Elderly drivers should be tested

[HeidiHoNeighbour]

91 year old killed a 3 year old in Edinburgh.
She’s been arrested.

Where I live (NW London) lots of elderly drivers are scarier than the teens racing.

A woman was killed in Sainsbury’s car park near me and the 80ish year old was upset he’d be late!

I think everyone should be retested every ten years.

@DuesToTheDirt

People in their 60s are not ‘elderly’ and many of them need to drive TO WORK!

Fine, they may not be elderly, but I couldn't care less about any body's need to drive to work, to the shops, or anywhere else. That doesn't trump other people's safety. They can get buses, or taxis, or failing that move house to somewhere more accessible.

Spectacular point missing there.

It's just ludicrous to say that because young drivers account fir more accidents we should just let older drivers drive til they die. It's like saying oh HPV only leads to a few cases of cervical cancer, and it's not the most common killer cancer, so let's not vaccinate 🙄. There are steps taken to mitigate the risk of younger drivers. There aren't for older ones.

A family member gave up their license because they felt their reaction times had slowed, they had to move as their house required a car. Giving up their license was also the reason they were on a zebra crossing when an elderly driver plowed into them, and led to their death a few days later. The driver and their family were shunned by the community- they all knew they shouldn't have been driving but they didn't do anything about it.

Put your big pants on and take away keys. And fuck off with the freedom argument- plenty of people old a young don't drive, my family member should have had the freedom to live a long happy retirement with their family.

A bus pass ain't no use if there's no buses.

Well it is tough luck then isn't it. Assuming testing was brought in, someone would only lose their license if they were deemed unsafe to be driving, they would then have to deal with it.

Fine, they may not be elderly, but I couldn't care less about any body's need to drive to work, to the shops, or anywhere else. That doesn't trump other people's safety.

I'm afraid the nations response to Covid has proved you wrong. Peoples safety is subordinate to the requirement that they work. (some of us knew that anyway).

Some people here really are taking this personally. 🙄

Just because you throw out that many accidents and dangerous driving occurs with under 25s doesn't excuse elderly folk who SHOULD NOT be driving. Talk about chips on shoulders. No one's denying the accident rate of young drivers like some of you seem to like to do with elderly.

Lack of freedom? Ageism? Please. 🙄 Elderly folk can only deteriorate, that's a fact. They most certainly should be retested and deemed medically fit, doesn't matter about statistics of younger people. It happens in older ones as well.

We had to do this with my father, early onset dementia. We took his keys and reported. Thankfully they took his license because he didn't believe how much of a danger he actually was and thought it was his right to still drive because "All these young speedsters roaming about are far worse than me." Some of you seem to have similar attitudes. 🤦🏼‍♀️

I think all drivers should be retested (written and driven) every five years. Road rules change and all users should be current with the rules.

Everyone should be retested periodically. The huge opposition to this makes me think most people know they would fail the retests, which is even more reason to have them.

The bus services should also be improved. You don't need to be all "but there aren't enough busses" and sit back with your arms folded.

MyPersona

Nannewnannew

What is all this ‘breaking’ that people are doing while driving? 😕

I know, it really makes you value those people’s opinions doesn’t it!

How much of an arse do you have to be to make this sort of comment? Do you really think opinions as to road safety and driving are only valid if you know it's spelled "braking"? What relevance has spelling got to this topic? None whatsoever.

@unmarkedbythat

Everyone should be retested periodically. The huge opposition to this makes me think most people know they would fail the retests, which is even more reason to have them.

In all honesty most people who passed their test more than about five years ago would fail if they took it again today. It’s not just older people.

@unmarkedbythat
Oh God, I typed break instead of brake on my phone while
I was distracted and busy - I’m so sorry! Bloody hell. I must be far too thick to comment on anything, eh?

@k1233

I think all drivers should be retested (written and driven) every five years. Road rules change and all users should be current with the rules.

The SAC emphasised always having a physical copy of the current Highway Code. And reading it.

How about this for a proposal ? Police stop a speeding car. Driver has to state the speed limit on that stretch of road at the roadside. Get it wrong, and it's a retest for you me old china.

The instructors on the course were emphatic that there's never an excuse for not knowing the speed limit expect when there is a fault with the road (which would be a valid reason for a mistake).

My mum is 65, and while her driving still seems fine, I have made it clear to her (many times), that I WILL tell her as soon as I don't think she's safe any more. And WILL dob her in if she doesn't listen.

As I see it, there is a key difference between the dangerous driving of older and younger drivers.

Young drivers who drive dangerously usually are making a conscious choice to do so - youthful bravado, showing off, etc. They can drive safely if they chose to do so.

