To think old drivers are more dangerous than young ones?

[PistolAnnies]

An old dear almost crashed right into me before, clearly didn't see, even when I had to swiftly swerve to get out of her way, and she was squinting her eyes trying to see

I see this more with old drivers and think they should have to surrender their license, if at a certain age, their eyesight and health are not in the best condition

[indigo18]

I think you are BU. The driver up my arse in the black hatchback behind me is almost always young and male. I drive confidently and do not dawdle along, but said male has to be IN FRONT of me, whatever it takes.

[Callani]

I think there are a lot of people who drive dangerously because they take a lot of risks and younger people tend to be more responsible for this.

However I think that the vast majority of people will become a dangerous driver before they hand in their license - after all, if you were still driving safely, why would you stop? I certainly wouldn't want to give up such a freedom if I was perfectly capable of driving meaning that you have to NOT be capable of driving before considering it.

So yes, someone can be a completely acceptable driver at 70, however they will almost inevitably become an unsafe driver before they voluntarily give up their license or have it taken off them.

[TfL1]

This is a message from Transport for London.

As part of our new young drivers road safety campaign we have produced a new advert to advise young people not to speed, or drive too fast for the road that they are on:

In 2012, 4,684 people in London were injured in collisions involving young drivers.

We urge young drivers to stay focused and not show off for their friends on the road.

You may not realise, but young people can learn some driving habits from other road users.

So we are urging young people: "Kill your speed and not your mates".

[LifeHuh]

Vision and driving is covered by legislation - you have to be able both to read a numberplate at the required distance,and read a particular line of an Opticians chart.If you don't meet the standard you are not legal to drive and your insurance will be invalid,this applies to everyone regardless of age.
There will be people who are driving with inadequate vision - there are also people driving illegally for other reasons.And plenty of older people can see just fine - my Grandmother,at 90,had the best vision in the family (more anecdote of course...)
Has your Grandad told DVLA about his sight issues,TooExtraImmatureCheddar? They check both extent of the visual field and vision if there is doubt about someone's sight but that is dependant about people being honest about their health etc.

[TooExtraImmatureCheddar]

Warning: anecdote to follow.

My granddad is 75, and has recently been diagnosed with glaucoma. He says he has noticed his field of vision narrowing since his diagnosis, plus he has a small cataract on his good eye which is not yet ready to be operated on. He is still allowed to drive, somehow passing an eye test where he admits to guessing at the letters. Grandma has taken over driving at night or if he's particularly tired, but she has to suggest it. I'm fairly sure that if he thought there was a need for it, he'd go out in his car at night despite all this.

However. He has always been a terrible driver. He drove over a mini roundabout 15 years ago and wrecked his suspension. He never indicates and pulls across lanes of traffic without looking. How he has never been in a serious accident I don't know. Mum says he's been like this as long as she can remember. He gets lost constantly, and then stressed. It used to be a standing joke that we could tell when he had arrived at our house because of the outraged tooting you could hear from other drivers.

So I'm on the fence. Yes, people with vision problems shouldn't be driving. But what about people who are just poor drivers? Of any age. I do quite like the idea of compulsory testing every 5 years, but only if it cost less than the current driving test.

[paxtecum]

If the old dears lose their licences at 70 how are they going to drive here, there and everywhere to look after their grandchildren.
I know a lot of late 60s grandparents who drive all over the country to look after their DGCs - often at very short notice.

[FoxOff]

The old folk are not good drivers by Grand Prix and rally standards but they usually drive more slowly and take much more care than young drivers so they have less accidents.

They can be a bit doddery but it comes to us all so I'm not knocking them

[KareKare]

In an average week I probably see alarming driving from at least one of each dangerous driver stereotype - boy racer in his mum's fiesta, twatty salesman in his company BMW, old boy with a flat cap, old lady who can barely see over the steering wheel, young 20 something gassing away on their phone.

I can't say I see more bad driving from older people. My dad's over 70 and he's possibly the best driver I know.

[NCISaddict]

I'm going to be driving a bloody ambulance at 68 apparently on blue lights so I hope I'm still safe. Not into job creation!

[SilverApples]

Hang on, what about those of us that are going to have to work until we are in our 70s and 80s and will need to get to work?
Can I retire at 65 and be looked after by some of those vibrant young things? Or will they run a free taxi service for us old dears?

[bodygoingsouth]

perhaps we should herd all old people into retirement villages with all facilities in walking distance so none of them need to drive.

phew op you're safe now!!

[WitchWay]

My mother is nearly blind in one eye & still driving though she's stopped at night - she has annual checks & has been told she is within normal limits as her other eye is still fine. Not sure I'm happy about it though - it's obvious she just doesn't notice things properly.

[FurryDogMother]

At what age do you intend to give up driving, OP?

[SilverApples]

Well nanny, them as live that long...

[bodygoingsouth]

oh yes gosh women can't actually parallel park, men can't multitask, all young people these days binge drink, old people can't drive safely ya de ya de ya..

newt what are you like showing us the true stats when slagging off the 'old dears' and sweeping generalisations are so much fun.

[Nanny0gg]

I see age-discriminatory terms are alive and well and living on Mumsnet.

I would like to point out that you'll all be Old Dears or Oldies or even possibly an Old Twat one day.

Wonder how you'll like it...

[5HundredUsernamesLater]

I agree with OP. I have lost count of the times I have been nearly run off the road by a pensioner driving dangerously. We have some new mini roundabouts in our town and most of the pensioners don't seem to even notice them let alone stop at them and then they just stop suddenly in the middle of the road outside a shop or a post office and just abandon their car while they shop. Then get in their car and just set off again without looking or indicating. There has been three accidents in as many weeks on the main street and all have been oldies driving badly.

[OddFodd]

I'm reminded of that quote from fried Green Tomatoes: I'm older and I have more insurance.

Although that's probably before your time

[SilverApples]

I do think a retest for every driver every 5 years is a very good idea.

[NewtRipley]

Oh look, some evidence

[Franchini]

I think that all people regardless of age should have to resit their driving licence every five years or so. This would eliminate a lot of drivers who should not be on the road and also ensure that all drivers would be up to date with the latest driving rules etc.. I would be happy to have to re sit if it would mean there were more sensible drivers on the road.

[SilverApples]

I'm an old dear.
Is the appropriate term for the OP 'Young Bimbo'?
I need to get my insults age-appropriate, advice welcome.

[bodygoingsouth]

lucille you can't really group all 'old people' together and accuse them of driving both far too fast and far too slow around your village can you.

to not really grasp the fact that there are good and bad drivers of all ages and all sexes is well, just a little bit thick.

[etoo]

I don't think which group of drivers is worse is important TBH, but older drivers do seem to escape the same scrutiny of their ability that younger people face. Even the driving test that some of these people passed 50+ years ago was a lot easier than the modern one, ignoring all the other age related problems.

[NewtRipley]

Lucille

Calling someone thick is nice though is it?