All drivers should have eye sight tests to retain their licence

[LoisPrice]

and they should be every 5 years reducing to yearly when over 70 years old https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-66053510

Yes they do don't they

I think there should be a mandatory retest of driving abilities at a certain age. I realise this isn’t a well thought out plan and possibly infeasible but still. I don’t mean do you pass the wheel through your hands and all that stuff, just general awareness, safety etc.
My dad shouldn’t be driving IMO (yes, I’ve raised it, no, it did not go well 😂)

@brunettemic did you report your Dad to DVLA as unfit to drive?

I think it's a no brainer that there should be mandatory eye tests and / or requirement to resit the driving test at certain intervals

I've never understood why we don't

Well the thousands of extra driving examiners and test centres we'd need is just one reason, then there's all the admin and the enforcement - there are many thousands of people driving without licences already.

So it's actually a bit more than a "no-brainer" once you give it a few moments thought.

They didn’t agree back in 1935 otherwise they’d not have introduces test

@Fightyouforthatpie it couldn't be introduced overnight, but a basic eye test (like when I passed my test) would be cheap and easy to administer, with borderline cases referred to an optician

Not the same thing at all - how many cars were on the road then?
You aren't even comparing like for like.
As a previous poster observed -

I see this at work all the time. People so attached to the back of a fag packet ‘obvious’ solution they’ve come up with, and unwilling to actually think about what the problem really is and how it would be best to solve it.

The citizen card can be used for this.

And how about the follow up? If significant numbers fail (which would be the only justification for doing it) or just don't take the test, what are your plans for dealing with them?

I think perhaps it is not just eyesight, but hazard perception, general awareness of what's around them and confidence as well.

There seems to be a lot more quite "doddery" older drivers on the road this summer, and I do wonder if some people stopped driving for the best part of two years during covid and have slightly lost their ability to drive properly.

I agree with the PP saying that there should be routine re-testing of drivers once they have had their license for a given period or reach a specific age.

If people knew they had to give up driving at some point they might plan ahead a bit better with downsizing and moving nearer to the services they need. I'm speaking from experience with elderly relatives who suddenly had to stop driving (usually after minor accidents where they then finally realised they shouldn't be on the road) - and then found themselves quite isolated in terms of where they lived.

It would be a culture change to bring such a thing in, but once people got used to the idea they might plan their lives a bit better. Maybe I'm being optimistic there of course!

I agree with the PP saying that there should be routine re-testing of drivers once they have had their license for a given period or reach a specific age.

That's all very well but it depends on what they are testing for. Eyesight and reactions is fine, but if they are going to start looking at feeding the steering wheel through your hands, reversing around a corner etc (hopefully they don't still waste time on that) then it's a waste of time.

No insurmountable obstacles. Fees could reflect the full economic cost of offering tests.

Of course it was the same, it’s proportional and the 1930s weren’t economically different from now