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

No, I don’t, not always. Just yesterday I saw a man probably around 80, struggling to walk around his car using a pair of sticks. He then got in, pulling out into traffic causing another car to stop quickly, and jerked away, doing around 20 in a 30 mile zone.
I’m 68 and reckon I’m fully able, but as I’ve always considered driving a necessary evil and never enjoying a minute of it, I think I should know when to stop. But maybe I won’t….

I agree. My parents drove into their 90s and were bloody lucky that there weren’t any major incidents. No dementia involved, just general age related slowing down; they just plain didn’t see things (roundabouts etc) any more.
My aunt drove with dementia and was utterly awful to everyone when her keys were taken from her, but having inadvertently followed her one day and wondered who the old bat was who drove over the roundabout, it wasn’t a moment too soon.

Is this more about your father or the general population who are 70 and over? It’s never a good idea to generalise-no 2 people are the same.

For some retirees, their car is their last bit of independence, they don’t drive much. They don’t go out in rush hour and they don’t go out in the dark. Not all 70-year-olds need to be tested just as not all 20-year-olds are reckless speeding drivers.

And do you mean just an eye test or have you other tests in mind?!

Honestly I would say that 70% of elderly drivers should not be on the roads. I'm not being ageist, if Doris or Boris are struggling to see something a foot from their face, then how can they see and react in time something in front of them. This isn't even getting into old people driving huge behemoth vehicles.
I've literally had an elderly lady have a serious medical emergency on my forecourt, a couple of weeks later she's back in to thank me and my colleagues for the aid and admit that she shouldn't be driving but 'they' can take the steering wheel from her cold dead hands.

I agree entirely with your sentiments and sympathise with you over the dilemma with your elderly father. I wrestled with an identical worry with my late Mum. However, I think it’s important to keep this conundrum as a single issue. Introducing comparisons with young drivers simply skews things towards concern over the insurance premiums we have to pay. It also tends to overlook other categories of motorists who are cavalier on the road and apparently ignorant of the instructions they received whilst learning. So, sticking with elderly drivers as a safety issue - firstly it has to be acknowledged that the existing triennial self-certified check imposed by the DVLA on drivers when they reach the age of 70 is an absolute farce. They’d be just as well issuing a self-certified annual return for everyone to complete confirming that in the previous year we haven’t broken the speed limit, driven maybe a teensy bit over the booze limit or peeked at our mobile phone. So, sticking with elderly drivers and their continuing competence to drive, a simple solution would be to devise - not a Driving Test - but a biennial Assessment carried out by DVLA registered Driving Instructors as opposed to DVLA Examiners. Such an assessment would be, say 30 - 45 minutes, weaknesses could be addressed, with an opportunity for follow-up improvement. The Assessment would be Certificated Red, Amber or Green and crucially would henceforth have to be disclosed to the driver’s insurance company at next renewal with a consequential affect on premium, good or not so good. Perhaps even declinature. Such an arrangement would directly address such problems as the OP has outlined whilst offering a vast improvement on the existing ‘disclosure’ and simultaneously provide business opportunities to registered Driving Instructors. Anyone disagree?

Good point! I definitely don’t think certain people are good at judging. As cognition declines and impacts driving, it may also impact judgment and insight. I wouldn’t let my children in the car with their grandparents (one is mid-80s)). I also wouldn’t let them in a car with a new young driver.

It should apply to the entire driving population. The drivers who tailgate, pull out on roundabouts without looking, fail to indicate and cut up other drivers tend not to be old.

Can we add drivers who speed up when they see a puddle, so they can soak pedestrians?
Happened to me today.

Just been pondering my last post and, revisited, think that maybe 75 would be better for testing? But….i do think that everyone should be called in for a vision test at (for the sake of argument) 70.
My father drove until he was 94 and was a retired optician. Sitting at home he couldn’t see much of what was going on on the television, couldn’t read and definitely couldn’t see the subtitles. But the optician never said his vision wasn’t good enough to drive. So maybe not only does everyone need a test, maybe the test itself needs to be more stringent?
And I’ve never met an elderly person who voluntarily accepted that they weren’t safe to drive.

But older people often do a lot less driving. Accidents per minutes on the road may yield different statistics. It doesn’t take much more than one journey to witness a very slow older person who drives towards the middle of the road, doesn’t indicate, can’t reverse and doesn’t slow down sufficiently for a 20 Mph zone.

Fuck off. Im a much better and safer driver at 70 than when I was younger.

AT 70 I’m still driving to work and you think my licence should be suspended???? Its absolutely ageist and ridiculous

I see young drivers like that all the time. You can bet your bottom dollar that when I’m doing spot on the limit in a 20 zone there’s someone half my age right up my arse. As for van drivers ….

I understand the reasoning behind the idea, but equally, males under 25( and some females) should probably have to do the same every year if we really want to improve road safety

Everyone over 65-70 will vote YABU, and younger people will say YANBU.

Basically I think that everyone should be retested every 7-10 years. Also everyone should have their eyes tested too every 3 years, no matter what their age (with the information going to the DVLA if there is anything serious, like cataracts,) so people don't continue to drive.

I half agree with you, but would say after 80, not 70. People in their 70s are not that old really, and many people I know in their 70s are fine.

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No! All 70 year olds I know are the best drivers, also over 80s. I think we all know when we're not capable of driving safely and tbh my relatives and friends generally only drive to the supermarket/locally.

Very ageist to suggest this, to take away independence. The impatient, careless and rude drivers are from a younger cohort, not those who have been experienced for 50 years.

I think eye tests should be mandatory. My Dad reported an eye condition to the DVLA and the process of assessing him took 10 months. After all that they said he wasn’t fit to drive. But they were happy for him to be driving around for the 10 months!

I think if it’s a slow decline then it can be hard for some to judge. I have sympathy as driving gives you freedom and to say you can’t safely do it anymore and have to rely on others or public transport must be hard.

You can't judge all people 70+ on the experience with your dad or the one example you gave. If your father is such a dangerous driver, report him to DVLA.

It’s very ageist to demand this of seventy year olds with an unblemished driving record . Particularly when it’s young men who cause most accidents and commit most driving offences. More random drug testing would be a positive step and speed restrictors fitted on all cars driven by under 25s.

I have a job where I deal mainly with the elderly. They park directly outside where I serve them. Manoeuvring, parking and reversing skills are definitely lacking. Staff have had their cars hit, customers have reversed into each other and one customer even admitted to driving whilst waiting for a cataract operation. They definitely don't speed or do as many miles as young drivers, but for some, their observation and spatial awareness is just awful.

70 feels very young. 80 is more realistic tbh.

My mum has stopped driving and my dad has stopped driving long distances as he gets tired. They are both in their 80s. My dad is a safe driver but I would rather he stopped before he becomes unsafe tbh.

How about a graduated system like for motorbikes? Limits on how much power you're allowed to have which would increase with age. Should stop 17 year olds doing 90 in high-powered Audis.

Many 75 yr olds could pass GCSEs. My 75 yr old sister certainly could. I'm 62, and after 6 weeks with a teach yourself Spanish course I found I could do a GCSE reading paper from the internet. They're not that challenging. To ask them to take 11 and get A star grades would be a tall order, but that's hard for anyone. It's terribly ageist to assume study would be beyond them.