OAP s and driving licences

[MikeInWimbledon]

Perhaps a requirement to pass a driving test every (say) 10 years, to renew your driving license, at any age?
(Queue chorus of "but it punishes the poor")

The issue being that they can’t even test a new driver within a month of application.

It currently takes 4-6 months to get a test “post Covid-19”)

Thank our gods that the civil service only runs things like driving tests, health and education. Not anything important like Supermarkets, football, restaurants or pubs.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

As said above, your insurance premium tells you how risky you are, at any age.

Sadly, the under 25’s, who seldom do many miles, are the greatest risk generally, and a massive risk “per mile.”

 

[Stratman]

Wonder how you would feel if its your 70th birthday tomorrow
Funny how we are all wonderful drivers, its always the one coming towards you or behind who can't drive to save there lives

Slow bumbling idiot - someone who drives two mph slower than me
Homicidal maniac - someone who drives two mph faster than me

 

[C43AMG]

or the DVLA will say at 70 you must stop driving ( removal of driving licence )

I notice you are +68 years of age. So you are willing to give up your licence in a couple of years ?

 

[Darrell]

It currently takes 4-6 months to get a test “post Covid-19”)

Back in June my daughter passed her theory and had her full license in less than 3 weeks. Theory in Watford and test in Hendon.

Also in June my nephew passed his theory and had his full licence within 4 weeks. In Newbury.

 

[zipdip]

Well the DVLA licence renewal at 70 is a complete joke, you get a big form and basically all you have to do is tick the box that all is well and off you go again,and some of the things you can drive with like Parkinsons,now the medication for that makes you drousy and that combined with the slow reaction time has to be one of the worse illnesses allowed to drive on our roads.
My suggestion is that aged people getting that form have to have a check up from a doctor,before they can drive,and say every 5 years they need a very short test,from their own home in their car a examiner would spend no more than 20 mins sitting beside the aged driver,it would be very easy to see if the driver is aware of whats happening and able to take instruction as to turn left and take third exit from the roundabout sort of thing,
Now I know that older drivers say but it is young drivers that cause the most accidents and that has held good for many years but with the ageing population the numbers show that old drivers are catching up fast with the young and silly.
I am 74 and I welcome a test ,I live in a area with a ageing population,and could right now point out at least 6 drivers who are nowhere near fit to continue to drive,when you talk to older drivers they say things like well I only drive local now,and questioned do they use that road alot my knowing there is a complicated road system on that road,the answer is no they use a route that adds 3 miles to their journey,these are all give aways,accidents with older car drivers are in unexpected places most drivers know when you are near a danger spot and ramp up their concentration to get past it,but you do not expect to be sitting in a coffee shop and a aged person mounts the pavement and smashes into the shop,and nearly always the older driver says I don't know what happened I only live 3 miles away.
The DVLA have to sort something out,I am fed up with having to mount the pavement when one of these sub standard drivers powers down the road at me with no idea where the nearside of their car is in relation to the parked ones on the road,and when you look at them they have that straight ahead stare and they are gripping the steering wheel so hard their knuckles are white.

 

[Benzowner]

The DVLA have to sort something out,I am fed up with having to mount the pavement when one of these sub standard drivers powers down the road at me with no idea where the nearside of their car is in relation to the parked ones on the road,and when you look at them they have that straight ahead stare and they are gripping the steering wheel so hard their knuckles are white.

There is no accounting for drivers who think they are in a 40ft artic when in fact they are driving a mini. Maybe it would be better is people buying a new car, to them, have a lesson in driving that car to know how small it really is. I am 72, I drive less miles than I did when working. A friend of mine is 86 and drives as well as, if not better than a lot of drivers who are considerably younger.

I do agree, however, there are a lot of older drivers who are, shall we say, become less flexible as they get older and can no longer look over their right shoulder to check when pulling away and instead rely on their wing mirrors, what blind spot?

 

[ToeKnee]

I do find it amusing when I'm in the Mondeo (not a narrow car!) And I go through a gap but the person in a Micra (insert any small car as necessary) behind me stops cos they don't think the gap is big enough!

 

[Darrell]

I do find it amusing when I'm in the Mondeo (not a narrow car!) And I go through a gap but the person in a Micra (insert any small car as necessary) behind me stops cos they don't think the gap is big enough!

Likewise when I’m on my bike. I can sense a car behind me so I try to ride tight into the kerb.

A few minutes later and they’re still too scared to overtake.

Must be a big 4x4 thinks me. I look over my shoulder and it’s an old biddy in a Fiat 500!

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Back in June my daughter passed her theory and had her full license in less than 3 weeks. Theory in Watford and test in Hendon.
Also in June my nephew passed his theory and had his full licence within 4 weeks. In Newbury.

