104 years old and still driving

Relevant offers

Motoring

Red Edition a special Lexus Mazda's BT-50 is a beaut ute Blue skies smiling at Mazda 3 Police U-turn on speeding tolerance Living with Mini's tiny new model Son smashes dad's loaned classic car into sea After 50 years Cubans can now buy new cars Olympic Minis to celebrate 2012 Games Fiat spins SUV off the 500 Around the track in M-badged BMWs

Her car may not have power steering, but that hasn't stopped New Zealand's oldest licensed driver from getting out and about.

At 104, Canterbury widow Ellen Noy still takes her Toyota Starlet on "little short runs" around her hometown of Kaiapoi to go shopping or to play cards or croquet.

With no power steering, parking could be difficult but her arms got a good workout, she said.

She was not nervous driving and had a spotless driving record.

"I've never had an accident or been picked up by the police. They have always said, when I have gone for a driving test, I was a good driver," she told the New Zealand Herald.

Mrs Noy said she valued her independence and would be upset without her driver's licence.

Nearly 4000 of the 3.2 million licensed drivers on New Zealand's roads are 90 or over - beginning life around the same time as Henry Ford's Model T entered production.

Of those, seven drivers were over 100, with the oldest being Mrs Noy, figures released by the New Zealand Land Transport Agency show.

The numbers of licence-holders dramatically increase as the drivers get younger, with those aged 40 to 44 making up the largest group, at 335,161 - suggesting an ever-increasing number of older drivers on the roads is just around the corner.

- NZPA