To be genuinely concerned about some of the older drivers on the road

[Melas]

I work at a hospital. Went to lunch today and was approached by a very confused elderly man who couldn’t find the clinic he needed for his wife. He was stooped over, had a tremor and was really frail. I pointed the clinic out three times and he was still confused so I walked him to the doors (he was shuffling) and then went to find a porter to help with his wife.

I came back from lunch and he was driving out of the car park with his wife. Car creeping along at 2mphs, he bumped over the pavement and on to the main road still at around 5-10mph as he went around the corner.

He could barely walk, how is he still driving safely? I do not condone drink driving at ALL but I could have a large glass of wine and be over the limit and I swear I would still be more responsive than he was.

We had an awful incident here a few years ago when an elderly man killed a 16 year old girl on her way to college. He’d had an accident a few days beforehand driving down the wrong side of the road but the police were unable to confiscate his licence (I think this may have changed by now).

Shouldn’t we be retesting at certain age by now? Even if it was 80 that would be something. I can’t stop thinking about this man driving around the roads still.

Totally agree with you, OP. My car was smashed into on a roundabout (it was my right of way - I was just exiting) by a 90 year old driver. My 5 year old daughter was in the car and his car hit the side she was on. Thankfully, he knocked the rear door side so DD was unhurt. He came at such speed that my car swerved almost full circle and hit a lamp post. We were so shaken that it took us a few minutes to even talk. He was completely in the wrong and accepted it.
It was DD’s birthday, too. To this day, she remembers it as her worst birthday ever. 😢

Totally agree - I know that statistically younger drivers are a greater risk but that is one reason we have a lower age limit for driving, I do think the same should apply at the upper end with retesting at 65 for all and every 5 years thereafter. The infrastructure could be put in place if there was a will to do it.

I think it should be 55 and above. If you pass on a retest at 55 then the next retest should be 15 years later at 70. Then 10 years later at 80.

Oh and everyone should have to pay £10 to have the retest at 55, £20 for the 70 and £30 for the 80.

55? good grief Egerton, that is 12 years before retirement age....

Lets talk more about drivers from countries with low test standards first.

Totally agree with you. A relative of mine who has had a stroke has been signed off as fit to drive even though this person cannot feel her foot.....

Why are you outraged by this? Oddbutdull.

A lot of people retire at 55.

All those drivers from countries with low test standards would be included in this so it's a cover all solution.

I think rather than retesting which would be impossible to do (long wait already for tests) everyone should have to have a mandatory lesson at 75 and every 5 years after that, with the driving instructor then duty bound to order a retest based on the lesson.

" Oddbutdull." no it's 'dull and old'

because I am 53....my reactions haven't slowed at all.

I do worry about my dad driving though. He told me that once or twice he has been driving along , and then literally not known where he was...on a roundabout...

But then he is 83.

How would testing work for people like Matthew McConaughey though, after spending 72 years in space, and came back to earth over 100 years from his birth date ? He drove his spacecraft through a wormhole, landed on a planet composed entirely of water and docked with a fragmenting satellite. Would it be reasonable to ask him to retake his driving test?

I knew it wouldn't be long before people came along and started trotting out tha agiesm line (but interestingly it's ok for them to make sweeping generalisations about younger drivers, they are all either drunk or on drugs apparently.....).

There's nothing agiest about pointing out that our cognitive abilities decrease as we get older. This affects our reaction times. The reason people aren't allowed to drink and drive is because our reaction times are effected.

It's Elendon

And I'm in the same age group as you. Dull.

There's nothing agiest about pointing out that our cognitive abilities decrease as we get older. This affects our reaction times. The reason people aren't allowed to drink and drive is because our reaction times are effected.

You cannot conflate the two though. Some people maintain cognitive ability well into their 80s and 90s - think David Attenborough.

Some people do not lose cognitive ability through drink and drugs compared to those who have lost it.

Elendon...

do you honestly think your reaction times have slowed? I don't think mine have..

Maybe everyone should get re-tested every few years, to avoid claims of agism and racism.

but honestly if I see a car or truck with Polish plates, ahead of me, I will hang back and even change my route. If it is on the motorway I would stick in the slow lane rather than attempt to overtake a Polish plated truck, it is just not worth the risk.

it's not just that their test is a joke, but there is blatant disregard for rules of the road..like having a licence or insurance...

You don’t find many at 60+, high on drugs, joy riding or racing one another in souped up cars.
I am 74 and dh is 82. He has never had an accident in 60 plus years of driving. I have had a minor bump in a car park and a speeding ticket.
Yes there are older people who should give up driving and there are youn people who should never start. Maybe a mandatory retest every five years for everyone...

This was a sad case where a woman was killed and people were seriously injured when an 87 year old man drove through the window of a Costa Coffee that the victims were sitting in
www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-england-37954981

One driver group doesn't have the monopoly on dangerous driving. People with poor health (sorry but the elderly are over represented here), inexperienced or showing off people, speed freaks, unfamiliar with roads such as foreign drivers, tired people , people who use mobile phones at 70mph, drink drivers....

They are all risk factors and there are different measures and campaigns for that reason. I agree with the OP that there should be a fail safe reporting /retesting system for anyone suspected of not being fit. DH is recovering from a sprained ankle and we had several "discussions" as to when he was safe to drive.

OTOH The government also needs to recognise that taking away their transport is a huge thing for some elderly people and with various cuts etc there may not be an alternative such as a bus and that is still less convenient than a car.

I recently moved from London to a seaside town, readjusting to the elderly drivers had been very difficult!

I would say that now I'm more wary of what can possibly happen when driving on the road after decades of driving. I'm happy to overtake on the motorways now, but I was a nervous driver to begin with when I first started driving, especially on motorways.

DullandOld I'm late 40s and my reactions are definitely slower than when I was 18! However, I am wiser and I have 30 years of road knowledge and understanding, so I am a better driver than when I was 18. All human reactions slow down as we get older, whether we like it or not. You don't get many Formula One drivers winning much beyond their mid 30s!

I don't know I didn't pass my test til I was 45 anyway....

I did nearly drive into oncoming traffic on a dual carriageway in the Czech rep last year...
but that is another story...(bloody foreign drivers)

I have to say congratulations on your pass DullAndOld. Well done!

That's less than a decade of driving though.

It's all about experience and confidence. You obviously shouldn't be driving in foreign countries.

I think that courts are too lenient on older drivers. An OAP who kills because they are not physically or mentally able to handle a car is just as guilty as a 17-y-o who kills because they were texting. Both instances are a person who was driving unsafely, both victims are equally dead, but the 17-y-o will almost certainly go to prison, and the OAP almost certainly not.

I think older drivers are a danger but not as big a danger, overall, as speeding younger drivers. On the whole they drive slowly and much less often than other drivers. Hence overall they kill fewer people per driver.

So for that reason you can't ban them all.