To report elderly neighbour's driving to DVLA

[ffscovid]

My neighbour is in his mid-80s, is a bachelor living alone and is physically very fit and fiercely independent. He goes out for all daylight hours most days for long walks in the countryside / at the coast / volunteers as a conversation worker and so on. He's marvellous for his age!
Over the last couple of years though, I've noticed his driving ability has deteriorated quite a lot. Rarely a week goes by without a new scrape or dent appearing on his car and he appears to struggle to pull off (we're on a hill and there's an awful lot of revving and smoke before the car starts to move). I met him in a lane today and he was bouncing from one hedge to another trying to reverse a short distance to the passing place - it was a straight line of about 10m max.
Because of our rural location, his car is literally his lifeline. His entire days involve him having to drive to wherever he's walking / volunteering and there's no public transport options. He drives to the supermarket to do his weekly shop etc. too.
But.. I am genuinely concerned that he's no longer fit to drive. We don't have a close friendship (just polite 'hellos' in the street) so I don't feel I could talk to him about this.
WIBU to report him to DVLA (anonymously). Am I right in thinking they'd assess him and it wouldn't necessarily mean he'd lose his license? Or should I mind my own business and hope he doesn't kill anyone.

@ffscovid

You must report him.
We effected had to do that for our father.

It's scary - and with an ever aging population of drivers something needs to change.
My DF started having fainting episodes with bouts of nausea. His GP gave him anti sickness tablets to take when it happened. One morning he dropped dead suddenly of a heart attack - I'm pretty sure the other episodes were warning signs. I thank God that he wasn't driving when that happened - he was 86 and renewed his licence every 3 years without a proper medical/test.

One of my neighbours is at the revving stage every time she manoeuvres off the drive - she's mid 80's. I'm tempted to move off the sofa when she goes out as I half expect one day she will come through my living room wall. Her son lives with her so he knows what her driving is like.

Another prominent figure in the village (in his 80's) also drives and the white lines on the road don't seem to be a guide. How he hasn't had an accident yet is beyond me. His DCs live locally and I'm really surprised they've not taken his keys. They are both retired so could help him out with transport.

My DM gave up driving 3 years ago. She was early nineties but up to that point she really didn't drive that much. When mentioned to certain people they were very relieved as they had watched her drive past and were waiting on her hitting another car. I'm glad she decided as I wasn't looking forward to persuading her to give up. It is a loss of independence but as I no longer work I had been already driving her for shopping and appointments. She lives 10 mins from a large shop and is able to walk over for shopping top ups. She is near quite a few amenities which is a blessing for her and me

You can't.

I was told by the police to report someone in a similar situation. I had the driver's name, licence plate and address but without her driving licence number apparently it's impossible to report to DVLA

I had this with my narcissistic mother who eventually agreed but then insisted that someone would have to take her whenever she went out.

'they' will do something if reported to police. Our force would speak to him about concerns in his manner/ability to drive safely and suggest he surrender licence, reporting this to DVLA. Should he not and concerns continue, they could seize/revoke the licence

Realise though not all forces do this

contact.dvla.gov.uk/driver/capture_transaction_type?transaction_type_id=drivers_medical

3rd button down

I reported FIL, certainly didn't have his driving licence number, it wasn't a problem at all. He was tested and failed. He was furious but the world is a much safer place without him behind the wheel. He doesn't know it was me.

By the way, I have given my children permission to tell me when I should stop driving.

Please report. My grandad was knocked down by a driver who should have had his license took off him. It was said to have contributed to his death 2 years alter.

I was fortunate with my Dad that he was involved in a minor accident in a car park and the other person reported him to the Police. Dad was very angry and blamed the other driver entirely but the Police were quite forceful with him and advised him to stop driving. Thankfully it did the trick.

Turns out that Dad had cataracts, and needed treatment.

Yes please do something, if you're really worried. Better to try and fail than not to do anything.

I have to say, he sounds like he has quite a lot of people in his life who could also do something. Hard that it's ending up with you who barely knows him.

You need to report it.

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.thesun.co.uk/news/11994663/woman-child-hospital-car-pavement-edinburgh/amp/

^ this particular incident has stuck in my mind as my son was 3 at the time and you always think they're safe holding your hand on the pavement. The poor mother

Of course you need to report him, for his and everybody else's safety. Seen too many people of that age and older driving who really should not be. Knew someone who sounded just the way you are describing.

If they sell the car, give up the tax and insurance they can use the money to get taxis to where they want to go. In the wrong hands a car is a lethal weapon. If we saw a young person driving that erratically we'd not hesitate to call the police!

Yes, I think you should report him. I have a lot of sympathy for elderly drivers in rural areas - cars are their lifeline for accessing social events and getting to shops, doctors, etc. I live near a village with the highest average age in the country and often see very elderly drivers driving erratically (usually extremely slowly, it must be said) BUT their needs don't trump the rights of the rest of us to walk the pavements safely and to be safe when driving on the roads from dangerous drivers.

I'm not looking forward to having this conversation with my dad when he gets a bit older, as my mum won't want to do it. But both of them had to persuade their own parents to stop driving once they started to lose capability - so it's my responsibility to do the same with my dad. A few miles away a little baby died when an elderly female driver hit him - the boy's mother nearly died too.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-56154916 .

I wouldn't hesitate to report him.

When my daughter was 5, she and her friend were spending the summer talking about starting school and were really excited at the prospect.

One day her friend, a sweet, lovely little boy, was sitting on the grass in a park having ice-cream with his mum, when an elderly woman who hadn't seen the no cars signs, drove across the grass and ran him over, killing him instantly.

Even her family had admitted they'd tried to stop her from driving due to her becoming dangerous behind the wheel..

He would've been 28 now if someone had taken her keys away from her instead of dithering or worrying about hurting her feelings.

Sorry to be such a downer, but I often think of that little boy and what he'd be doing now.

Is DVLA functioning now? They were on strike and had a big back log.

Omg that's just tragic. My own dm is almost 80 and shouldn't be driving.....these comments have spurred me on to take action

I took the keys off exh's grandad after I saw him hit several objects driving into his own drive. Thankfully he didn't put up much resistance and he accepted it better from me than his direct family (they all think I know about these things for some reason )

Yep report him OP, he could kill someone.

There should be a certain age where you have to sit with an instructor to make sure they think you’re road worthy.

You can report him anonymously but I warn you it will take months and months before they do anything. There's a huge backlog at the moment.

I think you should report him. It’s kinder than letting him kill himself / someone else. It also avoids some potentially very nasty family politics. I was one of a group of people who launched an ‘intervention’ to take the keys away from a couple who for 6 or more reasons should not have been going anywhere near the wheel of a car. Most of the group were close relatives of the couple; I was just a (close) family friend. It caused such an awful row that one of the drivers was about to go to his grave hating his own children, so I took the bullet and said it had all been my nefarious idea. He went to his grave hating me but managed to patch things up with his kids, a bit. The whole thing was deeply unpleasant and while I don’t for a second regret putting a stop to their EXTREMELY dangerous behaviour, I wish a 3rd party could have dealt with it instead of us having to ‘betray’ them .

I think you should report him but also I think they'll do nothing.