Rally legend Paddy Hopkirk has been appointed Mature Driver Ambassador by UK's leading independent road safety charity, the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) and will be championing the cause of the older driver for the organisation in the future.

Paddy, now 82, needs no introduction to a generation of motorsport enthusiasts. He won the Monte Carlo Rally in 1964 in a Mini Cooper, and he and his co-driver Henry Liddon remain the only all-UK crew to win the iconic event.

Paddy will be promoting the IAM’s Mature Driver’s Assessment (MDA) while also delivering safe driving advice – an area he is passionate about.

Paddy, who received an MBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours this year said, “I am delighted to be involved with the IAM. Our joint goal is to bring the numbers of people killed and injured on the roads down as low as we can. It’s something I know the IAM is dedicated to just as much as I am, so we are a great match.”

Older drivers are statistically less likely to commit a motoring offence than those in their teens and 20s and are less likely to be in a serious or fatal road accident. However, some older drivers face certain challenges such as coping with reflexes that are not as keen as before, deteriorating eyesight or hearing, and the potential onset of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Paddy continued, “With the numbers of drivers aged 70 or more now increasing by over 10,000 a month the Mature Driver’s Assessment is a great way for older people to gain the reassurance they need on increasingly congested British roads.”

Photo: Paddy takes his IAM assessment