to think drivers should have to resit their driving tests aged 75+?

[coffeeisnectar]

I'm not 100% certain what age is appropriate but I live in area with a high number of seniors and some days I feel like I take my life in my hands navigating the local roads.

Instances include the driver who pulled out in front of us today without looking and was oblivious to our emergency stop behind her. The driver who drove into my car on a roundabout (because she didn't see me), the driver in an automatic car who hit the accelerator instead of the brake narrowly missing me whilst shooting into a car park mouthing "sorry!" as a small child in the back looked terrified. The driver who didn't see my partner and knocked him off his motorbike causing major injuries who turned out to have been sent on two driver awareness courses in the previous year.

My own parents are in their 70s and are good drivers but I wouldn't hesitate to suggest they give up if they started driving around like some of the people I see here who quite frankly terrify me.

Slow drivers don't cause accidents.it is inappropriate overtaking that is the probe

You need to drive at an appropriate speed. To drive at 30 on a motorway when you are able to drive at 70, is dangerous.

I'm sure I saw on a tv programme about this that a concerned child can speak to the parents gp regarding any concerns over their driving ability. The gp can then call them into asses them and inform dvla. Force was maybe the wrong word.

There was also a problem where the drivers children were adamant he should give up, that he was dangerous on the roads etc. He retook his test on the understanding that if he failed he would quit and if he passed his children would shut up about it.

He passed with flying colours!

i saw that Shut. the instructor asked the man what was behind him and the man told him to look because he was too busy looking at the road ahead IIRC.

mitzi
last week I followed an elderly gent who was driving down a single track country road (speed limit 60) at 15 mph.
if it genuinely was a single track road it may be NSL but not every road (especially single track country lanes) was assessed for speed suitability shock I agree 15 mph was too slow but 60 mph would have been suicide.

To clarify mollie the safe limit on this road in dry weather is about 40 on the straighter wider bits? If you meet a car coming the other way you have to pull in at some points and at other points 2 average size vehicles can just about pass. I agree with your point (and have posted before about people driving on country roads at dangerous speeds - "it 's a speed limit not a target")

I haven't got time to go through this thread so apologies if this has been said already.

As it stands at the moment, once you have passed your driving test you renew the photo on your licence every ten years? But some people might not drive from one year to the next, but as long as their licence is current they have the option to.

I have a friend who hates driving and hadn't got behind a wheel for fifteen years, because his wife was his chauffeur. When his wife unexpectedly went into labour he took her to hospital, but fortunately didn't have an accident.

Ten yearly retests would be a good thing.

Ten yearly retests would be a good thing.

Which would require a huge infrastructure: assuming a typical driving career of fifty years and some level of retakes, you'd need roughly five times as many driving examiners. It would presumably operate like the MoT, with three levels of failure (one meaning "you need to retake before your existing ticket expires", one a red "prohibition notice" which means you cannot drive other than on provisional licence terms and one - for medical reasons - a final fail which requires a GP's certificate to overturn).

Even so, with such a high-stakes regime - many people would risk losing their jobs - it would require huge governance, appeals, proofs of identity, etc, etc. It's not at all obvious the problem justifies the expensive and complex solutions: road deaths have fallen steadily for the past forty years, after all.

It would be heaven for driving instructors, though. Loadsamoney.

What is a problem is that the move to enforcing speed limits with cameras rather than driving standards more widely with patrol cars, and the outsourcing of a lot of motorway safety to traffic officers who don't have the power to stop drivers, is that people can drive like arses and not get caught. It would be better to pro-actively enforce driving standards with visible traffic police, because that gets people other than once every ten years.

Totally agree. I live by a physio unit, the majority of visitors 70plus: the driving is truly scary, I have been nearly mown down twice now while on the pavement. I also grew up in a rural area with a high population of over 75's still driving.

Its not ageist, its a fact that as you age, your eyesight, reaction speeds and motor skills (dexterity, co-ordination etc) decline. This IS going to severely impair your driving skills at some point.

Yes, we all age differently but at some point and at varying ages, all my elderly relatives (my GP's came from huge families who all lived well into the 80's) realised they werent safe any more and got lifts or the bus(which they preferred tbh as the opportunity for socialising increased).

