Too old/infirm to drive?

[Jon M]

One of those subjects that comes up every so often, but brought to my attention abruptly this week.

I was on the way home down the A4 between Newbury and Theale, following a dark blue peugot 306.
All seemed normal until the 306 started drifting slowly left and eventually hit the curb and swerved back into the middle of the lane.

I was obviously very careful to give this driver a lot of space now, but could easily see that it was an older lady driver, in the stereotypical wheel hugging posture.

I kept watching, and as I did so, she started drifting into the middle (right) I was just about to start flashing and hitting my horn when she suddenly swerved again back to the correct line.
She continued doing this for about 3 miles.
It seems she was not able to see well enough where she was going, as the drifting was only corrected when she either bumped the curb or ran over cats eyes in the centre. Consistently on every bend of the road, she would lose her driving line.

What was most worrying though was that she wasn't doing the normal 20mph of a standard geriatric whilst doing all this, but closer to 50!!

Now, the point I'm getting to is that I've for a long time been of the opinion that drivers over 50 or 60 should at least have mandatory medical checks or even be periodically re-tested full stop.
I saw my late granddad doing very similar things and almost causing an accident while I watched him, thankfully he made the sensible decision to stop driving not long after that.

I'm not saying that old = bad driver, far from it, there are extremly bad drivers from every age group. My argument is that medically, a driver needs to be fully capable, otherwise they're putting themselves and others at risk.

Your thoughts please.

I think people should have to pass some sort of driving test to demonstrate their safety every 5-10 years. Its ridiculous that you pass your test and then after that your allowed to drive until your 75, untested as well. (i think its 75)

[gazzae]

I think that overall driving tests need to be more advanced. Make them tougher. I drive a lot, and the amount of people I see who don't even know how a simple roundabout works is shocking!

I'm lucky, touch wood, that in my 7 years of driving not to have a single accident. But the amount of near misses I've had is scary! Mostly from people who are in the wrong bloody lane on a roundabout and decide to cut across me to make their exit!

With regards to older people, I don't really think they worse drivers, some are but as you say thats the same as every age group. Maybe everyone should have to do a refresher test every 10 years or so.

[Nugget]

Isn't it once you reach 70 that you have to have various checks (*rummages in coat pocket to find licence*) - yep, my licence expires the day before my 70th birthday.

One of the problems with some older drivers is what they learnt in. A great uncle of mine learnt to drive during the war, so he learnt in a tank! Unfortunately, as he got older, he had a tendency to drive everything like a tank, which was a slight problem (none of the rest of the family would get in the car with him).

At the end of the day, as long as you're fit and healthy (with good eyesight etc), I see no reason why you shouldn't carry on driving until you want to stop but, as with all age groups, there really are some appalling drivers who 'spoil the record'.

[orangebird]

Originally Posted by s1lv3r

One of those subjects that comes up every so often, but brought to my attention abruptly this week.

I was on the way home down the A4 between Newbury and Theale, following a dark blue peugot 306.
All seemed normal until the 306 started drifting slowly left and eventually hit the curb and swerved back into the middle of the lane.

I was obviously very careful to give this driver a lot of space now, but could easily see that it was an older lady driver, in the stereotypical wheel hugging posture.

I kept watching, and as I did so, she started drifting into the middle (right) I was just about to start flashing and hitting my horn when she suddenly swerved again back to the correct line.
She continued doing this for about 3 miles.
It seems she was not able to see well enough where she was going, as the drifting was only corrected when she either bumped the curb or ran over cats eyes in the centre. Consistently on every bend of the road, she would lose her driving line.

What was most worrying though was that she wasn't doing the normal 20mph of a standard geriatric whilst doing all this, but closer to 50!!

Now, the point I'm getting to is that I've for a long time been of the opinion that drivers over 50 or 60 should at least have mandatory medical checks or even be periodically re-tested full stop.
I saw my late granddad doing very similar things and almost causing an accident while I watched him, thankfully he made the sensible decision to stop driving not long after that.

I'm not saying that old = bad driver, far from it, there are extremly bad drivers from every age group. My argument is that medically, a driver needs to be fully capable, otherwise they're putting themselves and others at risk.

Your thoughts please.

