The elderly behind the wheel

SteppenHerring

Well, given that the elderly are a meance on the roads and that social care costs are crippling the country, I think there's an obvious solution emerging (and it might involve Jenny Agutter getting undressed).

More seriously though, like CiB's my parent's live out in the sticks (not that far more Bicester actually) and there is hardly any public transport to speak of. They're both still fairly sharp at the moment but there will come a point when they won't be safe to drive.

rick_chasey

Pretty sure in Holland you're limited to driving a glorified buggy limited at 40 or 50kph over a certain age unless you can re-pass your test.

CiB

bails87 wrote:

I think the general consensus was on retests, not that everyone over some really old age like 40 should be banned from driving.

If someone is properly tested and shown to be unsafe then they shouldn't drive.

There are plenty of suggestions in this thread that the elderly should 'have their license revoked' (WT... - where are we? California?). I reckon by & large the current system works well enough. It's not perfect but unless there was a two-tier test (hard & complex to keep the youth off the roads until they grow up a bit, easy nod-through for anyone but the most incapable pensioner) the end result would be vast numbers of housebound pensioners who might not be great but tend to know their limitations and aren't that much of a hazard. As we're always being told, a handful of anecdotes isn't a valid statistical sample.

msmancunia

I think the current system could be better enforced. I know people who have no intention of stating that they are no longer fit to drive. You'd have to prise my uncle's fingers off his steering wheel to get him to stop.

If you aren't fit to drive, then you shouldn't be behind the wheel of a car, no matter what your age. My bro and his girlfriend both suffer from epilepsy (they met at epilepsy club :shock: ) and neither of them have ever driven, which can be really inconvenient for them.

In an ideal world we'd have perfect public transport, especially in remote areas. But we don't - I live 8 miles outside Manchester City Centre and in the evenings even I'm limited to one bus or one train an hour. So until that improves, people are going to continue to drive, whether they should or shouldn't.

Initialised

My grandma stopped driving after swerving round a bus then hitting the gas instead of the brake, and sending a telegraph pole through someone's conservatory.

Theory test every five years, full re-test if you fail and re-test within a year of any points accumulating offence or insurance notifiable collision to clear the points early. Lifetime ban for any KSI, over £5k worth of property damage or road rage.

Would do more for road safety than a can of blue paint.

First.Aspect

I agree that something has to change. Driving is harder than its ever been in some ways. The cars are easier to driver, but the roads are so cluttered.

However, I have to say that proportionally, very very few incidents I get involved in result from older drivers. Those that do are usualy slow speed.

peat

First Aspect wrote:

I agree that something has to change. Driving is harder than its ever been in some ways. The cars are easier to driver, but the roads are so cluttered.

Indeed. The roads are completely different from when they 'learnt' to drive (Pull forward, and stop. Congratulations, you have passed your driving test) plus now the modern cars totally de-skill the driver so you have half-asleep morons who use the throttle pedal as a switch (on/off), tearing around at silly speeds totally oblivious to thier own mortality.

Put everyone on a bike once a week. Sorted.

meanredspider

I won't express my opinions other than to say that Dr Shipman should have received a knighthood!