Too old to drive ?

[mirras]

With all the road safety focus we see on young people, what is the view of the forum on the older driver's ability to stay safe? I don't know the details of the attached story but it got me thinking about how safe many of our elderly drivers are behind the wheel of a car...

BBC NEWS | England | South Yorkshire | Man kills wife, 84, reversing car

 

[Adam230K]

I think that too sometimes. When i spot them on the road, sometimes at roundabouts they do make some very comprimising hesitant manoveours (sometimes dangerous) and i do wonder why they are still allowed to drive. I'm talking about 80+ yrs.

 

[DXB]

I had an old person pull out on me a few years back after a brow of a hill and sharp bend.

Silly old ****.

 

[flango]

With all the road safety focus we see on young people, what is the view of the forum on the older driver's ability to stay safe? I don't know the details of the attached story but it got me thinking about how safe many of our elderly drivers are behind the wheel of a car...

BBC NEWS | England | South Yorkshire | Man kills wife, 84, reversing car

Saw this on the local news this morning as its not a million miles away from me. My view on older drivers is that they are potentially more of a danger than younger drivers. You have the 2 ends of the scale you have younger drivers with good reactions and good eyesight but little experience and then you have the elder generation with slow reactions, failing eyesight and think they have all the experience in the world. They denounce the younger generation as knowing nothing when in actual fact they are probably safer.

For those that were at Strathclyde last night Kinnie summed it up perfectly when he was talking about the old guy doing 25 mph in a 60 mph posted limit, downright dangerous and fuels road rage. Not sure at what age you draw the line but maybe medical, eyesight and a short retest mandatory at 65? Just my 2p worth.

 

[mirras]

Not sure at what age you draw the line but maybe medical, eyesight and a short retest mandatory at 65? Just my 2p worth.

I don't think there is an age that a line could be drawn but I do agree some sort of testing from 60ish onward may be appropriate, even a reaction / sight type test if not a full driving test.

 

[SilverSaloon]

well my wife's grandad who is about 82 i think used to drive the bus for the "old folk" around town (about 15 years ago). he was forced to stop doing this as he failed a medical and was deemed unfit to drive the bus (mini bus).

he still drives his own car though today.

really scary stuff. he refuses to stop driving, even after asked to by family members. he drives slowly, his reaction times are extreemly slow and his hands shake at the wheel!

as he has no real medical condtion to prevent driving his doctor cannot do anything about it apparently - only way he can stop is to decide himself.

personally i think older drivers (70+) should be given a refresh test (cut down test) every 5 years or so to keep their licence.

the lack of basic road skills scares me. thismorning i saw a middle aged lady driver stopped at the start of the slip road entering the motorway indicating to pull on as if it were a normal junction. she approached it slowly and stopped until there was room enough to pull out. needless to say she then pulled out infront of traffic going 50+ with no effort to build up speed quickly causing people to change lanes.

 

[BTB 500]

You have to remember the potential mental issues too (not just failing eyesight & reactions). The horrific "wrong way down a motorway/dual carriageway" accidents are often down to confused elderly drivers.

We took the rotor arm out of my gran's Mini, in the end.

 

[flango]

You have to remember the potential mental issues too (not just failing eyesight & reactions). The horrific "wrong way down a motorway/dual carriageway" accidents are often down to confused elderly drivers.

We took the rotor arm out of my gran's Mini, in the end.

Thats a very good point, as I made the assumption they all still had their faculties in order to drive in the first place but as you correctly point out this is clearly not true

Love the rotor arm trick

 

[G-Force]

BTB your a rascal.... i liked that trick.

I was in Kilmarnock last week heading towards Irvine, had to sit behind an "antique" driving her Micra at under30MPH in a 50 zone she pulled sat in the right hand lane indicating the whole way down the carriageway causing all sorts of chaos.....got tp the round-a-bout (at Crosshouse round-a-bout) and turned right...BEFORE GOING ROUND THE ROUND-A-BOUT

I pulled a hell of a suprised look.... but the guy coming round the round-a-bout from the opposite direction pulled an even better one..

Just when you think you've seen it all eh!!!!!!

 

[lynall]

How come the police are never about when this happens?

Hgv drivers medical from 45 onwards then every 5 years therafter, so car drivers 65 onwards every 5 years, then 80 onwards every year.

No only would this get some unsafe drivers of the roads the employment oppurtunities would be huge.



Lynall



Lynall

 

[Sp!ke]

If you are at an age where you can run over your wife and get away with it then yes, you're probably too old to drive.

 

[Sp!ke]

Love the rotor arm trick

Did you leave a small note for the AA man in the rotor arms place explaining its removal and instructing him to go on his merry way?