Agreed entirely - Risking being ageist here, but a lot of older drivers (I'm talking late 60's, early 70's) don't seem to have the ability to weigh up dangers, think ahead of their actions etc etc. An old lady I used to live near almost killed herself, pulling out of her driveway on the bend of a fast road and not speeding up over approx 20mph... cars travelling along this road (the A342) didn't have a hope in hell of slowing down enough not to hit her (even if they were only travelling along at 40-50mph....I also find it bloody infuriating when OAPs in their new cars insist on driving everywhere at 40 mph - thorugh 30 zones, on motorways, minor roads etc etc. In my mid this kind of driving is just as dangerous as careless driving/speeding etc....

[Maggy J]

Ummm! As a 51 year old female driver I think that everyone should have a mandatory eyesight test that is rather better than the "can you read that number plate over there" which was all that I was obliged to pass when I took my driving test back in 1990.

If one is fit,has good eye sight and passed a driving test then I think you should be allowed to drive.However once one reaches say 50/60 perhaps there should be some test based as much on physical capability as on knowledge of the road.One's reaction times do slow down with age after all.

Incog.

Have you ever noticed that most of the dodery and dangerous drivers wear a cap whilst driving

[Maggy J]

Originally Posted by gary_580

Have you ever noticed that most of the dodery and dangerous drivers wear a cap whilst driving

Phew! That lets me off then.

Originally Posted by Incognitas

Ummm! As a 51 year old female driver I think that everyone should have a mandatory eyesight test that is rather better than the "can you read that number plate over there" which was all that I was obliged to pass when I took my driving test back in 1990.

If one is fit,has good eye sight and passed a driving test then I think you should be allowed to drive.However once one reaches say 50/60 perhaps there should be some test based as much on physical capability as on knowledge of the road.One's reaction times do slow down with age after all.

Incog.

people do also pick up bad habits that become their normal driving style which could be dangerous. 5-10 year testing could help correct this. Some people are dangerous and dont actually realise they are.

[ian@huth]

Originally Posted by orangebird

Agreed entirely - Risking being ageist here, but a lot of older drivers (I'm talking late 60's, early 70's) don't seem to have the ability to weigh up dangers, think ahead of their actions etc etc. An old lady I used to live near almost killed herself, pulling out of her driveway on the bend of a fast road and not speeding up over approx 20mph... cars travelling along this road (the A342) didn't have a hope in hell of slowing down enough not to hit her (even if they were only travelling along at 40-50mph....I also find it bloody infuriating when OAPs in their new cars insist on driving everywhere at 40 mph - thorugh 30 zones, on motorways, minor roads etc etc. In my mid this kind of driving is just as dangerous as careless driving/speeding etc....

Don't forget that not having a hope in hell of slowing down enough not to hit her means that the drivers were not driving to their ability to avoid an accident. Most younger drivers believe that they have superb reaction times and that this is enough to enable them to avoid any accident unless a doddery old fool gets in the way. They also take it that any speed limit is there as the minimum speed that everyone should be driving at. The reality is that you should drive according to road conditions and in a manner that you can avoid any potential hazard that may present itself. Just have a look at insurance premiums to see which age groups are most likely to be involved in RTAs and which age groups get the cheapest preiums.

[Nugget]

Originally Posted by Incognitas

Phew! That lets me off then.

Do you drive in disguise then, Incog?

[zoombini]

It would be good if there was a "report a bad driver" line, where other drivers could take the number plate & report it (after pulling over to use the phone).

Too often we see someone really bad etc & they can just continue doing so because there is never a police car around when they do this.

[willo]

I think the onus should be taken off the doctors in deciding if someone should keep their license when they are knocking on a bit. A family doctor may be influenced by other considerations, for example they may be swayed form taking a license away if they know that the person was very reliant on their car.

[mrmassive]

I waz returning from skeggy to Lincoln and i had to break hard when you come across 2 ol biddies in a car doing 20 on a 60 limit road

[mrmassive]

Originally Posted by willo

I think the onus should be taken off the doctors in deciding if someone should keep their license when they are knocking on a bit. A family doctor may be influenced by other considerations, for example they may be swayed form taking a license away if they know that the person was very reliant on their car.

Don't you mean driving round in a Robin Relaint.