To think that maybe elderly drivers need to re take their driving test?

[lonelyonee]

Title is to grab attention although not far off my point. (Long post sorry!).
My AIBU is AIBU to think that if you are driving on the roads which are mostly 30 mph that you should be indeed doing or at the very least near to the speed limit?
I'm sure it is still classed as a minor on your driving test if you are going too slow in a particular speed zone right?

Driving on my way home just, I was stuck behind a car who was being driven by an elderly male. That's fine if he can drive safely (I've seen 100 year old drivers & am aware some are fantastic!). My issue is he was driving EXTREMELY slow, sporadically 25mph then slowing down to around 10mph at points where there was no need to slow down or go that slow. So as this is happening I'm obviously having to slow right down almost to a stop with tonnes of traffic behind me. That's fine, annoying but it's not forever as long as the person behind me is paying attention.
What really made me angry (and made me alert them to being dangerous with my horn) was that he sped up quite a lot on the approach and to go around a very small roundabout with very high visibility to then whack his breaks on as soon as he got around it (not indicating to turn into anywhere or pull over). Obviously I then had to also do the same, and so did the cars behind me.
Now I'm not being funny but it's very dangerous for me to be doing stops like that as I am currently pregnant and it worries me driving with the seatbelt being across my bump area (I do tuck it as far down as possible but it's still a worry for me).
I was not going excessively fast, in fact I was going fairly slow as I was now used to him also going very slowly & was taken aback when he sped up.
The response I had from him and what I presume was his wife was her waving her hand at me as though I was in the wrong.
I have a feeling he was purposely brake checking me here.

Now being pregnant and hormonal I'm aware I may be being unreasonable (hence this post) but to just pop the icing on the cake they had to little stickers in their back window. One read: "I hope your insurance is as good as your brakes" and the other something regarding tailgating.
Makes me wonder if he is a serial slow driver and often gets people alerting him to his dangerous driving? Or they do this for fun in rush hour traffic?

Final question off the back of this to stimulate debate, should pensioners have to re take their test when they reach a certain age? After experiencing this I believe they do indeed.
Thanks for reading. I look forward to your responses/thoughts etc...

Cars do not have right of way when turning onto a road, crossing pedestrians do. Just an FYI for anyone who needs to revisit the highway code

This is one of my biggest bugbears. I would support compulsory refresher training every 5 years or so, with things like this emphasised.

Just wondering- with the prevalence of dashcam footage, would a "dob a driver" scheme work? If you email footage of dangerous arsehole driving to the police , where no actual accident has occurred, what happens to it? Could an email address be set up to process large numbers of videos using automated numberplate recognition, then if the same reg number crops up in several different videos a real person could review the videos and trigger a driving test recall on any named drivers of that vehicle?

reckless drivers are a different problem to people who completely lack awareness, physical strength, sight(!) and reflexes. people who don't feel they are safe and control unless they are doing 15 mph should not be driving! train them, ban them, whatever.. we just shouldn't leave driver safety up to the gods from the point you pass your test at 18 til you are dead and assume you have the same abilities.

@powershowerforanhour you would have to be careful with the GDPR I think. Plus, I am not sure what the legality is of keeping data on people who haven't committed any crimes.

I suspect there is someone with a legal background who would know more

It potentially discriminates against people in rural communities if someone who would otherwise be prevented from driving when rendered incapable is allowed to continue, because of where they live. Rurally residing drivers are obviously disproportionately likely to be driving in rural areas compared to the general population. It's not very fair for them to be disproportionately likely to be faced with someone who can't drive safely either!

Driving at 25 in a 30 zone is perfectly okay in my view. If it is raining or busy or I am coming up towards the 20 mph limit on my way to the shops I will often go at 25. The people at 30 or even worse over the limit are the ones at fault.

Power, that "dob a driver plan" could breach data protection laws and may only show one side of things so could misrepresent a situation.

Many people of all ages need to retake their tests.

I don't think plucking a particular age is helpful and it's ageist.

Good points about data protection Cracker and Xenia.

Mind you how does data protection work with all the "look at this dickhead" footage on fly on the wall police programmes. All the numberplates are pixellated for public viewing but presumably the unaltered footage gets stored somewhere.

@JacobReesClunge couldn’t agree more

People who live in really rural areas are accustomed to and prepared for eccentric driving. The way people drive differs from one part of the country to another. After spending weekdays working in Surrey and Berkshire where people drive like they’ve got ten minutes left to live, it was always a huge relief to get back my rural corner of England where you’re more likely to get stuck behind a tractor.

Refresher courses should be compulsory every 5-10 years, but not retests.

There should be mandatory retesting of everyone regardless of age every 5 years, which should include theory and eye testing. Dangerous drivers are from all age groups and sexes.
How exactly would this huge undertaking stop shit driving?

@Hingeandbracket they do know what they are they just don't care I think!

Alsohuman
Except in tourist season, in which case beware of the people who haven't a clue how to navigate rural roads so think that a slight curve warrants mass slowing, generally roads should be driven 10mph less than reasonable... Until the only safe overtaking place that's straight, in which case hit the accelerator and make it impossible for anyone to get past.

Tractors never bothered me, neither did busses, but car drivers in tourist season irrationally irritated me.

I too live in a touristy area with narrow lanes and don't think anyone should be allowed to drive round here unless they have taken a test proving they know how to hedge their car and reverse round narrow bendy lanes to the nearest passing place.

(Obviously I don't really think people should have to take a test, but they could certainly do with knowing how to do the above. Summers can be very difficult!)

Wtf has independence got to do with whether an incapable driver should be allowed to continue? Would anyone apply the same logic to any other age group?

Eg the low income worker that can't work without a car. Tyres and brakes aren't roadworthy but they're safe with extra stopping distance. Why is that different to someone with slow responses due to age?

The person with a health condition that leaves them unsafe to drive, do they get a free pass to crack on just like those unsafe due to age?

My dc could drive after a fashion on private land by 12, anyone ok with them driving round roads because we have shit public transport and y'know independence.

Yy re slow moving tourists. We need the opposite of speed cameras, where anyone that fails to make progress is banned.

Perhaps the answer for elderly drivers is a mandatory black box that also records overly slow and cautious driving, lane drifting, unnecessary braking etc. And how many attempts to get a usually tiny car into a parking space.

Plus immediately suspend all grandfather rights for everyone. A shit driver in a a small car is one thing, Fred and Barbara towing their caravan, often in a car that isn't suitable is a whole new hell.