To think that too many people are in denial that they should not drive?

[Onomatofear]

I hear about countless examples of elderly people or people with health problems getting behind the wheel of a car when they shouldn't be. Why do they do it?

I remember my dh's granddad doing it. Now it's my dad. He's 78 and can barely walk without falling over and he refuses to accept that he shouldn't be on the road. About 6 months ago, he accidentally drove over a pedestrian island thinking it was an actual road. I pointed out to my mum that him being old wouldn't count as a defence. She still gets in the car with him(!)

And before you say why don't I report him, it's easy to say but I've reported someone before for the same sort of thing and he figured out it was me and went mad at me. It's even more difficult to report your own parent.

There are far too many people driving whose GPs know they shouldn't be. Or their Optician. I think people in these roles should have the power to tell the DVLA about epileptics having day fits or those who can't really see properly to drive. I have a three year rolling licence due to Diabetes and my GP has to report whether I'm safe to drive. But these don't seem to be actioned properly for anyone - especially the elderly.

I watched a lady pensioner barely able to use her walking frame, not even able to straighten up her body, get in a car and drive off. Yikes! I don't know her. Was in our car in a public car park but it just didn't seem safe that she'd be out on the road seriously.

Nothing will guarantee that you don't get dementia, but there are various things that reduce the risk, exercise being one of the most important, but another is lack of social engagement, and is the mechanism by which deafness is associated with dementia.

And the 17 and 18 year olds should be more strictly supervised as so many fatalities are in this age group

We have a friend we don't see very often with a medical condition causing cognitive problems. I hear from a mutual friend that he is very concerned that this chap is still driving as he struggles with even simple things sometimes, and forgets where the controls are in his car. I contacted DVLA but they didn't want to know and suggested that I have a word with him and suggest that perhaps he shouldn't drive. As if!!

Re-test every 5 years to about 70 then every year.

I know of a young man,18, the day he past his driving test he was turning right but didn’t see a motor cyclist. He knocked the the cyclist off his bike. Police arrived and was told, you must not let this put you off driving. If it had been an older person they would have been told they were too old to drive. Insurance companies know who cause the most serious accidents and price accordingly. That’s why younger inexperienced drivers pay more.

If the stats were recorded per mile I think old people would come pretty close or beyond young drivers causing the most crashes.

Old people pootle around towns and don't do the distance younger drivers do. So the stats reflect this.

Young drivers have better cognitive behaviours and reaction times.

The policy and processes for driving over 70 years of age in the uk are too lax. Ie in Cyprus,at 70 you cannot self declare yourself fit to drive, you HAVE to visit dr who decides whether or not you are fit to drive for next 3 years. If ant dr in Cyprus suspects you are unfit to drive at any time the government offices are contacted and they suspend your license immediately. A friend was declared unfit to drive and 30 mins later received a message to say license suspended !

So you won't report them just because you're scared of losing your inheritance?? I see selfishness runs in the family then🙄

One benefit of the covid lock down was my FIL shielding and not driving. He never went back to it.

I witnessed an elderly man reverse into an MRI trailer in a hospital car park. Claimed his foot slipped but he kept his foot on the pedal after he hit. At least tens of thousands of damage but better than killing a person.

Do they not have taxis where you live?

I mentioned this on the other thread, but people need to exercise common sense when it comes to retirement locations and aging-in-place.

Growing old in a rural area or the outskirts of town is OK if you have a good support network (I'm thinking about farming families etc) who will be able to give you lifts and help you with shopping and appointments.

If you don't have these things, you need to retire somewhere with trams, buses, subway or similar things.

Councils are literally going bankrupt right now - they are not going to be able to bus people all over the place to every village and semi-rural location on the outskirts of cities. There is no real way of making public transport fiscally viable when distances are large and populations are very low-density.

My own DF gave up driving when he turned 70. He was fully mentally competent, but he was a Type 2 diabetic and he knew he was getting older and his eyesight was not what it used to be, so he made the responsible and selfless decision to stop driving. He also thought that it was terribly selfish how more people his age just couldn't bring themselves to do the same.

I had this with my dad. Got to the point I took his car and parked it on my drive, told him it was in the garage for a service, weeks passed with him asking for it and me telling him they were waiting on a part! He eventually stopped asking . Desperate times call for desperate measures ! He had a form of dementia and needed taking off the road for the safety of everybody

The comment was made that older people get free bus services and should use them, although honestly the taxis are pretty shite too because of all the school run business they do. Yes when I can no longer drive I will have to move.

Also, a big, big difference, younger drivers will get better, older drivers, experiencing decline, will get worse. My 89 year old MIL hit her fence post recently. She has been driving for 50 years, she should NEVER have an accident like this and has always been able to reverse perfectly. It's worrying. Had one of my very new and learner driver teens done it, it would be a learning opportunity and something they had to improve and make sure it never happens again.

I do indeed. Teens who've got their licence the day before filling their cars with other teens and taking off on any road in any condition, multiple distractions, zero experience. People who've had a few too many a few hours earlier but think a McDonald's breakfast will soak it up. People up all night with their child who can hardly keep their eyes open but do the school run. People just off night flights who can't stay awake but didn't want to pay for a taxi. People who insist on huge cars they can't park. People who lack the self control and anger management not to become enraged at other drivers and in their fury lack concentration. People who are simply bad at it because they lack the aptitude, patience and focus to do something so potentially dangerous. Loads of people. Not sure why you're singling out older ones.

Think you might just have to tell him you're going to override the DVLA and report him to the police for dangerous driving unless he rescinds his licence. Sounds harsh but sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.

My dad refused to give up driving, backed up by my mum. We knew he was becoming a danger behind the wheel so my son reported him
to the DVLA. Thankfully he stopped driving before he seriously hurt or worse killed someone!

My brother in law was clearly suffering from dementia but still driving and ended up putting a motorcyclist in hospital. That was his driving days over.

My dad is driving at 75 (he's just done Manchester to Cornwall) but he is generally fit, active and well and has regular eye tests

It’s not fit for purpose. My late grandfather used to have to fill in a form to renew his licence every few years I recall. The problem was it was literally a box that the driver ticked to say ‘I confirm I’m safe to drive’ or something similar! No eyesight or cognitive check involved or anything. Ridiculous.

Driverless cars may help slightly, but what happens when there's a signal failure or some other malfunction? The other issue is they may make people even more complacent, as they feel the "machine does it for them".

Yes, the answer in the very first post!

Until we have decent public transport and/or driverless cars, it will continue.

With the new hazard perception tests that would weed out a fair few folk

I think the hazard perception tests are really odd. You eg see a tractor in a field and think "that's going to come out in front of me" but if you press the button then, it's too early, you can only press it when it actually happens. And there's another one where a group of pedestrians are on the pavement further up the road - it's obvious they are a hazard and could step out in front of you, but again, you only press it when it happens. I can't really see how it teaches hazard awareness as it rewards late reactions.

Think you might just have to tell him you're going to override the DVLA and report him to the police for dangerous driving unless he rescinds his licence. Sounds harsh but sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.

You can't report someone to the police for dangerous driving unless you have video evidence from a dash cam or whatever they're called. I tried once and the police don't accept a report without one.