to support the idea of re-testing pensioners driving

[dhdjdbrjrkbr]

Last week a guy in his 70s down my road accidentally demolished a bit more of his wall driving into it as he's going blind. God knows what he's done when out and about. I drive 2 hours a day, lots on country lanes where is nsl and often someone turns into an road in front of me and I have to do an emergency stop. Reactions and awareness do decrease with age. Especially as there is a UN versal bus pas it doesn't seem that mean to me.

[Sazzle41]

YANBU. I live next to a physio unit with the majority of visitors being rather elderly. The driving i witness daily is truly scary - and thats just in a huge car park at the end of a very quiet cul de sac. I shudder to think what they are like in rush hour or school pick up/drop off. They struggle with steering, suddenly accelerate or stop for no reason and often mount the kerb with no warning for pedestrians who are clearly visible. I go the other route to work now!

[casusally]

92 year old driver Minivan Crashes 10 Vehicles in a Piggly Wiggly pa…:

[SirChenjin]

GPs should be more assertive about telling their patients they can't drive anymore

I completely agree. DFiL was under the care of various Consultants - had Parkinsons - and was still driving at a stage where he was struggling with normal day to day activities. It was very scary.

[muminhants]

I don't think people should have to do another test, but everyone (not just the elderly) should have to go on a course like the speed awareness courses every 5-8 years regardless of whether they've been done for speeding or not. Driving practice changes, skills deteriorate, new signs are introduced and there are things like cycle awareness that should be taught. The test keeps being made harder but that doesn't help all the people on the road now.

GPs should be more assertive about telling their patients they can't drive anymore and telling the DVLA but that won't deal with those who never go near a GP and are simply awful drivers.

Course could be cost-neutral (ie people pay but government doesn't make money on it) and no course=licence revoked.

[NfkDumpling]

Age is irrelevant - it's ability that counts. Deteriorating eye sight can start in your forties. Arthritis in your fifties. Fractious children, ringing mobiles, PMT, arguing spouse... so much can contribute to inattentive driving and accidents, but health is something which can be tested easily enough. An eye test, reaction test and basic physical every ten years shouldn't be too difficult to arrange for a small fee, especially if it meant a drop in insurance premiums.

[specialsubject]

not just pensioners, all of us every 10 years. Age is not relevant to driving ability, witness the kids that have all those trees hit them.

if you are so nervous that you can't cope with a driving test after 10 years of driving, you also should not be on the road. Extremely nervous drivers are as dangerous as over-confident ones.

OP - report this person before he kill someone.

[outtolunchagain]

Moniker if you lived where I do you wouldn't need to read it in the media( they rarely report it anyway) you see it everyday .Driving instructors also teach learners how to be aware of elderly drivers , at least my sons one did .

Their insurance is cheap because they rarely claim , they have lots of little accidents rather than the big headline ones .

[Moniker1]

I don't know - all these stories of old people pressing on the accelerator or driving the wrong way up a motorway.

Are you sure it's not just our ageist media - I'm not saying it doesn't happen but if it is such a common problem why is their insurance cheap?

There must be dozens/ maybe hundreds of RTAs involving non elderly which just are never reported in the media. I mean it's often the case on motorways of hold ups due to an accident. I never hear who what or why, frustratingly, unless there is some massive pile up with dozens of cars.

I think many of these 'commonly occurring' accidents involving elderly are just the ones people notice or are in the media, that they aren't that common at all.

[CruCru]

It wouldn't cover everything but I wish there were five yearly eye tests. If it was required for all drivers regardless of age, older drivers wouldn't be put out.

[AttilaTheMeerkat]

"Elderly people who drive miles and miles the wrong way accidentally though aren't equally condemned or jailed let alone made to retake a much more difficult test".

That is not always the tiggytape but on the other hand I have read of a recent case where an elderly driver killed a pedestrian and was handed down a suspended sentence. The relatives of the deceased do not feel that was at all appropriate as this person has also shown no remorse.

I directly know of two elderly drivers who had their licence taken away by the police and courts; they do have the power to do this and they certainly threw the book at FIL. Before he died he was still determined to pass his theory test (he tried 4 times in all). If he has passed it (and I knew he would never succeed in a month of Sundays) he would have had to do an extended driving test. He certainly would have failed that repeatedly as well. The other driver had her licence revoked after she had cause a road accident due to her not seeing the vehicles.

And I have also lost count of the number of times many mainly elderly drivers mistake the accelerator pedal for the brake in their car (as happened in the above account). Also a common error is mistaking reverse for first gear.

[BreakingDad77]

Echt it is know that there is a difference between the stats recorded by police as there have been studies comparing the number of hospital admissions and seeing they don't tie up.

webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http:/www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/accidents/adaccidentstatisticsgrea1835.pdf

[SirChenjin]

Unfortunately it's not always the case that they can make choices about whether or not to drive - dementia/Alzheimers and other forms of cognitive impairment impairs judgement, and again unfortunately these tend to increase as we get older. I would like to think that my family would stop me from driving if I got to that stage, but that presumes my family will live close to me and will be in a position to prevent me from getting behind the wheel. So many older people simply don't have that support network - and even if they do (as in the case of my FiL) it's a very difficult conversation to have.

