Over 70s to face driving ban...

[FridgeJenga]

if they fail mandatory eye tests.

What's your opinion?
Is 70 too "young", or about right?
Would 75 be a better compromise?
Currently there is no legal age at which you must surrender your driving licence.
Both my father and FIL voluntarily gave up their licences just before they turned 80. My mum at 76, and MIL is still driving at 78, though only very locally.

(Also in the same article, drink driving limits are under discussion to be lowered, in line with Scotland's laws. This one I fully agree with)

The evidence is really clear that it's over 75s who are the issue, see chart below [chart 1 at Reported road casualties in Great Britain: older driver factsheet, 2023 - GOV.UK].

Every driver should have to pass eyesight tests on a regular basis. We don't tolerate drink impairing driving so maybe we should also ban those who are found with drugs in their bodies.

Thank god for that. Way over due. My dad is late 80s but he's very conscious of his eyesight and goes yearly to make sure he passes a sight test for driving. I have too many friends who worry about elderly parents driving.
This should've happened years ago

“MIL is still driving at 78, though only very locally” …….. the problem with local driving is that people become complacent, because they think they “know the route - there’s never a vehicle coming out of that junction - know every bend in the road………etc etc” but that can go horrible wrong all too often. Driver need to remain alert and focussed on familiar routes just the same as motorway routes.

Eyesight deteriorates with age. Good eyesight is also important for operating a vehicle. So no, I don't think it's unreasonable.

I'd be delighted if something happened legislatively that stopped my mother driving. She has eye tests every two years, but the problem isn't her sight, it's her reaction times. I've not let the kids get in the car with her for three years now, I've reported her, and so have two other people I know of.

Nothing has happened. It worries me incessantly. Plus the roads are so much busier now, and she gets tired.

My father gave up his license 4 years ago after a minor accident sparked by a medical incident, this year he had a pacemaker fitted and at the age of 86 they told him he could get his drivers license back, just had to fill in a form! Unbelievable.

The standard really is surprisingly low. Even corrected with glasses. I don’t think a lot of people realise this. I didn’t, until recently.

Drug testing too, alcohol isn't the only drug.

More people over 70 wear glasses than don't, so I don't think it's discriminatory at all. Eyesight fails as you get older.

über is probably cheaper than owning, maintaining and running a car

My next door neighbour sold his car for £5000, he saves £2500 a year on car insurance and £200 on car tax, £50 on MOT and £180 on service

He just gets an uber or taxi to take him everywhere he wants to go and as of yet - 2 years later hasn't got through the £10000 and tbh is never likely to as he only used the car to go to church and grocery shopping

While I agree with the measures I think some people here are forgetting that it is legal to drive with glasses or contact lenses! Obviously it's mandatory to wear them if you need them for driving. DH has been shortsighted since childhood but obviously wears his glasses or contacts.

Unless you are saying only people with perfect 20/20 vision should be able to drive.

but some people, even with glasses - will fail the driving sight test

Not always the case, my prescription gets lighter every test I have, the optician says it's not usual but it does happen.

Agree! I remember when I was a kid, my dad moaning about an accident up the road where a young motorcyclist had been killed by an elderly driver who just pulled out without looking. Dad was vehement about how dangerous old people are behind the wheel of a car.

FF to him in his 80s, and he'd be cursing "that bloody road sign" that somehow suddenly appeared at the side of a long straight country road to rip his wing mirror off in passing. A friend commiserated that her own father was regularly mounting the kerb on the opposite pavement when turning a corner.

Everyone ages differently, but decline in driving ability can become very obvious in later years.

Yes, quite, and this does quite rightly need picking up.

Illegal immigrants can't get a license so that doesn't make sense.

@FridgeJenga Did you genuinely not understand the news on this?

That's how it comes over from your post.

Or were you trying to be provocative?

It's not about drivers over 70 being banned, as you really ought to understand.
It's about drivers over 70 being made to have a compulsory eye test.

This is totally irrelevant. They should only drive if its safe for them to do so! It doesn't matter how inconvenient it would be, they could be putting someone else's life at risk.

Then you are the exception, not the rule. For much of the population, eyesight gets worse with age. There's a word for it, it's called presbyopia.

You're a medical miracle then.

I think that on a public health basis, the start date for mandatory testing should be 40. Not only would that embed it as normal practice for decades, it's a natural point where vision can be deteriorating and, most of all, it could potentially save thousands from losing their sight or being in terrible pain from diseases as a result of early detection of things such as glaucoma, AMD (too late but better than nothing in respect of diabetic complications where the T2 hasn't been diagnosed).

I am sure that it would be met with howls of rage, but that way its not just for the benefit of others, it would benefit them as well. Bet it would be easier to get eyetests if there was suddenly a guaranteed income from everybody over 40 instead just the smaller number who notice changes, look like they're playing the trombone when given a leaflet or are aware of what medical conditions they have or family members suffered from.

I wholeheartedly agree.

A friend was killed by a driver who admitted he had a moment where he forgot how to use the pedals so accelerated at a busy junction with a crossing.

We are currently trying to get my nan to retire from work, because she has to drive between 3 different cities, however it's happened often when in the car together, especially at lighted roundabouts, she will see another flow of cars moving and automatically accelerate, and one of us has to shout stop. She swerves between lanes because she forgets which lane to be in. She has been assessed and the doctor says there's no sign of a cognitive illness, just age related cognitive decline, and the only thing she had to declare to the DVLA when renewing her license was myopathy for which she wears corrective lenses.

I really think there should be a mandatory retesting and a full medical check.

My family members live in the countryside with no bus routes. They are in their 80s. Still driving, getting regular eye tests. If they can't drive they cannot access anything. So, for as long as they pass their eye tests, they will drive.
They dread the day they cannot use their car. Not everyone lives in the city or has access to public transport.

@citychick so if the time comes when they can't drive, then you or other people will have to step in - with lifts, online shopping and home delivery , or they can take a taxi.

How do you think the millions of elderly people manage if they can't drive or don't own a car?

Nothing to do with being in a village.

Speed Freaks & Slow Coaches ruin the roads for Bus Drivers

Yes, sounds like he is looking for an excuse.