It's one of the toughest decisions anyone has to make. When have they become too old to drive a motor vehicle? When are they no longer safe behind the wheel?

87-year-old Freeda Baron has been driving since 1967, but this past July her license was taken away.

"It takes away my independence, my freedom," said Baron.

Baron was driving to a restaurant, when she says her brakes failed.

Someone called police and two weeks later Baron received a letter from Manitoba Public Insurance.

"The letter said that because of the report they had received, and because of the length of time that I hadn't had a drivers test, I was required to go through the whole thing," she said.

When Freeda went for her re-testing, she failed.

She's not giving up without a fight. Freeda is taking driving lessons to get her licence back.

Six months ago Randy Way's 90-year-old father-in-law also lost his licence.

"He had an accident, a minor accident. He didn't understand because he said 'the guy hit me.' He had gone through a stop sign but the guy hit him," said Way.

But Way says once his father-in-law lost his right to drive, he lost a lot more.

"We just moved him in the last 10 days to an independent living which he now says the reason he's there is because he doesn't have his licence and he can't drive," added Way.

Paul Phangureh has been a driving instructor for almost 30 years. He owns Pan-Am driving school and he's seen it all.

"As you get older your reflexes slow down, you're not as quick as you are at 20 and your eyesight is not the same," said Phangureh.

It's estimated by 2030 one-in-four drivers will be over the age of 65 in Canada.

Right now in Manitoba it's not mandatory for mature drivers to be tested.

A family can report their loved one to MPI, but by law, it's up to a physician to make the call.

"It may involve sending them to a course or a re-testing," Ward Keith from MPI told CTV News. "Sometimes it may involve a driver assessment through a driver assessment facility."

Drive-Able is a new driving assessment program in Manitoba that does just that.

"Research tells us that about 25 per cent of drivers 65 and older will have some type of cognitive impairment," said clinical psychologist Andrew Jones.

Drive-Able tests in two ways.

A computer program tracks for cognitive impairment by testing the patient's attention, judgment, and decision making process.

The second part is a road test.

The system is far from perfect. Research shows some physicians are hesitant to refer their patients to these programs.

"They're there to provide care and to help an older person and taking away a licence isn't necessarily perceived as something that would be perceived as helping someone," said Kinesiologist Michelle Porter.

That's why Paul Phangureh says driving tests should be made mandatory in Manitoba.

Randy Way says all drivers, not just mature drivers develop bad habits on the road that could fail them in a road test.

Freeda Baron doesn't think she's too old and hopes with a little practice she'll be able to drive again soon.

With a report from CTV's Rachel Lagace