By comparison there were 19,745 cancellations or suspensions in the previous year.

The figures were contained in the Transport Accident Commission's annual report, which was tabled in state Parliament this week.

The report said the figures had to be viewed in the context of an ageing population, which has resulted in more older drivers on the roads.

There are currently no mandatory driving tests for people once they reach a certain age.

Council on the Ageing Victoria chief executive Sue Hendy said drivers were sometimes pulled over simply because of their "grey hair".

"What we know from the past is that older people have been a bit of a target in terms of age discrimination," she said.

However, she stressed that the council wanted safe roads for everyone.

RACV manager of road user safety Melinda Spiteri said there had been an increase in people aged 70 and older who still had their licences.

She cited an RACV report that showed 78 per cent of people aged between 70 and 90 had their licence last year, compared with 65 per cent in 2001.

However, she said Victoria's roads were not more dangerous because of the rise in older drivers.

Ms Spiteri said mandatory testing because of age was a bad idea.

"We think what we've got in Victoria does work quite well," she said. "Pinpointing what age to start testing people doesn't really work."

However, she said there should be more talk about fitness to drive regardless of age.

Meanwhile, the number of  people using mobile phones while driving remained unacceptably high, the report said. It cited research that found more than 50 per cent of 1000 drivers surveyed admitted to illegally using their mobile phones.

"While the figure had decreased from 62 per cent since the previous year, the research showed many Victorians were ignoring the deadly link between distractions and road trauma," it said.

Speed still remains a major cause of road trauma, contributing to about 30 per cent of all Victorian road deaths each year.

But drivers appear to be changing their attitudes towards speeding, with TAC research revealing 73 per cent of Victorians normally drive at or below the limit in a 50 km/h zone.

Compliance dropped in higher speed zones with 61 per cent of Victorians staying within the speed limit in 100 km/h areas.

More people are also registering gripes about the commission, which received 327 formal complaints last financial year compared to 213 the year before.