to think that driving ability should be re-tested at some point in old age?

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just that really.

www.itv.com/news/story/2016-02-12/eight-children-hit-by-car-outside-school-in-liverpool/

Even if it turns out that the woman involved in this case was generally fit to drive, there have been other accidents when you hear it was an 80+ person at the wheel driving up the wrong side of the motorway or something.

I know other drivers can be dangerous too, but in their case, its more usually that they are choosing not to drive safely at that moment than they can't, so its harder to test for.

I had to relinquish my licence for a while when awaiting medical tests for something. It was down to me to sort this. Dr just told me not to drive. You are meant to send back licence to dvla and can't get it back without dr's certificate and form filling etc. The list of conditions you are meant to disclose to the dvla is huge. Arthritis, diabetes etc.
The drs should be able to send a patient's name directly to dvla of anyone they consider a potential danger on the road. So the patient can't ignore it and carry on driving.

@Zombies - the entire road layout along there is dangerous, IMO. Bollards, hatch markings, cars parked along the length of the road forcing you to drive over said hatch markings, kerbs jutting out. Tight bend with unnecessary bollards. Far too much road furniture along the entire length and Challenging enough without adding other traffic and schoolgirls into the mix.

A very close member of my family has just had a serious medical incident which means they shouldn't be driving at the moment. I have had to exercise very considerable pressure - detailing the damage that might be caused to others - before they would agree not to take the car out.

It's as if saying you may not drive is impugning something very deep inside.

Latest reports say there's "only" broken bones and soft tissue injuries to the girls at Belvedere (not reports from the hysterically frenzied local rag). Could have been much much worse. The car (its very distinctive) involved is usually parked at the end of the road close to the school so therefore belongs to someone who is familiar with the area.

My PIL are shocking. My MIL is mid 70s and has diabetes induced problems with her retina and therefore vision. She uses a magnifying glass to read, even with her glasses on :( Her diabetes consultant doesn't think she should be driving any more.
Her driving is nothing short of abysmal. No lane or speed awareness, no concern for other road users. I haven't allowed my DC in the car with her for at least 5 years. She mounts the pavement regularly, literally doesn't see traffic lights. Last time she came to ours, she reversed her car into the front of our house, snapping off a window sill.
FIL is early 80s and his eyesight is fine, but his driving skills have always been terrible. He'll happily drive down a motorway on the hard shoulder, in third gear. Fortunately he hates driving and tends to avoid it. But then MIL drives when she shouldn't.
They live in a very rural place and refuse to have a computer or get online, so I have no idea how they will manage when they eventually stop driving.

I think an eyesight test should be mandatory every five years and after a road accident, for everyone.

At Christmas an older lady I would say in her late 60s reversed at high acceleration (from stationary) into a petrol pump. She attempted to get out of the situation by going forward then crashing again. It was incredible. Definitely needs retesting frequently imo

I was run over when I was 14 by a woman in her eighties who had been told that her eyesight was too poor to be driving.

She went down a one way road the wrong way. Hit me as I was crossing the road.

She then drove three more miles to a police station, parked up and told the police that she had run over a cat.

I was lucky, a window cleaner had witnessed the whole thing and he knocked on doors until he found someone to call an ambulance (pre mobile days).

I was severely injured and spent nearly four months in hospital recovering. Over twenty years later I still suffer from pain and mobility issues due to pins in my pelvis and hip and extreme headaches from my fractured skull.

When we went to court her son approached my parents and apologised saying that "we told her not to drive but she just wouldn't listen".

Whilst accidents involving elderly drivers are rare, having been on the receiving end of one has probably made me more sensitive to them. I reported a neighbour a few years ago as he was in no way fit to drive.

I agree. We had to convince my great uncle to give up his license.
My mum sorted it, he got something through the post from the DVLA for him to sign and send back saying he wasn't fit to drive. He was not impressed, but with dementia, and the constant pain from his bowel cancer (he kept a secret from us) he just wasn't as safe a driver as he was.
In the end we said it was the doctors who advise the DVLA and if they thought he wasn't safe then we had to do it.

It's not just being able to see, it's the looking and then the seeing and then the reacting. DM can see but she drives in a daze and her joints are so stiff that I can't imagine her being able to move quickly even if she noticed the hazard.

Benjamin Brooks-Dutton currently has a petition about this, after his wife and mother of his little boy, was killed by an elderly driver who hit the accelerator instead of the brake. That driver is currently serving a custodial sentence. Ben and his son will obviously have to live their lives without their wife/mother.

Here's a link to the petition https://www.change.org/p/secretary-of-state-for-transport-introduce-compulsory-age-appropriate-retesting-every-3-years-once-a-driver-turns-70

It seems reasonable to me.

