General Chat

My uncle gave up driving at 98 when he emigrated to New Zealand from New Brighton. Two years earlier I was with him when he went to renew his licence. He came out of the building more quickly than I had anticipated, so I asked if they had done an eye test (which I was positive he needed). he said,"oh no, they just asked me if I could see 200yds, and I said yes". Something wrong with that system. He narrowly escaped hitting several cars because he could no longer judge depth or distance, if there had been another coat of paint on the next car he would have hit it. One day he did hit a side mirror on another car. Got out, bent it back and drove on.
On the motorway, he would slow down when approaching the gantrys so he could read them. An absolute darling, but an absolute menace on the road. Now, still playing chess at 105 years of age!!

I think that here they test older people annually. I am not sure at what age this starts though.

Road manners are in such a state.....where I live we have a series of roundabouts. ok the exits may be full but why oh why dont those that are stuck on the roundabout, allow those that want to go right, around the circle precedence? they appear too frightened that some one will get into ""Their"" space and hold them up.......
and these are working people, not OAP's.

as some of you may know my previous board name was " Camera dodger".
I drive according to conditions, if its dodgy I take more care, if it appears to be safe and 90 is appropriate then so be it.......trying to enter 60-70 mph traffic from a slip road, from a virtual stand-still is near lunacy...but some younger drivers try......you MUST be aware of the conditions.........and drive accordingly
Bob

Errol, I know, that's why he was booked and Nanna was in such a good mood for weeks lol.

My OH who is now 78 no longer drives. I suggested it after he was diagnosed with cerebral atrophy 18 months ago. I pointed out that in an emergency his brain might not react fast enough. I am glad he accepted my suggestion. Sometimes when I come up to lights he suggests that I can go because he can see a green light, but the light is not for me.
As for people signalling at roundabouts, I get so cross when they signal a right turn then go straight through, and few people give a left wink 3 seconds before exiting. They just dont signal, even though our road code specifies it. Admittedly some roundabouts are too small for the 3 second rule. We would have to stop in the roundabout for the 3 seconds before exiting!
Huia.

Lindsey give here a car - sounds like she could sort out the over-populated pavement problem in one fell swoop!

None of the accidents my 88 year old Mum has had have been her fault.


The bull that decided to charge at her car on the M25 when she was doing 75 mph, was not her fault


The gear box that dropped off on the M1 was not her fault.

The Lorry full of bricks that turned over in front of her was not her fault !


But driving to Milton Keynes with the boot open, abandoning the car across 3 spaces in Sainsbury's, leaving the door open and the seat belts hanging outside is.
She had to give up when her car would cost more to repair than it was worth.


When I suggested she get one of those electric scooters, she threw her hands up in horror, as there are too many people on the pavements for her liking!!

Just making my point Errol that thread appears to criticise older drivers and not young,especially male
...as you have just replied to Chris.

Chris that is because statistics have shown the male to be the higher risk

As to expensive insurance - only found out a few weeks ago that insurance for a boy of 19 and a girl of 19 driving exactly the same type of car are different - boy's insurance is much higher apparently.

Mau, with respect I don't think I referred to young drivers in what I said.
SS driving too slow is an offence.

I think there are drivers in all age groups who are bad drivers, who don't know how to take a roundabout or cope with the speed of a motorway. Far more dangerous are those who drive too fast and smoke, use mobiles, read maps and eat while driving.

You don't have to do smack on the speed limits and some times it's really not safe to be driving at the speed limit, ie when it's raining heavily or there's ice on the road.

Age has little to do with poor driving.

I sometimes wonder if all drivers should take a resit every 10 years as some seem to pass their test and forget everything they ever learnt. And some drive like they could never have passed a test.

Amusingly my step grandfather whom I never knew even though he was alive when I was younger, was once booked for driving too slow. I think he was doing 15 in a 40 zone. My nanna laughed so wickedly when she heard. lol

Quite so Errol,but, why is insurance for younger drivers so much more expensive.,if they are the best drivers?
Mau

retest retest retest!!!!
Surely if that weedles out those who can drive safely and those who cannot then that is a good thing. I would rather upset 100 people who are more senior than some of us than risk one being allowed to drive whilst their perceptions and reactions are such that they cause injury or death.
If one is able to drive competently then one has nothing to worry about. If the opposite is the case and one is found to be unable to drive safely then surely that is also good.
When I passed my test the roads were very different compared to today - that also applies to a person that took their test 50 odd years ago.

Whilst I have to admit that there are some older drivers who should not be on the road - that does not apply to all. Some years ago I spoke to our GP (our neighbour of 83 had the same GP) Dr knew we kept an eye on his health and coming up to his birthday I begged the Dr to refuse his driving renewal - I told him he was the one who had mounted the kerb and knocked down the letterbox and he told me he could not - it was not in his remit. Mind you I have to say that even in his early sixties when we first met neighbour - he was lethal on the road - he gave my son (in his twenties then) a lift and son swore never again.

Going to the speeding youngsters - in N. Ireland since mid sixties - when you pass your test you have to display an 'R' plate for one year - this restricts you to 45 mph. Any contravention of driving laws this period is lengthened. It is good - ensures other drivers know you are inexperience and to give you some leeway and the other - restricts your speed until hopefully you can deal with it.

As it is here anyone of any age passes their test and can jump into a highpowered car and just go.

I saw this, Ann, and immediately thought that, when I took and passed my test 1st time, 32 yrs ago, my BSM instructor taught me to drive up to the speed limit, not at it exactly as my children were recently.

My instructor used to say that if people behind me were impatient then they should have left home earlier!

thanks Brenda - I've cooled off it now, but what a sweeping generalisation to make!!
My friend is Voluntary Services Co-ordinator for Mental Health here in Cardiff and one of her French volunteers has just stated that all English people are lazy and eat too much!! We didn't correct him on the fact that we are all Welsh here but thought of suggesting that all French people wear berets and go round with a string of onions rounds their necks!! Stereotyping people is just not on!!

I agree with Ann.
I am a year older than her,73 in June,and have been driving ,or held my license since 1962.
At one time I was a sales manager for 20 years and drove 1000 miles a week,and some of the mad driving you see is from the young men who think they are Lewis Hamilton.
It has nothing to do with age as some people are fitter and healthier than younger people.I do agree that some older folk over the age of 80/90,who have shrunk so much that they can hardly see over the steering wheel should give up,but I think your own common sense will tell you this.
My O.H gets cross at the farmers(with flat caps) round here who drive so slowly and agree that sometimes this is as bad as speeding.
You cannot generalise .There are good women drivers and good men drivers no matter what age!
Brenda x x

Daughter kept on a OH saying he drove too slowly etc., so he joined the IAM Institute of advance Drivers they go through training to see their ability and see if they are safe drivers -all ages- they then take a driving test by the police examiner and glad to say my OH passed - he's been an HGV driver most of his working life. He went on to become an observer, helping others to get through the test he was 65 at the time and proved not all older drivers are dangerous. The younger mobile phone user/drivers are more dangerous even with hands free I watched one behind us through my visor mirror yeasterday his hands were waving all over the place.As I've said before I don't drive , I' a bad enough passenger .

Ann Go Girl !!

Was out driving yesterday........

1. Girl in car behind me (at the lights!) on mobile
2. Young lad parked lengthways across THREE bays in car-park.
3. Man in 4x4, with young children, at zebra crossing on the flipping mobile! grr.I pointed at him but he just looked the other way!

Dreading the day i can't drive any more (not for a long time yet I hope) but it's something we can't generalise on,there are good old drivers and bad young drivers!

Mau