[MrsMeeple]

I think everyone should be tested every ten years on their theory. If you know it, fine. If you don't, you shouldn't be driving. And eyesight tests every five years for those over a certain age. If you can't see, you shouldn't be allowed to set something lethal into high speeds!

[NfkDumpling]

Thinking laterally, perhaps just choosing a test for pensioners (that distinction doesn't work - with deferred pensions some be people will be quite long in the tooth by the time they retire) isn't such a good idea. Mobile phones have been banned and there's now a move to ban smoking while driving. (Hasten to add completely with the phone ban). I have also heard mutterings about driving alone with an under five - that age group being somewhat of a distraction - perhaps it would be better to have tests for all every say, fifteen years?

This is probably all academic anyway. Driverless cars are on the way!

[HangingBasketCase]

I'd support this. As you get older your reaction times slow down and you also loose your confidence. There have also been a few incidents locally involving pensioner drivers which have totally WTF. The first involved an elderly lady putting her car into reverse instead of first gear and reversing through a shop window causing thousands of pounds worth of damage, how she didn't kill anyone is a miracle. The second involved an elderly man reversing back down a slip road because he'd come off at the wrong place and smashing into someone and finally an old man drove the wrong way around a round a bout and then along the wrong side of the road into a retail park. Someone filmed that one and put it on Facebook.

All of these were treated with humour, but it's not funny is it? They are a danger to themselves and others. If you or I did this stuff we'd lose our licences.

[cozietoesie]

There is a very real difficulty in having elderly people sign up to the issue though - as I know from personal experience.

What else are you doing but suggesting to them that not only must they cease to be - in their eyes - a fully functioning member of society but also that there is no way they'll ever get back? (Unlike young drivers who generally have the luxury of time and better physical health.)

It's a sort of 'Welcome to the end of your life' conversation - and I don't know of any way to deal with that comfortably where someone is likely quietly raging against the dying of the light in any case. I don't think I handled it well with my own father.

[Hillingdon]

Because if they did there claims would be sky high. And I speak as someone whose car was backed into by a very elderly man who clearly didn't notice. I was walking back to the car and saw him do it. Sadly didn't get his full number plate

[ScrambledEggAndToast]

YANBU. Where I work, some of the people can barely see yet they are still driving, they are a menace! A re-test would get them off the road.

[cozietoesie]

My Dad's (fairly new) smallish car sat outside his house for well over a year without him driving it more than once or twice to the very local shops - because we manoeuvred it that way due to his lack of road sense. He, however, was fully insured and licensed and would have contributed to driving stats.

I wonder how many other elderly car drivers are in a similar position.

[RosesandRugby]

I would support testing over 70's. My grandfather drove the wrong way down a duel carriage way. He wasn't involved in an accident himself but did cause 3 over a 2 mile stretch. The police officer that dealt with this incident told me that over 30% of the accidents he deals with involved an elderly driver but they frequently escape without damage themselves leaving carnage in their wake. Most do not claim on insurance but pay for repairs themselves.
Insurance statistics only represent those who make a claim and hundreds happen every day that are not recorded.

[Spybot]

Last Oct I had a 92 year old women drive her sedan car up a path on my property, thinking it was a road, and then she got stuck on my land at the top of a hill, behind some trees. ( This does not look like a road at all, just a tiny path, dotted with trees, how she got the car up there is beyond me) She then wandered around in the woods for a bit with no concept of where she was. Fortunately she was OK but she did damage my well a bit, she churned up my garden and she could have run over one of my DCs as we were out in the garden just prior. She had her license taken away. Where I live is very rural with no public transport (am in States) so there are a good number of very elderly people driving and I often see horrendous mistakes on the road, putting everyone at risk.

I feel people should be retested after age 80. Our senses and reactions deteriorate quite sharply in that decade.

[CokeFan]

Anyone of any age can have an accident because they misjudge conditions, drive too fast, are tired or aren't paying attention. For that time they're not driving perfectly they pay a high price. They could then go on to have a perfect driving career subsequently. The point is that they're physically capable of controlling a car and have the mental acuity to interpret conditions. In the case of very young drivers they'll also gain experience as time passes.

For age/health related conditions that are never going to get better like failing eyesight or poor reactions or dementia then every journey is going to be substandard and it's just a question of luck and the reactions of other drivers that an accident doesn't happen each time. Drivers who, deep down, know that they're in this position tend to reduce their chances of an accident by driving very slowly, only during the day and only on short, familiar routes. It doesn't make them safe though.

[Andrewofgg]

TedAndLola

That's why it's silly to pick on pensioner drivers as an age group, and not young people (especially male).

Insurers can no longer "pick on" male drivers of any age - the European Court of Justice stopped that some years ago. And cheaper life insurance for women, and cheaper annuities for men. Preposterous but so it is.