More than reasonable missy. The woman who hit me had been told to stop driving two years before she hit me.

I believe some lorries are limited to 50 mph on motorways (see stickers on the back saying restricted to 50 mph)

Most motorways are so congested you are lucky if you get up to 50 mph !

Some classic cars only reach 50 mph

In UK you can self certify yourself as capable to drive over a certain age
I think you have to do this yearly
Someone is supposed to confirm you are ok to drive on the paperwork

If people dont go to the doctors how will they stop people driving

Recently there were discussions on radio about zero alcohol and drugs, this would bar alot of people from driving, if there was an automatic tester kit in the car

I here automatic cars are currently in trial

Absolutely. My mother still drives at 87. I won't go in the car with her and neither will my DCs.

She thinks i'st ok cos she only drives in the town, but doesn't realise that she is as much of a danger there as out on the bigger roads.

She regularly drives past 2 primary schools to get to the shops and I shudder to think what would happen if a kid stepped out in front of her car.

I have voiced my concerns to other family members but was told "I'd be taking her independence away" by telling her to stop driving.

Better her independence than a child's life

Direct c&p of a parent's FB post:

Knowing what I now know - I have to say or rant on - that this accident at Belvedere Academy today does not surprise me. With a School of over 800 pupils situated on a main road with heavy traffic - there should be a designated pick up or drop off area. But instead you have parents who literally DO NOT CARE, park bumper to bumper on double yellow lines and in any empty spot they can find in residential streets as well, causing massive disruption to other traffic, safety for drivers and safety for pedestrians. Obscuring the view of many who wish to cross the road. They go head to head in vehicle warfare to bag an empty spot. They are only short of actually parking on top of one another.
Either the school itself should lobby the Council or have strategic measures put in place as it is their responsibility. This has been allowed to happen for FAR TOO LONG.
FIND SOMEWHERE ELSE TO PARK.
And as for the 80 year old - really ????!!!!
Just thank the Lord that this incident was not fatal.

I think that we should all be re tested every 5-10 years regardless of age but people over 70 should be retested every 2 years and every year if over 80. I'm not being ageist as my dad had dementia in his 70s. The Dr allowed him to drive but I disagreed.
When you see an elderly driver revving the engine whilst doing 20 mph followed by the stench of burning clutch you do question our current laws.

YANBU
I'm very grateful that DGM has decided she isn't happy driving anymore despite her GP saying she is fine to. She is nearly 75 and her reaction time is appalling. She has joint problems so her decision is actually based on her comfort rather than safety

I do not think it is at all ageist to suggest the elderly should have to be retested but I do agree that there are many shit drivers on the road who should be accountable somehow. That said, I would hate to be retested every 5 years because the test situation makes me very nervous and isn't at all reflective of how I usually drive. The same could be said for terrible drivers who would just be on their best behaviour for the sake of passing a retest.

I work on acute medical wards in a hospital.. Regularly have people in with diagnosed dementia or cognitive impairments who are still driving. It's shocking! Can't make a cup of tea for themselves but still out on the road.

I once had a run-in with a lady in her 80s who was trying to turn he wrong way on a roundabout. Her son admitted he didn't think she should still be driving. But I think re-tests elks be a good idea at all ages - there are lots of bad drivers on the roads...

YANBU. I dont believe an elderly driver has the reaction times that todays roads need, and I cant see a frail person hauling on a steering wheel in an emergency.

YANBU.

Last year I was in our local town car park and a elderly lady reversed out of a space and hit an elderly gentleman who suffered a heart attack and died. I watched the whole thing. She didnt even look and when she got out of the car she could barely walk so I dont know how she managed to control the pedals. Car was covered in bumps and scrapes so it was clear she often had bumps here and there. It was horrible.

Testing every 2/3 years after 70

I don't think any elderly people who have been driving since pre driving test days (so people in their 80's, possibly younger) are safe to drive. They've never had to pass a test!

I'd happily be retested every 5/10 years. Passed in 2006.

I think doctors should be obliged to send notice to the DVLA when a patient has an issue that could affect their driving abilities. Opticians too.

Relying on people to do it themselves has too much opportunity for people slipping through cracks. I also think the penalties for driving when you have a condition you know could affect you and you haven't declared it/been through a DVLA check should be harsh. Someone with a known history of blackouts wouldn't get away with waving a gun around and then saying "Oh, I thought I'd be ok" if they set it off by blacking out. I know that's probably a shitty comparison, but you get what I mean.

In Ontario, once drivers reach 80 years of age, every two years they must:

• Take a vision test
• Undergo a driver record review
• Participate in a 45-minute Group Education Session (GES)
• During the GES, complete two, brief, non-computerized in-class screening assignments
• If necessary, take a road test

Seems reasonable to me.