Duke of Edinburgh’s Road Accident

[SirGawain]

AIBU to ask why on earth is the Duke of Edinburgh driving at the age of 97.

I can’t understand how he’s walked away Uninjured! I had a similar accident that turned a car in September and I am still in pain and I’m 60 years younger then him. He’s been very lucky.

Did he start driving before the test was introduced?

Many very elderly people will have started driving and obtained their licences before it was a requirement to take a test. It's quite likely that the Duke has never taken a test and mostly drives on private roads.
For sure, his reactions will be slower than a lot of people simply because he's very very old. It's not ageist to say that. It's a fact.

There's a woman in my town who drives a RR and who appears to be extremely old. She may not be of course, but from her appearance I would say she is in her late 80s. She's tiny and stooped and it's quite startling to see her clamber into her massive car in M&S car park I can tell you.

myknickersknackersknockers

Maybe he is a little injured.

Perhaps he preferred to be seen back at the Palace by his private doctor.

I am sure he has his own reasons.....

Have you seen the pictures? It's not minor. Lucky to escape with minor injuries

I wonder how fast the other car was going to have turned over a Range Rover.

*He was in collision with another member of the public, we've been told how he is but no one has mentioned the other party.

Very poor behaviour.*

Ever since the news was broken the reporters have said that the other people are also okay.

I am sorry but he should have taken the responsibility himself to stop driving. He has been a bloody entitled selfish fool.

I say that as someone whose mother still drives at 82, she is safe and sensible if a “Sunday driver” but she only drives to our local town and back which is all 20-30 mph so ok to go slow and steady.

DF handed his keys back when he got to 82, which coincided with his dementia diagnosis.

Let’s face it Philip has always done and said whatever he wants. He is a baffoon.

Not an ageist issue I don’t think. More an entitlement issue.

I've just seen the "Duke of Hazard" on Twitter.

Not a laughing matter but he deserves that.

I agree with the PP about him having reasons to seek medical advice away from the public eye.

At 97 he would have taken the test.

You have a duty to inform DVLC if you have any medical conditions that make driving dangerous- as does your GP on your behalf.

That includes recent strokes, fits, brain tumours, dementia, eyesight etc.

He is a baffoon

I think you mean buffoon.

I say that as someone whose mother still drives at 82, she is safe and sensible if a “Sunday driver” but she only drives to our local town and back which is all 20-30 mph so ok to go slow and steady.

That's as maybe. But are her reactions good enough? Even if she's doing 20-30, it doesn't allow for other idiots on the road.

Even if he was at fault, I do hope the shock doesn't do for him as can happen at his age.

The test was introduced in 1934.*so yes he'd have been in the first few years of taking a test.

I live very close. Where the crash happened is where you cross a main road from sandringham into the local village where the other royal house is. He stays there regularly. I often think he is far too old to be driving, and perhaps as it's a short journey that's why he does it - but that is not a nice road and there are plenty of accidents down there.

@MakeItAmazing no they didn't, I listened to the radio on the way home. Accident mentioned three times and categorically the other party was not mentioned. In addition the BBC awry on my phone didn't mention the other party either.

I've stayed at Sandringham (at the campsite!) and that road he turned into is incredibly fast and busy. You need speedy reactions to get out onto it at junctions, especially the one the accident took place at.
I'm not sure at 97 anyone has the reactions needed for driving on busy roads.

*BBC alert

Mmm I have no clue who was at fault in this case but I will say that he gave me a lift a couple of years ago (really not the circles I move in normally - we were just fence judging together ) and at that point his driving was far better than mine and his eyesight and reaction times were also much quicker.

It was a fast road he pulled out onto, it’s dead straight and people tend to do 60 on it. More than likely he just didn’t see them or his reaction time was off. The country really does need to have a conversation about very, very elderly drivers now we have so many of them and more coming.

Imagine being the other people!
How is that insurance claim going to look!

He's in an unusual position. Most 97-year-olds don't drive. In fact there aren't really many 97-year-olds about compared to the rest of us. If any of us come to grief at the wheels of another driver, odds are that they will be much younger than Prince Philip.

His family should have stopped him but it's very difficult for ordinary people to do that. However, I guess the Duke of Edinburgh probably travels with a police close protection officer at least sometimes and they have a duty of care not only to their Principal but to the rest of the poor sods on the roads around Sandringham to call it in. But that's difficult too, isn't it?

Presumably the silly old sod will not be driving on public roads from now on. Luckily he didn't kill anyone but The Sun and the Daily Mail will be leading the hunt for the people he hit tonight and why not?

I know someone who is 84 and really shouldn't be driving. Had no MOT or tax for ages either so I'm presuming wasn't insured at that point

The press did not mention the other people for a while because the palace issued a statement about PP and there was a delay before Norfolk Police gave them a statement on the other people involved. Journalists are not psychic.

Agree with Raspberry10. Too many innocent people lose their lives due to people who no should no longer be driving due to their age. Eg there are numerous examples of older people driving wrong way down motorways. Of course there are loads of people of all ages who should not be driving as well, but at least the old people killing other drivers could be restricted more effectively.

Charlie97 - I was going by the tv news which was the first time I heard about it. It could also be that the other people didn't want any details released.