Father calls again for older driver medicals

Seven others were hurt in the crash that severely injured Bertrand Déroulède’s 27-year-old tennis teacher daughter.

Mr Déroulède called for tests for over-75s to check their vision and driving aptitude, but the government rejected this.

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said he had no plans to make all over-60s pass tests. He said drivers and families should act responsibly – but Mr Déroulède called on the government to reconsider.

He said he was not targeting old drivers but that other major European countries had tests and he felt France should have the courage to do the same.

Previous calls for change have failed as ‘“discriminatory” and for fear of pushing a person into dependence.

In the UK a licence is valid to the age of 70 and then renewed every three years if the driver passes an eye test (photocard photos must be renewed every 10 years), but in France drivers have a licence for life.