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Elderly parents
Original poster

What will happen if I contact the DVLA to say I don’t think they should be driving?

121 replies

WhiteboardMarker · 08/02/2023 12:53

NC

Just that ☹️ eyesight has gone badly downhill the last few months

Feeling absolutely wretched, car is their last lifeline

Will they have to do a test?

OP posts:
Cuppasoupmonster · 08/02/2023 12:55

All being well their licence will be confiscated for the safety of other drivers and pedestrians.

Heartsandbirds · 08/02/2023 13:00

In my experience, they will contact you about eighteen months later after DGP has died and send you a pile of forms. Sorry OP, I hope you have a better experience.

Heartsandbirds · 08/02/2023 13:01

Might be worth flagging up to GP?

tootiredtobother · 08/02/2023 13:04

what age are they
my mother was allowed to drive on one eye ! diabetic too, doctor had to sign her off every few years madness shes 82 now hardly goes anywhere

Original poster
WhiteboardMarker · 08/02/2023 13:04

Would GP get involved? Hadn’t thought of that

In any case I can’t let them find out that I’ve flagged this up

OP posts:
Original poster
WhiteboardMarker · 08/02/2023 13:05

Same age as your Mum strangely enough

OP posts:
cptartapp · 08/02/2023 13:44

My DM and another woman were killed by a pensioner driving when he probably shouldn't have been. And another badly injured.
Wretched doesn't cut how I feel.

LIZS · 08/02/2023 13:46

Do they go to an optician for checks? They should advise and can notify dvla.

Safeworkspace · 08/02/2023 13:48

Think of the other innocent road users. I say that as someone in a similar position

Armadunno · 08/02/2023 13:48

tootiredtobother · 08/02/2023 13:04

what age are they
my mother was allowed to drive on one eye ! diabetic too, doctor had to sign her off every few years madness shes 82 now hardly goes anywhere

People who are blind in one eye, or who only have one eye, are perfectly legal to drive though. As long as their vision in that one eye is okay, obviously.

Pythonesque · 08/02/2023 13:54

I don't know a lot about how the system works, but there is some scope for checks to be done. I think it could do with being a lot better organised.

My mother is a similar age, still driving, but due to existing diagnoses, has to get both her cardiologist and ophthalmologist to certify she is still fit from their points of view, every year, to keep her licence (in Australia).

I think her eye checks have included an assessment of visual field. She in fact only has one functioning eye from infancy; which doesn't impact her driving although she takes extra care in certain situations. We didn't notice as children that she largely avoided offering to drive other people's children in our car. Someone with new changes in visual field will be in a different position as to driving safety, potentially.

Comefromaway · 08/02/2023 13:55

My mother in law was sent a letter telling her that she had to go to the GP for an assessment. (alzheimers not eyesight). She refused to do so and had her licence taken off her.

iknowimcoming · 08/02/2023 14:01

You can anonymously report on the dvla website

Soothsayer1 · 08/02/2023 14:04

It's an awful situation because you can understand why they cling onto wanting to drive and they don't have the self awareness etc, to see the situation in the round.
But we can't have elderly people blithely going around and slaughtering people, I remember an elderly neighbour who killed a young woman when he shouldn't have been driving and he just sort of shrugged it off as if it didn't matter 🥺
His right to feel in control and drive his car was much more important to him than anyone else's well-being 🥺

JennyWreny · 08/02/2023 14:45

A baby was killed here during an accident caused by a lady with undiagnosed dementia. Pretty sure that some reports during the court case said that a friend had thought she wasn’t safe to drive but hadn’t reported. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/louis-thorold-shelagh-robertson-not-guilty-waterbeach-trial-b2143761.html?amp

KangarooKenny · 08/02/2023 14:46

In my case Gp wouldn’t get involved. They got a letter to attend a special optician, and the licence was removed. The person never knew who did it.

KangarooKenny · 08/02/2023 14:48

WhiteboardMarker · 08/02/2023 13:04

Would GP get involved? Hadn’t thought of that

In any case I can’t let them find out that I’ve flagged this up

You can do it anonymously on the dvla site, they will never know who told.

