It should be mandatory to retake a driving test again age 70 and every five years after that

Just suppose that older people who fail this test are disqualified. Who or what would stop some of them driving anyway? Indeed, who stops the millions of people who drive while unlicensed every day? We don't have the police numbers or the prison places for them.

Like so many other bright ideas "I wonder why nobody thought of it before!" like this one, it would expensively punish the law-abiding, while the criminals carry on exactly as before.

Making drivers that cause accidents take another test would be great. However, see my posts earlier about how the police deal with drivers who cause accidents. IMO the man who hit my DD's car should have been arrested. There were several witnesses, including passers by who got him away from the car when he was threatening to drag my injured DD out, while shouting and yelling at her for not stopping on a roundabout, where she was correctly positioned and signalling, while he just sped onto the roundabout hitting her so hard her car was written off.

You no longer have to have them at 10 to 2 or feed the wheel.

What's wrong with driving with your hands at ten to two?

People have too much time on their hands.

The difference is the risk of the outcome, if you have a notifiable condition and don't inform the DVLA, you are committing an offence. Because you are directed to stop driving. If you are over 70, and have not had an eye test etc, it's not currently an offence, as there is no legal requirement to do so.
So, the Glasgow bin lorry driver, was committing an offence even if he had not caused the accident.

It's a good point, but the people I know that this would apply to are very law abiding people and if they lost their licence they would not drive. They are not people who deliberately set out to be unsafe, or don't care about safety. They are people who have had a slow deterioration in their reflexes/vision/mobility and just don't recognise (or are in denial about the fact) that it has got to the stage where their driving ability is impaired. In these cases I think someone official telling them that they shouldn't drive will make a difference that being told by family members etc won't.

The seniors driving course mentioned by a pp sounds like a good idea to me (I'd not heard of it).

Some 70 year olds are still working and their car is vital to their job.

So?

Testing is not what stops then driving. It is being unsafe to drive that stops them driving.

Exactly! My car is vital to my job, but after having deep brain surgery I had to surrender my licence, I did this because it was the right and legal thing to do. Driving being important to lifestyle isn't an automatic entitlement to put others at risk.

ANPR, the camera network is everywhere now.

I also don't believe that the majority of old people who are told they aren't fit to drive would continue to drive without a licence and uninsured.

I was responding to the comment about 70 year olds needing to find alternative transport just because they are 70. They don't need to .

People do not surrender their licenses at 70 though.

Can't recall anyone saying that. I said they need to be able to if they lose their driving licence.

No, I know! That's the point of the thread, currently its wishy washy guidance and there is no legal onus on the driver. DVLA should notify all drivers on their 70th birthday that they must from now prove they are safe to drive. If they fail to do this, then they are committing on offence.

You already get a letter three months before your 70th birthday which requires you to affirm you’re safe to drive if you wish to retain your licence. You have to go through the same process every three years thereafter. How do you suggest this is proved without retesting which is impractical to the point of impossibility? Added to which there may be people who never drive or intend to but want to retain their licence for ID purposes.

The difference is for over 70s it's self declaration, so if they don't get an eye test they have nothing to declare and can just carry on driving by saying they are safe. Following a medical surrender, the medical practitioner has to complete the DVLA declaration, to say the person is fit to drive. I also agree that mandatory testing should take place, but currently nothing is really required, aside from the driver ticking a box.

There’s no practical way to facilitate mandatory testing. You could introduce proof of a recent eye test, particularly as they’re free if you’re over 70 but that wouldn’t ensure glasses were purchased or even worn if they were. Essentially everyone on the road is saying they’re safe by retaining their licence.

It would be pretty simple to set things up for insurers to refuse to insure unless an eye test had been done. Opticians could be made to notify DVLA of pass or fail and insurers already check DVLA for disqualified drivers.

I agree that you can't make people wear glasses but at least most people who are legal to drive with glasses wouldn't automatically be downright dangerous without their glasses on.

Don't be ridiculous, so many other countries manage it! We are the ones that still rely on self declaration, we have done nothing in terms of mandatory eye sight tests, medical examinations or practical driving assessments. Safety with older drivers is both a significant and growing road safety issue in the uk, as we have double the drivers over 70 that we did 15 years ago.

Raising a public safety concern isn't ageism.

mandatory eye sight tests, medical examinations or practical driving assessments.

That should apply to every driver and learner driver. Especially the eye and medical examinations part. Then it is not ageism.

You're having a laugh surely? You think that 70 year olds should arbitrarily lose their licence while waiting potentially months and months for a retest through a system that already can't cope ?

Come back and tell me you still think that when you're 69.

Btw I'm 62 atm and a considerably safer driver than I was at 17. My insurance premium reflects this. Whenever I think some aspect of my health means I should no longer drive then I'll stop, but I doubt this is 70 for most people.

Well, I'd be happy if it did. At the other end of the scale we discussing legislation for young and new drivers, so maybe a recognition that different approaches are required for different groups is sensible. The data tells us there is a problem and we are ignoring it, for all ages.

So I am a optician and I have said AIBU because I think this goes too far and would be unworkable. However mandatory eye exams ( free over 60 anyway ) and perhaps a basic reactions test absolutely. Doing my job you regularly meet people who have never had an test or not had one for a long time over 70 and their vision is shocking, often it's just glasses needed . When it changes slowly you just dont notice .

If you feel so strongly, report him to the DVLA, but don't assume every person over 70 drives like him, we don't