 

[ecossebev]

I remember years ago when I worked for as a postman, there was a retired man, registered disabled who used to drive his Skoda Favorit every day. He would walk with a stick and leave his 2nd floor flat, stop at the 1st floor for a rest, walk to the outside of the main door and sit on the wall for a rest before shuffling off to his car, in all about 7-8 minutes. I often wondered what would happen if a child ran onto the road. Bearing in mind how slowly he walked, would he have the reactions to press the middle pedal quickly enough to avoid an accident? I would think not! Not a dig against the disabled either, but surely you have to draw the line between independance and being incapable of controlling a vehicle! Possibly a medical every three years to assess their mental/physical health?

 

[prprandall51]

You have to remember the potential mental issues too (not just failing eyesight & reactions). The horrific "wrong way down a motorway/dual carriageway" accidents are often down to confused elderly drivers.

We took the rotor arm out of my gran's Mini, in the end.

Did you tell her - or just leave her on the drive flattening the battery?

 

[Dryce]

My view on older drivers is that they are potentially more of a danger than younger drivers. You have the 2 ends of the scale you have younger drivers with good reactions and good eyesight but little experience and then you have the elder generation with slow reactions, failing eyesight and think they have all the experience in the world. They denounce the younger generation as knowing nothing when in actual fact they are probably safer.

There is one major difference and that is speed.

Most youngsters driving noticeably badly (or at least the ones I notice) are also taking excessive risks with their choice of speed. Good reactions are wasted if combined lack of anticipation and risk perception, or if you frequently put your vehicle in harms way due to stupidity and showing off.

OTOH a Micra with the problem oldie is typically being driven in a haphazard fashion at a lower speed.

In a sensible world the insurance premiums should reflect the real overall difference in risk. Maybe in this instance they do.

 

[prprandall51]

Whilst I totally agree with the sentiments of this thread, let's not forget that many people continue to drive because there is no option if they are to not just sit in their house all day. Bus routes have been slashed to a minimum and travelling by train (unless you book three months in advance) is the privilege of the rich.

But I am not blaming the government either. We are at a pivot point in society where the phenomenal level of personal mobility (where most households now own more than one car) has almost obliterated the requirement for public transport, which has been pruned back out of economic necessity and is under-funded as it is no longer makes it on to the political agenda. But this situation has left a large proportion of society completely cut off.

I know that my own mother, who I often tried to persuade to give up driving, had no other way of getting to the shops, to the library or to visit people without her car - and she lived on the outskirts of Basingstoke, which you think would be teeming with public transport.

 

[Dryce]

Whilst I totally agree with the sentiments of this thread, let's not forget that many people continue to drive because there is no option if they are to not just sit in their house all day. Bus routes have been slashed to a minimum and travelling by train (unless you book three months in advance) is the privilege of the rich.

Depends on where you live.

Majority of my neighbours are oldies. They get free bus passes. As a result those with cars don't use them much.

I have one aged relative who has a car but tries to avoid using it and takes great pleasure in pointing out how far she has travelled and for how little using her free bus pass and senior citizen's railcard.

But then you did say Basingstoke and that's not in Scotland.

 

[st4]

For those that were at Strathclyde last night Kinnie summed it up perfectly when he was talking about the old guy doing 25 mph in a 60 mph posted limit, downright dangerous and fuels road rage. Not sure at what age you draw the line but maybe medical, eyesight and a short retest mandatory at 65? Just my 2p worth.

There is always the "ram" option

 

[grober]

The reason many older people drive slowly is because they are aware of their limitations. Annoying tho this behaviour may be this wisdom is not shared by a large number of drivers of more "youthful" years. YES I am talking to you Mr White Van Man---- 15 pints with the lads last night! Mr Range Rover Sport------- can't you see from my vehicle I'm a very important person which entitles me to drive 2 inches from your bumper at 70mph, Mr[tricked out] Vauxall Nova with the banging sound system unfeasibily large exhaust and no brakes ----Mr Sales Rep in the company Ford Mondeo/ Vauxhall Insignia/ AUDI A4----- if you're Michael Schumacher mate I'm Daemon Hill and we'll see who the **** brakes first for this corner.

Easy then to stereotype whole groups of drivers with certain characteristics and when people start using "they" and "them" to describe groups of people it means any discussion can rapidly degenerate into the realms of

prejudice

1.
a. An adverse judgment or opinion formed beforehand or without knowledge or examination of the facts.
b. A preconceived preference or idea.
2. The act or state of holding unreasonable preconceived judgments or convictions.
3. Irrational suspicion or hatred of a particular group, race, or religion.
4. Detriment or injury caused to a person by the preconceived, unfavorable conviction of another or others.

 

[ecossebev]

Limitations...? 25mph on an A class road with a speed limit of 60mph, is far more dangerous than lets say, driving at 100mph on the same stretch of road. If your limitations are likely to cause frustration to other drivers, resulting in serious accidents, perhaps a 3/5 year assessment on your driving skills isn't a bad idea.