General Chat

The lady had a 20 year old young man with her-was he asleep ?

I know the case you mentioned Rose,
It was local to where I live.

I watched the CCTV footage on the local news and it made my blood run cold. My heart goes out to the poor girl and her family.
At the time of the accident the 87 year old driver had mounted the pavement twice and other people managed to jump out of the way.
Its a busy road with a very wide pavement and i he drove on to it , off it and back on again.

Three days before, the driver drove in the wrong way to a petrol station. Police had to take him home due to his poor driving but he refused to surrender his licence when asked.

I do agree there are many bad drivers of all ages and if Police see them they should have the power to take the car and keys until the driver is deemed fit to drive or not, as the case may be.

Teresa

I STOPPED 10YEARS AGO
MY OWN CHOICE
I REALISED I WAS A TOTAL MENACE TO EVERYONE ELSE
DRIVING AND PEDESTRIAN

I STOPPED 10YEARS AGO
MY OWN CHOICE
I REALISED I WAS A TOTAL MENACE TO EVERYONE ELSE
DRIVING AND PEDESTRIAN

The case was in the paper, if the police had had the power to take his keys the gitl would still be alive.

I believe her family and friends have a petition online
They are trying to get the law changed so the police have the power to temporarily suspend the driving licences.

I TOTALLY agree with Eldrick here. If there are regular retests then everyone else should have them too. If not we are making generalisations and being AGEIST!!

I was in a national driving competition in the 90s and the Police did tests on our reaction times.......guess what.....our reaction times varied, but not according to our ages!

Years ago an 85 year old man came to work part time as a driver where I worked. He was as safe as the safest driver I have travelled with and could park the van in the tiniest space effortlessly at the first attempt. He had been a long distance lorry driver most of his life and had been used to driving articulated lorries. Thank goodness his employer didn't write him off by making assumptions based on his age. How can you compare him eg. with the young women I know who say they daren't drive on motorways or in strange towns?

My FIL is 91 next month and still drives his little car locally. He is more mobile than me and runs up and down the stairs, does all his own garden and DIY. He doesn't drive at night any more, which I think is sensible with the glare you get from powerful modern car lights, but why take away his liberty because of a number?

I think we all agree that there are people on the roads that shouldn't be, but we shouldn't pick on the elderly. It makes me sick the times I see newspaper reports saying a car with a youth driving it 'left the road' like the car is at fault and did it on it's own, when usually it has been 'driven off the road' due to misjudging speed/conditions or being under the influence.

A large insurance company found most accidents women had were caused by being distracted by babies and squabbling children in the car. How would they like being told to use shank's pony or the bus!! :-D :-D

I think in the particular case mentioned, the failed eye test should mean a ban on driving and your licence taken until you sit another test, whatever the age.

Call it ageist if you like but I prefer to think of it as comon sense. There's a reason why air forces and airlines have retirement age for pilots.

As we get older our eye sight deteriorates and reaction time slows down. Those are facts, not opinions. It seems reasonable to me that people should be tested after reaching a certain age to be sure the roads are safer for the rest of us. It's plain selfishness to carry on driving when you know you aren't safe.

To say that some young/other drivers are unsafe is totally irrelevant to the point being made by the family of the girl killed.

If a person is confident enough to drive then s/he shouldn't feel threatened by the prospect of taking a test. If you think you might fail then maybe you shouldn't be driving at all.

I don't drive but I know my reactions have slowed down a little as I've got older, and I expect they will slow down even more. I hope I would never be arrogant enough to think it didn't matter and put other people in danger.

Gwynne

The tendency is always to think that legislation is the answer to a problem. More laws do not and never will solve anything. There is a price for freedom and we are consistently faling further into debt every time we legislate.

Elderly drivers quite simply are less of a problem than young drivers. Leave them alone - the system is fine as it is. Or if you want to tackle a real problem, make it illegal to drive under the influence of drugs. Oh, it already is illegal. Hmm. It hasn't worked.

I am not worried about taking a test. I might be a bit nervous, that is all, but it is only natural whatever your age.But, if you don't drive you probably wouldn't know.

