to support the idea of re-testing pensioners driving

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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.

I won't let my DCs in the car with mil but they are fine with Fil even though he's 5 years older and in his 80s

I do think eyesight tests should be compulsory for all drivers but retests based purely on age are a non stater

I agree with tweed and I don't think its ageist.

But Chatty that is per licensed driver NOT per mile traveled or any measure that would actually give us a proper indication of safety.

I have seen in the demographically older driver heavy place I live; someone drive onto the pavement where my DD and I were standing; an older man plow through a red light and thread the needle between two motorbikes and hit a car opposite (I actually wrote a letter for the Police to take to his Dr.); many people sitting at a green light (eyesight or reactions?); many people change lane without shoulder checking (mobility?). All older drivers. My own GF stopped driving after he pulled out in front of another car on a dual carriageway with me in the car. Almost killed us both. There was a local news story of a driver in his 80s who drove out of the upper floor of a parking garage.

Younger drivers may do some stupid things but the chances are that their driving will improve.

YANBU. My elderly father shouldn't be driving, yet because there is no compulsory testing he still feels he should be driving. Thank god he first drive further than the local shops.

I think everyone should get retested. 10 years for under 70's and 5 years for over 70's sounds fair. Theres plenty of rubbish younger drivers out there too.

I agree. My friend's father is still driving with dementia and she's struggling to convince him not to. There must be many in this position.

However I think the test should be sensitive. My ex next door neighbour was a fine driver and nearly 90. Seriously. But he really had his wits about him generally still.

"one fundamental philosophy which this paper adopts is that policies which prematurely remove an elderly person's ability to drive can have negative consequences for their health and quality of life. These consequences can outweigh the reduction in crash risk to the driver and the rest of society. In short, any intervention must be proportionate to the risk, and a judgement must be made as to whether an individual intervention gets the balance right "
From the Older Driver's Policy.

Whilst I agree that some drivers may not be fully alert, the same can be said for the person driving around with their phone in their hand.
I do believe that in a test situation (I'm sure I'd fail under the panic) many older people would have their licence and independence taken away. Once the little trip to the shop, visit to see a friend and other things to maintain independence have gone then often people become isolated.

"A key question is how and when drivers should be relicensed. In the UK this occurs at 70 years (and every three years thereafter) and requires only the driver to self certify that they are fit to drive. Research does not suggest that a mandatory driving test would be effective."

I came across an elderly lady driving the wrong way down a dual carriageway last week. Luckily it was quiet and I was going slow and was able to change lanes out of her way.

Definitely not unreasonable. My sister was killed by a man in his 70s driving when he shouldn't have been

Based in my survey of one elderly relative.... YANBU at all. My poor old grandad is senile, deaf and can hardly move his legs. He shouldn't still have his licence. My mum does drive him most places she can tho,

My mum was never the best driver, she used to scare me 25 years ago and she still scares me now but her driving style has not changed.
As long as she has regular eye tests, why shouldn't she still drive?
Ok I hate her driving but it's not changed in many a year and she doesn't do motorways ( none for 50+ miles near her) so she's unlikely to be more dangerous now than25 years ago!!

Everyone should have those black boxes in their car to test for sudden braking/dangerous acceleration. That would mean a ban for a lot of middle aged arsey tailgating knobs too.

There's a lot of bad drivers of all ages to be honest

I agree. I reported one if my elderly neighbours to the dvla after I'd seen them driving on the wrong side of the road more than once, and weaving about all over the place. Their driving was terrifying.

Dh was driven into at speed by an elderly driver. She failed to give way on the roundabout. Both cars were written off. If he'd been driving my little Ka things could have been a lot worse for him.

Everyone should be re-tested every few years and have to produce certificates from a qualified optician every year when they renew their car tax. Elderly people should have to undergo medicals in order to re-tax their vehicles.

This really worries me. My MIL won't get her eyesight checked although she has admitted that her eyesight is getting foggy and yes, her mother did have glaucoma, why do I ask? She won't go to the opticians because the last time the person examining her eyes was so close they breathed in her face. She simply buys glasses from those generic stands in shops and keeps getting new, stronger ones.

I'm so scared she's going to kill someone one day. I would feel so guilty if she did, that I should have prevented it. Aside from her eyesight, she really is a poor driver anyway.

Actually, come to think of it, she admitted the foggy eyesight thing YEARS ago. Even then she would squint over and round the steering wheel...

I think everyone should be tested periodically.

We now have to renew our licences every ten years, don't we? Ideal time to do a short retest to make sure we are still safe and competent.

I agree. I really think everyone should be retested every 5 to 10 years no matter what age.

DH's GF is a prime example of this. It's important to him to drive to the golf club once a week at least - which I can understand. But you can tell from a glance that he's terrified of the road and travels veeery slowly and in the middle of the road.
I wonder whether OAPs feature less in dangerous driving statistics because they are, generally, out less - they don't drive to a regular job during rush hours or go out when it's dark or bad weather (generalising hugely here)?

My own straw poll, conducted by me on me, says that old people (men mostly) and country lanes are the most dangerous combination. It's the middle of the road or nothing!

If anyone remotely thinks re testing is NOT a good idea then read this www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2859091/Mercedes-driver-83-killed-mother-husband-two-year-old-son-ploughed-confusing-brake-accelerator-classic-car.html

Then read Life as a Widower blog to see how the husband of Desreen and her son are coping (or not) since she was killed by and 86 year old driver. Fucking twat

I would say yes but doubt it will happen

Twice in the last week I have nearly been hit at the same mini roundabout by older people who just were not going to stop and give way (I had right of way) One woman even tried to go round me as I stopped. I think they thought the roundabout was optional

No question. My late father was furious when i goaded his doctor into telling him he had to quit driving. He yelled at me that i was taking away his independence. Given at this point, he could barely shuffle the few feet from living room to toilet with his zimmer, and then had to sit on the loo for at least half an hour before he had the strength to shuffle back, i couldn't quite see how he was going to manage the steps at the front door, the few yards of path, two sets of rather narrow steps to the street and then along the pavement to the place he parked, never mind then be able to drive the damned car. i was able to remind him that i had lost one parent in a car accident (mum was a passenger) and that i didn't want the matched set. I was called a f**king bitch by him, but i won.

Latterly, i had to remove car keys from a friend's elderly mother so we could persuade her to give up driving. She was far too frail, but protested that she only drove locally and very slowly. Quite how she had not been killed is still something i wonder at. it was the right decision. I plan to give up driving when i am in my early 70s at the very latest. It is simply not worth the risk and i would hate to inflict upon my children the shock that i got when my mother was killed.

YANBU! My grandad is a terrible driver and it's a miracle that he hasn't ever caused a serious accident. He has reversed into tress/bollards/walls/you name it. No matter what we say to him he won't stop

I'm in the mandatory test of competence every 5-10 years camp. I really don't think age matters. There's terrifyingly awful drivers in every walk of life. I have a 70-75 mile round trip to work every day. I lose track of the terrible driving I see. I'm guilty of it sometimes too.
However, I think that it's too important and significant a responsibility to have passed a test at 17, and assume that for the next 50 years you're competent without a check on it. (And even then not a competence of driving, just that you're passably healthy.) I know a certain percentage of people would fail, through nerves, bad habits, whatever, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's a serious responsibility to pilot a car.
We'd be just as arbitrary to say everyone driving a Nissan micra is a terrible driver.....