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.

thank you, Elendon.
it was fiiiiine.....fine and dandy..I mean I realised my mistake before I did it, not after...

Another thing I’ve often wondered about older driver is do they actually have the modern knowledge of highway codes and the skills needed to pass these days? Or are they still relying on when they passed In their younger days when there wasn’t as much traffic on the road or as rigorous testing as there is now?

Older drivers had to drive vehicles that sounded and handled like a tractor, I remember double declutching and the problems sometimes getting into reverse in an old Morris.

Driving now is a doddle.

Older drivers are a voting demographic - does anyone see an elected government making them submit to retests and taking away their licenses if they fail?

My FIL didn't even need to do a proper driving test as he was in the army and just got it given to him after driving around on the compound! oh I really don't like being a passenger when he drives

But if you started the retests at 55 this wouldn't be a problem Andrewofgg unless you think 55 is in the realm of older drivers.

I have to add regardless of when you passed your test.

Why should I retest at 55 yo when I have never had an accident and started driving at 20yo?

I don't think you can use the safety of your driving at a younger age to show you are safe at an advanced age. Your dh may be safe to drive, or he may not. But that judgement should be based on his current abilities, not those he possessed when he was 35.

My dad was an excellent driver for many, many years. And then he wasn't any more, he was dangerous.

My dear friend was hit by an 86 yr old in a 4x4. The woman thought she was in first but was in reverse. My friend was in a coma for 14 days and lost her leg.

So I have to work until I am 68 yo, which in my case is teaching, but I can’t be trusted to drive myself to work.

The two main causes of death by driving in our area in the UK are very young drivers, driving too fast often at night and much older drivers, not speeding but driving the wrong way, losing vehicle control or involved in crashes when turning etc.
I think young drivers should be limited in when they can drive at first and much older drivers should have better checks on competence. A lack of decent public transport is a major factor in both issues though.

Scabetty Why, have you had your licence taken away?

So I have to work until I am 68 yo, which in my case is teaching, but I can’t be trusted to drive myself to work
Whether you would be trusted to drive yourself to work at 68 would depend on how well you did on the retest. I might set the age for retest higher than 68 though, depending on when the medical profession recommended it. I think Andrew is right that no party will want to risk upsetting older voters though

My father had over 60 years of accident-free driving behind him, but with dementia he was no longer safe behind the wheel. Those who remain physically and mentally healthy and alert into their old age are not the problem, and they are not the ones being discussed here and worried about by their families. It is recognised that for many people, old age is a time of increasing physical and mental frailty which can seriously - even fatally - compromise their ability to drive safely.

The increased risks posed by older drivers is already recognised by the self-reporting system which is introduced at 70 years old. I think that this should be strengthened by some form of mandatory testing.

Retest at 55?!! Bloody hell I'm 55, am I "old" then? I'm a very good driver, always have been. I still work, active etc & that's pretty much the norm for almost everyone I know in my age bracket, unless they're ill.

I'm surprised in this day and age 55 would be deemed old enough to need re-testing

Scabetty why would a retest impact on your employment?

No one is suggesting that 55 is old. It's just a suggestion that at 55 you retest. And then you don't have to for another 15 years.

I agree with you OP. Some older drivers should be off the road

I had a (thankfully minor) incident with an elderly driver recently.

We found ourselves facing each other with nowhere to pass safely on a residential road (due to arsehole school pick-up parking but that's another thread). It was my right of way and me backing up would have been 100m, other driver only needs to back up 10m. She puts her car into reverse and promptly reverses into one of the parked cars. The worst part is she seems completely unaware. Pulls forward, into reverse again and reverses hard into the same car again! By this time I'm half out of the car to help. She shakes her head at me. And promptly does the same thing for a third time. The parked car now looks like it's been in a serious accident, both doors caved in. I start walking towards the lady, she suddenly decides to try another tactic and mounts the pavement and drives round me (at school home time, outside a school!!) and drives off. I was literally stood there open mouthed. I managed to get her reg and put a note on the bashed car's windscreen to say I had witnessed their car being rammed three times. The woman was crying when she rang me. The older lady had literally no idea that she's hit another car, hard, three times, and was angry with me for being in her way! Thank goodness it was only a car she hit!

Sorry, that was long

YANBU.
My Dad is 74 and a danger on the roads. I refuse to get in the car with him as twice he has driven the wrong way up a one way street. He is completely mentally and physically fit but his reactions times are slower and he seems to lack awareness at times, hence the one way incidents. He will not give up driving as he doesn't feel there is an issue.
Compulsory retesting would probably have forced him off the road for everyone else's safety.

Frasier, I am summarising the situation. I can work to 68 yo but some people on here think that is very old and don’t want me driving. In fact I should retest at 55 yo, with no reason other than my age

My dad is only coming up to 62, and showing no sign of poor reactions. We had this chat though, and talked about how driverless cars may well remove this problem in the future.

In ten years, they might be good and prevalent enough that my dad could switch to one. In another thirty, when I'm getting to the same age, the technology could be so prevalent that I might not be driving a regular car then anyway.

(as an entire fantasy, the option of uber-style ownerless cars that you subscribe to as a service to summon at wish is an exciting one - two seater buggy to nip to the shops in the rain, van for removals - ahh, the possibilities are endless)

Rather than a 'driving retest', could all older drivers be required to submit a 'fitness to drive' form signed by their GP and optician? These could be a routine procedure every 5 years, as part of a general 'health check' but also certain diagnoses - dementia, macular degeneration, stroke - would generate an automatic 'unfitness to drive' notice that went straight to the DVLA? It just needs the healthcare and licensing authorities to be better connected.

I'm not sure the ability to work and the ability to drive well / safely are necessarily linked Scabetty.

I think it's dangerous to equate "not caused a fatality" with "safe driver".

If a driver frequently drives dangerously slowly for years, drifts across lanes, hits parked cars, and has near-misses with pedestrians in carparks and yet - due to other people leaping out of the way, having to swerve to avoid or break suddenly, and not knowing who to report when returning to a damaged car - they are not reported and recorded in traffic accident statistics, does that make them a safe driver? If the person who swerves to avoid hitting them is a 17yr old who, while avoiding that crash, hits a pedestrian, that person will then be charged while the original bad driver disappears into the distance oblivious - the official statistics would say "young person causes accident" but is that a true reflection?

For every accident where a driver with dangerously poor sight or agility hits and kills a person, they probably had tens if not hundreds of previous times where an accident was only avoided due to other drivers and pedestrians having to take quick emergency evasive action.