Yes, we all age differently but at some point and at varying ages, all my elderly relatives (my GP's came from huge families who all lived well into the 80's) realised they werent safe any more and got lifts or the bus(which they preferred tbh as the opportunity for socialising increased).

The problem here is that there is very little public transport - where I live there are no buses at all that go anywhere near the local doctors or supermarket. Taxis are few and far between so charge a fortune - £7 each way for the 4 mile journey. There are 4 buses a day to the nearest large town (£25 in a taxi) and the bus doesn't stop near anything useful like a supermarket. That would require another bus and a long walk.

If people don't drive and don't have relatives nearby, they are housebound and isolated. So they keep driving. I am constantly telling my parents that they need to move nearer shops etc before they have to give up driving but are happy in their house and presume that they will continue to be safe enough to drive.

My FIL is still driving because he lives in a very rural area with no public transport. Age UK organise a monthly get together, and get volunteers giving lifts to people, as there is no other way to get about. He drives to and from church every week, to the Drs and to a few friends.
He is not capable of motorway driving, but is okay on local roads that he knows well, and can drive on at 20 miles per hour.

Those who say people should give up their licenses at 65--my husband still runs miles every week. He commutes to work, using his car to get there. He could probably beat most of you at tennis. Why the hell should he not be able to drive his car in three years' time? How ridiculous.

Equally, my mother is 77. I was watching her reverse park her large car this lunch time and she has far better spatial awareness than most of the idiots half her age who haven't learned reverse parking.

Those who say people should give up their licenses at 65

No-one is saying that.

A medical test yearly is the minimum. Last summer a man bumped into our parked car at a red light. When filling the forms he had such a low eye sight he could not even write, DP had to fill the man's form for him. Most encounters I've had with bad drivers were elderly, but every one should pass tests every ten years and have regular medical tests.

Most encounters I've had with bad drivers were elderly

The problem is, we all have anecdotes though.

I have had 2 cars written off, both by people under 35.

My DSis also has had hers written off by a 27 year old.

A driving licence should be a privilege. Everyone should have to retake their test every ten years.

I dont see how its safe to let anyone incapable of driving safely continue to do so simply because they were capable x years ago, regardless of age, sex, or anything else - if you are not capable of driving safely for whatever reason then you shouldnt be allowed to drive.

Bolograph several posters on the thread did say 65, in fact. Sprocket, for instance. Others have suggested black boxes and retests for over 65s.

How about doing the same for obese people? I mean, they can't move as quickly to check mirrors and blinds spots? And foreigners? Or women generally. Because they get very hormonal.

Or people in red cars. Because we all know they're aggressive.

Or any other group we want to patronize.

I agree that some very elderly people are a danger. I drive behind several of them on a country road that is national speed limit, they drive at 30.

But my 'old' husband of 62 is frequently made to miss his train by a man of around 35, who drives the same road at the same speed,in rush hour.

Ageist.

We all have anecdotes as described in previous posts, whether by older people or not.

There was a crash this week outside my house (which knocked out the telephone system for 2 days) Cause? A mother with two children in the car who was driving on the wrong side of the road - an A road at that.

Doesn't mean all mothers are bad drivers and it would be as wrong to generalise about that as about people of any age.

No, it wouldn't in the case of driving. As has also been said by quite a few pps, with advancing age comes a decline in sight and cognitive ability, to name but two effects. Or are you denying that those happen?

I think it's very unhelpful all round to try to shut down this debate with shouts of 'ageist!'. Probably some people younger than 17 would make perfectly good drivers, but lots wouldn't hence a lower age limit. The upper limit to drive without further testing, and what those tests should consist of, needs addressing. Or do you think it's ageist not to allow 15 yos to drive?

has also been said by quite a few pps, with advancing age comes a decline in sight and cognitive ability, to name but two effects. Or are you denying that those happen?

No one has said these things don't happen. eyesight is a red herring though as many people don't get their eyes tested so could need glasses but don't wear them . However it is the assumption that everyone over a certain age is a bad driver, which isn't the case.

There are very good and very bad drivers of all ages. Maybe as has been said, EVER ONE should be retested every 5 years or so.