I'm quoting UK Government. Understood that if you book several months advance, you'll be able to sit the test shortly after you pass your theory test. The point is that the time between booking and getting the test is months

Adding Geriatrics, like me, to the test burden would more than double the workload for Driving test centres, depending how often it's proposed to retest: At 70, and 75, and 80...and ....

Here's the Government talking to Driving trainers about what they're doing to reduce the increased backlog, which it's saying is still well above pre-Covid levels

What is causing the long driving test waiting times? - Despatch for driver and rider trainers


And here's Honest John talking about waiting lists this Summer
Waiting times for driving tests have increased at almost half of all driving test centres in the UK so far this year.
In the worse cases, learners are having to wait more than five months while 80% of all driving test centres have waiting times above the pre-pandemic average of six weeks. That's according to DVSA data accessed by the AA Driving School.
Meanwhile, the national backlog of learners waiting to take their driving tests has remained consistently above 500,000 since July 2021.
A survey conducted by the DVSA among approved driving instructors found that 89.6% of pupils cited long waiting times as the primary reason for taking an extended break from their driving lessons.
Regional differences have also come to light, with some driving test centres consistently experiencing waiting times exceeding five months between January and April 2023.
Notable centres include Aylesbury, Cheltenham, Luton, Northampton, Oxford, Peterborough plus several centres in London.
Conversely, several Scottish centres, including East Kilbride, all three test centres in Glasgow, Edinburgh (Currie) and Paisley, reported no change in the 24-week waiting times during the same period. The Newport test centre in Wales also maintained its 24-week waiting time.

 

[ALFAitalia]

Well the DVLA licence renewal at 70 is a complete joke, you get a big form and basically all you have to do is tick the box that all is well and off you go again......

No for everyone.....where my father drives the heavy farm gear around he has to have a medical every three years.....sure he can self certify.....but if he does he gets restricted on weight and how heavy the things he tows are. But yes its too easy to self certify when you PERHAPS should no longer be on the road. I give my mum credit for realising she was crap (she always was but age made her realise!!) and sending back her license when she did.

 

[ALFAitalia]

Slow bumbling idiot - someone who drives two mph slower than me
Homicidal maniac - someone who drives two mph faster than me

LOL......
Well I'll be as honest as I can and this is how I rate my driving. Things you should know...
I'm 56
I passed my test in 85 (bike and car in same year) aged 18. Bike first time, car second.
The last points I had were for speeding in 1989 (41 in a 30 on my GSX600F (horrid bike)).
I have car NCD since 88 and bike NCD since 87.....not saying I've never been involved in a crash (one car and three bike (I have 4 plates and about 60 screws in my left arm to prove it!!)) but all proved to not be my fault and did not affect my insurance.
I did IAM in my late 20s paid for by my boss at the time, both car and bike but they both lapsed years ago.
I also tow big caravans all over the place behind a pickup truck for work.
I used to do quite a few track days on my bike and the odd car one.

I would, in all honesty, describe my driving as average or a bit above....both in the skills and safety side of things....and they are different things.......being able to drift pretty well is a skill I learned off road on the mud because I started driving off road at 14 as we lived on a big farm with private roads. But is being able to do that on the road safe or even sensible?.... probably not....yet it could certainly help you on surfaces with less grip than you expected.
I don't hold anyone up...they used to call it "making progress" in the IAM......but equally I do try my hardest to stick to the 30 limits. I'm rarely under 70 on the motorway....but equally I'm very rarely over 90 and not for long.
The reason I dare to say that I feel I "might" be a bit above average is because primarily all the biking I used to do and also a bit due to the towing. When towing you have to be so much more aware of what around you as the caravans don't follow your exact path so you need more clearance on things.....often they are 30 grand plus caravans don't belong to the company and I'm in built up areas which keeps you on you toes too!!! But mainly because of the bikes......you need to ride like everyone is trying to kill you....because sometimes....often without realising it.....they are!! I consider myself more rather aware of my surrounding than SOME other drivers because of this. I still tend to do the "lifesaver" over the shoulder glance that you are taught when doing your bike test....even when in the car!!!

To be honest I think its quite difficult to judge your own driving competence.....but I like to thing that since passengers don't say much about it and I don't see them constantly going for the invisible passenger side brake pedal (as I do when sitting beside some drivers) that I'm at least OK as a wheel man. My wife would certainly tell me if it was otherwise!!!.....and at risk of her reading this she is certainly one of the better lady drivers I've been chauffeured by!

Obviously I will now cause an accident on my way home from work today!!

I'd like to think that in a mere 14 years time my driving wont be much worse....although I don't think I'm getting any better these days but it probably was until I was in my 40s......but probably will get checked out by the Doc at 70 whether I'm required to or not.....just seems sensible.


