That older people

[trainboundfornowhere]

Or that people with certain medical conditions should have their driving tested more regularly?

I ask this because I was in a local supermarket on Friday when an older driver for the second time in three years for the supermarket mistook the accelerator for the brake. In 2022 they hit the building though thankfully no serious damage was done two people were taken to hospital. On Friday he managed to mount the pavement and hit a sloped brick wall. One customer had to jump out the way and the driver was obviously very shaken up but otherwise there was no serious injuries and apart from the wall and the car no damage done. However five years ago elsewhere in town a toddler was killed after another older driver mistook the accelerator for the brake and mounted the pavement. What do others think?

Well, seeing as “Young male car drivers aged 17 to 24 are 4 times as likely to be killed or seriously injured compared with all car drivers aged 25 or over” According to gov.uk statistics (and are involved in more accidents than any other age group) I think it’s possible your concern is misdirected.

Twice in 3 years eh? Terrifying

The same person?

Statistically it’s the younger drivers, especially males who have recently passed their tests, who are significantly more dangerous on our roads.

I think everyone should retest every few years tbh.

It would be pretty unworkable in practise, but there's a lot of people with lot of bad habits on the roads.

Nice ageist generalisation there @trainboundfornowhere about all older people.

Didn’t we go through this last week?

Personally I think holding a driving licence should be considered a privilege and not a right and that everyone should have mandatory resting say every 7 years, every 3 years once you are above 70 and a power limit for drivers under a certain age.

Yeah it’s definitely older drivers and people with medical conditions who are causing the majority of major accidents and incidents on the roads 🙄

This has already been mooted based on age.

I think that everyone should at least have their eyes tested every 3-5 years. Lots of drivers out there not wearing glasses for vanity and pride reasons ime.

It sounds more like a problem specific to that individual rather than something all older people do. I'm not sure that testing him again would pick it up if he does it less than once per year.
But yes, it is a bit bonkers that people driving now could've passed back in the 1950s. But I found the speed awareness course to be a nice refresher.

Exactly. We could considerably reduce road fatalities by raising the driving age.

This ^

So what are you considering "old"

and how old are you?

I suspect that younger drivers are more careless/reckless and older drivers less competent.

I drive a small stretch of an A road daily. There isn’t a day that goes by where there isn’t some shitty driver doing 30mph causing havoc and when you pass they are always over 70. It’s extremely dangerous and if you can’t drive safely then you shouldn’t have a license.

Everyone should be retested; say each 5 or 10 years. The conditions of the road, technology, etc etc have all markedly changed and continue to evolve.

Older people (and others) should perhaps also have a fitness check each 2-3 years to ensure they are capable of physically managing a vehicle and that sight/hearing/strength etc all sufficient.
and also international drivers should have a localisation test. Of course that’s not needed for a couple weeks holiday but when it’s someone’s job…

I am 41 and I said older not old or elderly. Age alone does not determine if you are old. My father in law is 74 and yet according to his doctor judging on all factors is still considered middle aged. Last year he finished building his house (joiner to trade) and yesterday he was laying slabs in the garden. I know it would mean picking an arbitrary age but I would maybe suggest from age 70. I agree though that young drivers particularly young males are equally dangerous due to over confidence. When they pass their test and the examiner says congratulations you’ve passed what they hear is “Well done you are now the greatest driver in the world.”

Would it make a lot of difference though? Say males had to wait until 23 - IMO they’d only go even madder once they finally got behind the wheel.

Very true!

As you can see from @itscrumbletime’s post, that is a slightly selective reading of the statistics. It is comparing men aged 17-24 with all drivers older than them. But if you compare them with 86+ yr old drivers, it’s the older drivers more at risk.

Those stats don’t look at who caused the accident, I think? It takes less to kill or seriously injure an older person so an accident that might result in a minor injury for a 25 year old would likely be a lot more serious for an 85+ year old resulting in a higher level of deaths and serious injury to that age group. You would need to look at the total fatalities and injuries caused by a particular age of driver, not just fatalities of car drivers in general.

You have to renew your license every three years once you are 70 and you also have to declare any medical conditions so there is already a system in place. You could make people take a driving test at 70 but they could develop any kind of health condition two months later. The system couldn’t support repeated driving tests, there aren’t enough for young people trying to get a license as it is.

Given the difficulty learner drivers have in booking driving tests now, how would this work?

Should new drivers have to wait even longer for driving tests? Or are you suggesting that older drivers are unable to drive until they manage to secure a test date?

Part of the problem is that you have to declare your medical conditions. A proportion will not declare medical conditions as they will not want their license taken away. Some will view their license as one of their last freedoms.

The person who mounted the pavement and hit the toddler and his mother killing the toddler was 91 years old, had dementia and they were also uninsured as they had cancelled their insurance months before as they felt it was too expensive. My DH grandmother was in her mid 80s and she had cataracts and yet still felt she was safe to drive. DGM subsequently admitted after she had them removed that she could not believe she had still been driving with them.