Older drivers who drive dangerously are not not making a conscious choice. They are incapable of driving safely as they are increasingly frail and less physically and mentally able. That’s not ageism - it’s a reality of life. Some people remain fit and alert till the end of life, but many don’t.

Those who are no longer capable of driving safely should not be driving at all.

the bus services should also be improved. You don't need to be all "but there aren't enough busses" and sit back with your arms folded

But surely not everyone in these places with no buses (curious as to where, even if the service is limited I've never been anywhere there have been none- happy to be corrected but interested) drives anyway, what do they do? Surely people have been happy enough that those that cannot afford a car can't broaden their job search radius, or benefit from being able to travel to the supermarkets for a cheaper weekly shop- why are the elderly more important? They are equally so, but if it's an issue why aren't you already campaigning?

@unmarkedbythat

MyPersona

Nannewnannew

What is all this ‘breaking’ that people are doing while driving? 😕

I know, it really makes you value those people’s opinions doesn’t it!

How much of an arse do you have to be to make this sort of comment? Do you really think opinions as to road safety and driving are only valid if you know it's spelled "braking"? What relevance has spelling got to this topic? None whatsoever.

My comment was meant to be light hearted, no need to be offensive!

I remember watching in horror every time my elderly neighbour had to be helped to his car by his daughter and wife.

He was the only driver in the family and SO infirm I couldn’t believe he was still driving.

This is thread is about an elderly person killing a child.Not boyracers.

Why is that not important?.His his life invalid because he wasn't killed by a boy racer.

Elderly drivers are just as much as a nuisance as drivers who drink drive,speed or don't follow any of the rules of the road.

It's not ageist to point out the obvious.Your reactions slow down as you age.Thats just a fact of life.

I can't believe some of you think people in their 60s are old and shouldn't be driving!

I agree that from 80ish you need to keep an eye on elderly friends and relatives and potentially a little earlier if they have some sort of medical condition.

The instructors on the course were emphatic that there's never an excuse for not knowing the speed limit

I disagree, sometimes it's not clear at all, and also limits are changed and signs deliberately not changed in the hope of catching people (it happened near me and after a bit of a local outcry they put signs up saying the limit had changed).

The evidence really doesn’t support older drivers being more dangerous. From the BBC website:

But how dangerous are older drivers?

The Department for Transport (DfT) says there is no evidence older drivers are more likely to cause an accident, and it has no plans to restrict licensing or mandate extra training on the basis of age.

There were 10,974 accidents involving drivers over the age of 70 in 2011, says the DfT. That compares with 11,946 accidents involving 17-to-19-year-old drivers and 24,007 accidents involving 20-to-24-year-old drivers. Its statistics do not account for who caused the accident.

Figures also show that 46 drivers aged 16 to 19 died in an accident, while 173 drivers aged between 20 and 29 involved in an accident died. That compared with 59 deaths in drivers aged between 70 and 79 involved in an accident, and 52 over the age of 80.

The young-versus-old driver data is used by a number of road safety charities to argue elderly drivers don't pose the greatest danger behind the wheel.

"There's a stat that young drivers under the age of 24 have twice as many crashes as you'd expect, given the numbers on the road, and older drivers have half as many as you'd expect, given the number on the road," says Neil Greig, director of policy and research at the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM).

Research by the RAC Foundation suggests drivers aged 75 and over make up 6% of all licence holders but account for just 4.3% of all deaths and serious injuries. By contrast, drivers aged 16-20 make up just 2.5% of all drivers but 13% of those killed and seriously injured.

I don't think there should be regular practical tests, but everyone should have to go to a refresher course every 5 years or so to learn about changes to the Highway Code.

I agree with the pp who said younger people drive badly because they choose to, but older people drive badly because they can't drive better.

I also wonder at times whether there should be more guidance about medication. Some medications say they will affect your driving etc. But many don't. However we know that eg dosages etc don't take into account the differences between men and women and maybe some medication has more of an effect than you realise. Older people are more likely to be on medication and unless someone tells them they appear to be driving erratically they may not realise that it is having that effect.

@Freddiefox

Yanbu, Young drivers get a lot of bad press. They now have certain conditions and limits on the first year of driving. Elderly people who are not fit to drive really shouldn’t be on the road. We should all have to re take out tests regularly but particularly older people.

Do they? I passed this year and have no restrictions? I think this might be true in Ireland?

I agree elderly should have to retake their tests. Roads will have changed, elderly people will probably go out a lot less in their car too so may not be use to all the roads like when they were younger. Their eye sight at 70+ surely can’t be as good as when they were 25? And the main thing is their reaction to things on the road. A young person will have a quicker reaction on the roads. At 91 do you really need to run a car and drive anyway.

Sorry, I see you said young drivers. I’m a NEW driver, or particularly young these days at 38! I hadn’t heard of any restrictions on young drivers though.