Anyone else????....anyone brave enough to say they are truly crap......or a driving God!!!???

 

[baxlin]

No for everyone.....where my father drives the heavy farm gear around he has to have a medical every three years.....sure he can self certify.....but if he does he gets restricted on weight and how heavy the things he tows are. But yes its too easy to self certify when you PERHAPS should no longer be on the road. I give my mum credit for realising she was crap (she always was but age made her realise!!) and sending back her license when she did.

It’s a tick box if you are happy to renew online, and lose groups C1 and D1 (larger vehicles within the ‘normal’ car licence), but iirc a medical report is needed if you want to keep these two groups.

I wonder how many over-70s are happily driving coach built motorhomes which are well over the 3500kgs MAM limit, but who have ‘lost’ C1 and D1 by just renewing online…

 

[Deleted member 55947]

The trouble with any test or exam is that you only have to know a certain amount of relevant information for a short period of time so pretty pointless really

 

[Fastcar155]

Hi , well remove the driver and you remove the car.

 

[TC350]

Anyone else????....anyone brave enough to say they are truly crap......or a driving God!!!???

I’d say I’m somewhere between truly crap and driving God. I did a one-hour IAM driving assessment when I turned 70 and was told that my driving was excellent (ie they couldn’t sell me a course!)

In 60 years of driving and riding I’ve never had a point on my licence, but did get caught on camera speeding once in Australia. I’ve attended several advanced driving courses, for road and track. By far the best course was a week’s training to drive an ambulance - the art of getting from A to B quickly with the least discomfort for the passenger lying in the back.

But I’m still human and I still make mistakes - thankfully minor and without incident, so far. Importantly, I like to think that I know when I’ve made a mistake - without anyone else needing to tell me.

 

[Spider10]

I've been legally driving since 1988 never had any points I have done a few driving awareness courses for minor thing's I've only ever had 1 driving lesson and that was the 1hr before I retook my test some year's ago (we've all done it) failed the written test 1st time round .
Personally I would rate my driving at 8/10 as I'm abit impatient and do tend to drive to fast, I've done numerous advanced driving courses as part of my job at the time
Ps my bike license was taken in Cyprus and all we had to do was ride 200m go round the roundabout and ride back job done

 

[zipdip]

For many the driving licence is a god given right,it is supposed to last for ever and of course all the drivers are great behind the wheel,that about sums up what many feel about their driving licence,they can all tell you about the day they passed the test,I have my tales of failing the first driving test and passing HGV1 at the age of21 having taken 32 hours of lessons having never driven anything bigger than a one pallet van oh the joy the elation I am the kiddo,the best.
Well I gave up my HGV 1 at 63 had not used it in years,it was a keepsake,faced with a medical every year which I could still pass I decided to let the licence go,so after reading these postings I looked at what options I had at 74,and it seems I can still have the LGV1 licence as long as I take the courses on hours and the like and pass the test in the classroom,the medical is still every year and for sure the trucks these days are far easier to drive,I would love to get the use of one of those auto Actros motors,heavens know what all those buttons are but as the most important thing is the brake pedal and I know where that is all should be good.
I write this because it is about time the DVLA got serious about peoples driving licences that form at 70 is a joke,as you get older so do the other drivers you know and some were never very good at 20 they are now pushing 80 and are terrible,there is no check on eyesight,we are fast approaching that time of the year where these drivers are found out when the clocks change,if you want to see how widespread poor eyesight is get out in the early evening on the Sunday,and see the brakes going on when going round a bend,with drivers hugging the centre white lines,brakes going on with oncoming headlights,it is all the DVLA's fault for not clamping down on who is allowed to grace out roads.

 

[Benzowner]

Anyone else????.......or a driving God!!!???

I am a driving God, everyone else on the road isn't so I drive accordingly

 

[190]

there is no check on eyesight,we are fast approaching that time of the year where these drivers are found out when the clocks change,if you want to see how widespread poor eyesight is get out in the early evening on the Sunday,and see the brakes going on when going round a bend,with drivers hugging the centre white lines,brakes going on with oncoming headlights,it is all the DVLA's fault for not clamping down on who is allowed to grace

There is no excuse for poor driving at any age but the eyesight thing is not just about old people not being able to focus. All of us, good drivers and bad will be less tolerant of glare as we get older and therefore we will experience some increased difficulty driving at night. It's just a medical fact and it's become more of a problem due to the race to put out as many lumens as possible and the practice of drivers sitting with their foot on the brake pedal when stopped. The only thing good drivers can do about it is be aware that it's an issue that will affect everyone eventually to a greater or lessor degree and avoid night driving if it becomes too much of a problem.

For the drivers who are young and as yet unaffected by glare discomfort when driving at night, an awareness that it can be an issue for older drivers would be a good thing.