scientific Technical Branch.  revealing that roadside trials of the device will begin next year, Mr. Brunstrom accepted that the issue is a political hot potato.  'It could change society beyond belief,' he told the Freight Transport Association's in-house magazine, Freight.  'We've got the backing for the research, but the Government hasn't come out with the politics yet'.  'It will need a cultural shift to make speeding or driving while fatigued as socially unacceptable as drink-driving is today.'  
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Critics last night urged Mr. Brunstrom to get his priorities right.  RAC Foundation road safety spokesman Kevin Delaney, former head of traffic policing with the Metropolitan force, said: 'It would be a brave man or a fool who would declare a fatwah on Britain's ageing drivers.  Elderly drivers have fewer bad crashes than younger drivers.'   
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A driving licence is valid until the age of 70, and must then be renewed every three years.  Drivers simply have to sign a declaration that they are not suffering from certain medical conditions.  The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency cannot refuse a licence on age grounds.  
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A Help the Aged spokesman said: 'Elderly motorists are safer and tend to do shorter journeys, Insurance companies give them discounts.'  Motor racing legend Sir Stirling Moss, who is 74 this month and will be racing at Goodwood tomorrow, said: 'There are older driver who should not be on the road, but there are many younger drivers in the same category.  It's not necessarily age which is the determining factor.'  
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