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

You - and others saying similar things - can report a driver to the DVLA. It’s a last resort if they won’t willingly give up their licence:

https://www.olderdrivers.org.uk/families/how-to-help/

Personally, I’d change the whole system. I’d make 21 the age you can legally drive, for a start. I’d limit the kind of cars young drivers can drive, etc - and at the other end of the age spectrum, I don’t think anybody should be driving after, say, 80-82 so I’d have licences end then. Prior to that, I’d do away with the self-certification that older drivers do, and, although I wouldn’t get them to sit a full driving test, I’d make their licence renewal contingent on an Assessment by a driving instructor who would sit in the car with them for, say, 30 mins and check they can manoeuvre, react, etc.

People change as they get older and it’s gradual so they don’t realise it. Or else they acknowledge they’re not as good a driver as they once were but try to say it’s ok because they drive slowly or stay within 10 miles of their house or whatever. None of those things make it ok.

To be totally fair, I do know older people in their 80s still driving but probably shouldn't be, although i don't think 1 size fits all, but there is some stubborn older people who can't or refuse to judge for themselves if they should be driving.

I don't think it needs to be an actual mandatory physical driving test. (with the amount of time and money and resources that would take)

Maybe just a sight test at 70? Something basic at the GP aimed specifically at making sure glasses are up to date and vision is good enough for driving? Maybe some kind of reflex test using AI?

The problem with blanket rules like this is that you penalise a lot of careful competent drivers to save the families of the unsafe drivers an uncomfortable conversation. I think there may be an age where there will be a higher percentage of incapable than capable drivers but I doubt that is the case at 70. I have friends of just over that age driving for work, driving because they care for their even older parents, driving because they live rurally with virtually non existent public transport. If they had each had to give up their license on their 70th birthday and potentially wait 6 months to a year to sit a test they would find their lives restricted, they would possibly become deskilled and for what? Meantime those who ignore rules would continue to drive, without insurance, without following speed limits and would potentially be more dangerous on the road.

Maybe 80, as some 70 year old still are working, well they will be the pension age go up, and young new drivers i think they shouldn't be allowed to go over 50 miles per hour for the first year, there must be some kind of gadget you could put on there cars

70 seems a young cut off imho, but 80 or 85? The problem is the isolation and loneliness. My grandmother was good at driving and drove into her 90s, but she lived relatively rurally so would have been completely cut off if she couldn't drive.

If you honestly want to make driving safer you regulate younger, not older drivers. So raise the age for learning. to weed out the people who cause most accidents. Men have to wait a few years longer than women and make young people retest every few years with maybe no extra testing between 40 and 60 (safest ages) then retesting to restart on a sliding scale. But honestly, blow that for a game of soldiers. That is one way to lose a general election.

In northern Ireland there is speed restrictions for new/young drivers.

My dad runs a haulage and logistics firm, so has to have a towing license (he is still working at 73). He had a medical note to say he was still safe to tow, as well as an eye test I believe. This seems fair imho

Aside from anything about age and fairness the system could not handle the numbers.

You sound ageist and ableist with your posts. It would have a severe impact on people with mobility issues. My parents drove until 80 and 90 respectively, no accidents, no cognitive decline, but they both would have been stuffed if they had their licences removed for any period of time as they had mobility issues. You sound like you want to punish people of 70 and over because of your own family circumstances. Statistically, older people are not more dangerous on the road.

Report the ones you have active concerns about and leave the rest alone.

I have far more concerns about people such as the 20 year olds that go flying down my 30mph road at 60 whilst inhaling balloons or the utterly unhinged mid 30s woman who was holding her horn down, red as a tomato and screaming in her car when I was going 1mph below the limit.

i could get behind a mandatory eye test, and a 5 minute reaction test done at theory test centres (would have to be inside a car could be computer based) at 70 would be ok, to ask anything further like a full re-test i think is unnecessary.

I reported a friends father, he dropped us to local airport, drove wrong side of road and roundabouts...it was awful...turns out she knew he had bad eyesight but didnt want him to give up driving as more work for her....they didnt know i reported him and later licence was taken away....also have neighbour who is now 72 and drives badly, cant follow traffic signs and gets loads of tickets, bus lane etc etc...

I completely agree with you OP, there is no doubt that after a certain age a lot of people begin to experience some sort of cognitive decline and slowed reactions. I have seen quite a few old people that should not be behind the wheel of a car

Wrong forum for this, too many are close to this age!

My parents are 86 and 84 and still really good drivers. They drove to Ireland a few weeks ago and last year drove around Spain for a few weeks.
I cannot see how you can retest so many people regularly as the waiting lists are so long currently.
I have no concerns about their driving ability.

It’s in no way ageist to suggest reaction times reduce as you age

Yes. If my father, my mother in law, my best friends dad, probably all but one of my 10 aunts/uncles are anything to go by (and by the looks of things many many older people you encounter on the roads) I absolutely think older people are incapable of judging this for themselves.

OP, I see your point, however I think that 70 is simply too young. People are not retiring until at least 67 and some go on longer. I agree that perhaps, instead of a driving test a "fit to drive" medical could be introduced at, say, 75 and every 3 years afterwards. This would check basic eyesight, reaction time and any signs of deterioration that may affect driving ability. Most of this could be automated, coupled with your mandatory eyesight test at the opticians and would not require a formal driving test.

20 year old men being famously willing to take advice from the middle aged.

Not sure they would. I think young males just focus on how to ‘pass the test’ not how to learn to drive. As soon as they then get behind the wheel after they’ve passed, they do what they want to do rather than what they should do. Therefore a year of not following the rules will absolutely mean they won’t be capable of passing another test.

You are not alone, there are many that feel the same in regard to their own parents family being unsafe but there are mechanisms in place to support that, people just need to understand that even if you tell the DVLA that its you family member, they will not tell them that you reported them, they will call them in for an assessment.

There are things in the pipeline about the aging population and testing ability to drive but its not a full driving test. But there is also a big issue with younger drivers who know the rules of the road, but chose not to adhere to them once the tests are passed. They actually cause the significantly larger loss despite their smaller numbers in regard to the aged population. So at the moment you are focusing in the wrong place.

In the UK at the moment, younger drivers cost insurers more overall than drivers over 70, particularly those under 25. According to the Association of British Insurers (ABI), younger drivers have both a higher frequency of claims and higher average claim costs than most older age groups. [abi.org.uk], actuarialpost.co.uk]
A few interesting points:

Drivers aged 17-24 make up only about 7% of licence holders but are involved in around 24% of fatal collisions. [abi.org.uk]

ABI data shows 18-20 year olds have the highest average premiums because their claims are both frequent and expensive. [actuarialpost.co.uk]

Drivers in their late 60s are actually among the cheapest to insure, with 66-70 year olds historically having some of the lowest average premiums and relatively low claim costs. [actuarialpost.co.uk]

Once drivers reach their late 70s, 80s and beyond, claim costs begin to rise again, so insurers charge more. However, even many very elderly drivers still cost insurers less than the youngest drivers.

And the way fuel and car prices are rising, I thin the driving population my drop of its own volition.

Most accidents are caused by drivers under 25. 🤷‍♀️

Me too. We barely have enough tests for the young as it is. I also think why waste time on the vast majority who are driving around fine. It also would be a massive burden on the state taking away licenses enmasse.