Sylvia :-)

If people were less selfish and arrogant then legislation wouldn't be necessary, Eldrick, if only that were the case. I know of several elderly people who had to be forced into giving up by their families because they just were not safe, even though they believed themselves to be. And that's what this thread was about - elderly drivers.

I am reminded of Jasper Carrot's joke about an elderly driver who had been driving for 50 years and never had an accident - but had seen (caused) hundreds.

Maybe everyone should have to retake the test from time to time.

Gwynne

There are bad drivers in all age groups,male and female.
But I do have an elderly relative aged 92 who still drives
He should not be allowed to
But as the law stands he is fit to drive
My daughter and I stopped getting in his car years ago as we were scared stiff.
But he is of the opinion he is a great driver,and has been passed fit to drive by doctors
He is an accident waiting to happen,and if we could ban him from driving we would.How he has not been involved in a *road rage * incident I dont know.
His temper is vile,and he has been known to chase drivers who cut him up.He would assault them if they were standing in front of him.Of course at his age he would come of the worst .But he cant see that.
In his opinion he is............................................
The only perfect driver.
All other road users are in the wrong.
He is still as good as Stirling Moss,and can go twice as fast
This man should be banned,but in the eyes of the law he is fit to drive.
He wonders why his wife hardly ever gets in the car with him,and prefers her sons to take her out anywhere.
The only way he will stop driving is if he becomes involved in an accident that leads to his being banned ................................or killed, or injured so badly he can no longer drive
The law in this case is an ass
I do on the other hand know other eldery drivers that are very good and fit to continue driving

Cars and Roads do not cause accidents ,its the drivers, young or elderly,My opinion is that the newer drivers are not taught properly how to handle a vehicle or the road conditions,its time they where,I drive quite competantly and have done all my life with a clean licence and most places in the world,large and small vehicles and high powered ones.Also a lot of accidents are caused by inconsiderate pedestrians not looking where they are going or at the traffic conditions.Its time to stop knocking the drivers all the time,there are Idiots on the road ,but not all of us are.**M**.

While visiting my 96y/o uncle in New Brighton a few years ago, he had to go for renewal of his drivers licence. I was worried sick while riding with him, and my mother 92 at the time said "If there was another coat of paint on that other car, he would have hit it". I went with him for the "test" and waited in the car. He was back out in 10 minutes, and I asked if he had had an eye test. His response was that he had been asked if he cou ld see ___yds, and when he answered yes the licence was renewed. To my way of thinking, that didn't say much for the standards being applied. He finally gave up driving at 98, none too soon, when he emigrated to New Zealand to live with his daughter.

I had an Aunt [long gone now] who took 3 attempts to pass her test and there was no way she should have passed. She had no perception of others around her and was a menace to all within 100yds of the car! My Dad, her brother, refused point blank to go in that car when she drove.

However to get back to the original point I am wondering if this lady had a sat nav as I have personal experience of 1 incidents locally that when asked they all said "The Sat Nav told me to turn" Common sense should have told them it's a railway not a road but ..........
One was a man in his late 60's but the others were a young lad, just passed his test and even more worrying the 3rd was a woman in her 30's with 3 children in the car with her!

Perhaps the answer is to have everyone retested after a certain period regardless of age

It is a pity that the decision is left to individuals to be honest about their capability.

I think that, regardless of what we say now, when it is our turn to admit that we are no longer capable of driving safely we will all be very reluctant to admit it as it is relinquishing our freedom. Who really wants to admit to be too old to be doing something?

I think that from 70 onwards a certificate of road worthiness (or something) should have to be produced. I suspect that doctors/opticians would charge but at the very least we should have a certificate from an optician to say that we are capable of seeing properly (with glasses if worn). It would be no different to paying for the MOT on the car. Maybe there could be a reaction test similar to a hearing test. :-)

There is a suggestion that the MOT should be done every 2 years in place of the present 1 year.

If this comes about there should be an MOT on elderly drivers on the alternate years. This test could include, in addition to a driving test, a hearing and eyesight test.