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.
There is no legal age to stop driving in the UK and Mrs Duncan had renewed her driving licence earlier in the year.
Under current laws reserved to Westminster, drivers over the age of 70 must renew their licence every three years and must report to the DVLA if they feel they have any cognitive impairment.
Drivers found to have violated this rule can be fined up to £1,000 and could face prosecution.
The inquiry heard that before the crash, Mrs Duncan had cancelled her insurance because she did not want to pay the money for it as she felt she did not use her car enough.
On the day of the accident, she had illegally parked her car on a pelican crossing before attempting to perform a U-turn.
She accelerated quickly across the road, hitting Xander and his mother who were walking along the street.
Xander died in the Royal Hospital for Sick Children from multiple injuries.
Police said CCTV footage appeared to show Mrs Duncan had not applied the brakes as the brake lights had not come on.
The FAI concluded the cause of the accident was a loss of control of a vehicle “entirely caused by Edith Duncan’s inability to perform safely what would otherwise have been a routine manoeuvre”.
Although she died before her illness was confirmed, the inquiry concluded Mrs Duncan had frontotemporal dementia. She had seen a specialist in 2021 who said the condition may have gone undiagnosed.
The FAI report noted that, in an interview with forensic and legal psychology expert Prof Gary Macpherson, Ms Duncan appeared “extremely articulate”.
But there was an “emotional disconnect” between the seriousness of the charges and her response to them.
The report said that Mrs Duncan had frontotemporal dementia and the crash would have been avoided had her driving licence been revoked.
It said this step was “both reasonable and required in light of her cognitive impairment and consequent inability to drive safely”.
The report concluded the current process of self-certification for drivers over 70-years-old is “significantly defective” as it relies on the driver accurately reporting their condition.
It continued: “It fails to identify unfitness to drive in applicants who either deliberately or unintentionally fail to give correct information on the relevant application form.
“It fails to recognise that driving ability may decline with age, or that dementia sufferers may be unaware of their own condition.”
Sheriff Principal Nigel Ross, who oversaw the FAI, recommended the current process of self-certification be limited to applicants under 80 years old.
He said applications for renewal should be required every three years from 70 onwards and any application for drivers over 80 should not be granted unless the driver has successfully undertaken a cognitive assessment.
The report acknowledged the measures would require change to primary legislation on a reserved matter and is therefore a matter for the UK government.