MereDintofPandiculation · 08/02/2023 15:37

But we can't have elderly people blithely going around and slaughtering people What about car drivers of a younger age blithely going around and slaughtering people?

Currently, the number of people killed or severely injured is about 55 per billion miles driven (someone driving 10,000 miles a year from age 20 to age 100 would not drive even a million miles). The number of people killed or severely injured by older drivers is higher, but still only about 60 per billion miles. Since older drivers comprise only about 14% of drivers, and do fewer miles, that says to me that my chance of being killed or severely injured by a younger driver is greater than my chance of being killed by an elderly driver. (All figures from govt. stats) So although we should clearly get the system of reporting unsafe drivers working better, there are an awful lot of areas we should be looking at if we want to reduce casualty rates.

One of the things that would help particularly as far as elderly drivers are concerned is not to have our society based on the idea that everyone has a car. What makes the elderly dread losing their car is not just the concept of loss of autonomy but the realisation that many of the activities that make their life worthwhile would be out of reach.

Autonomous vehicles would help too.

Cuppasoupmonster · 08/02/2023 15:39

One of the things that would help particularly as far as elderly drivers are concerned is not to have our society based on the idea that everyone has a car.

No it’s because they locate themselves in silly places in cut off areas rather than living somewhere suitable and close to facilities. They have their free ( 🙄) bus pass, they can use that.

DahliaMacNamara · 08/02/2023 15:45

Maybe they want to carry on living in the place they grew up and lived all their adult lives, where their friends and support network can be found. Not everyone comes from an urban background.

AnnaMagnani · 08/02/2023 15:46

I did this so can tell you exactly what happens.

The DVLA will contact your relative and ask for permission to contact their GP - it's a choice but it's clear that saying no isn't an option if they want to keep driving.

For my relative this was enough for them to hand in their licence as they knew what the GP would say.

Freddiefan · 08/02/2023 15:51

My husband is 70 and has a cataract. He used to have very good eyesight so it seems bad to him now.

He checked with the optician that he is ok to drive and was told he is fine. He was shocked when the optician showed him how bad he could be and still drive!

AmandaHoldensLips · 08/02/2023 16:02

My dad was a bloody menace in the car and shouldn't have been driving. He refused point blank to engage and kept self-certifying himself fit to drive (I think you have to do this over the age of 70). He should have had his license removed.

He had a serious accident involving another car which I am certain was his fault.

Please report to the DVLA.

Hopelessacademic · 08/02/2023 16:05

We have had 2 accidents now where an elderly driver has gone into our car! Once DH was taking something out of it and the old man just drove into the open side door and nearly took it off! The second time DH was stationary waiting at a junction and a different old man just slammed into the back of him.
Fortunately the first one he wasn't in the car, but the second one he had pretty bad whiplash effects. Both could have been much worse!

Please report them!

Sososocold · 08/02/2023 16:05

There is a problem with elderly people living in rural locations away from services and it will get worse as rural GP services close down and bus routes are cut.

I live in a medium size town surrounded by lots of rural villages. Thursday and Saturday are known locally as no-go days as it is market day when all the elderly drivers in the rural villages come to town to do a shop, visit the drs and go to the market. The local car parks on these days look like a bumper car ride. Cars just reversing into one another/ bollards/ mounting kerbs. The speed of cars driving through town on these days drops from 35-40mph to about 25mph. Almost every single incident on these days happen with a driver over 75.

Of the rural villages around us, only 2 of the 16 have a corner shop. None have a drs surgery as when the partnership in town took over one of the village drs they shut it and moved all drs from that surgery to the town to make a "super surgery". The library is in town, the bank is in town, the post office is in town.

There used to be a bus from most of the villages to town but most of these have been cut and replaced with one dial a ride service that covers all the villages, it is nearly impossible to book the service when you actually need it and booking is on an app. The surviving bus routes run 2x a day and are part of the secondary school bus route so goes to town around 8.15 and returns to the village from the bus station at 3.45.

What would be ideal is if people who were unable to drive could live in town. However, there are very few bungalows (and those that are for sale are very expensive due to demand for then) and the 2 over 50s developments in town have very expensive and difficult to get out of (in the event of death) leasehold agreements.