that pensioners driving could be a danger on the roads

I havn't driven for some years now and when DH was diagnosed with alzheimer's we were told that as long as I was happy being in the car with him he was ok to drive as long as we notified DVLA and his insurance company.We had a very hard think about it and I persuaded him to surrender his licence although it has made life difficult for us and at first he was not happy at all. However many months on he woild be a danger on the road and he knows it. We have a friend of a friend who still drives alone and often comes home without the car as he can't remember if he went out in it or where he parked it if he did. This is madness to me. He is 82 and also has mild dementia.

OH is late 60s and me mid 60s- but this is not the age group being discussed here- is it? We all know many people who continued to drive when they really should not have. It took an accident for my mum. who just loved driving and had been driving from the age of 18- to stop. She was having regular mini-strokes and going blind- and should have stopped long before (she was about 85 when she stopped). It is not aobut age, per se- but fitness of body/eyes and mind that counts- surely.

I expect that since it appears to have started with Mumsnet they class 60yr olds in with 80+ yr olds!
I am in my early 60s and am perfectly safe driving. My mother gave up some years ago. I expect that I will have given up by my mother's age- but I have a long way to go yet!

The main problem is, that many people, and perhaps in particular men- find it very difficult to accept that they are no longer safe driving. It is perhaps one of the hardest thing to do, both the spouse and family, and for the GP- to persuade someone that they should give up driving. It is psychologically VERY difficult to accept this, as it is perhaps one of the biggest signs of losing independence.

In America research has shown that young people not older are much more likely to have accidents especially when they friends in their car.
However I think it is up to all of us to be responsible and refrain from driving when we know it is too much for us and , also, to take the keys away from our partners when it is too much for them. We have given our daughter permission to tell us when we should stop driving, just in case we haven't worked it out for ourselves. None of us want to give up our independence but at least we live on two bus routes.

We live out in the country and there's no public transport, so we depend on the car.
A few years ago husband had a series of accidents - he was really worried and went for various tests, they found nothing wrong. Since then he rarely drives, lost his confidence.
So it falls on me - I won't drive at night and get nervous on the occasions we have to go to Toulouse, to the airport or shopping - cars and lorries weaving in and out , changing lanes constantly. I soon won't have the nerve to do it.
In France your driving license is for life (unless you get 12 points and lose it.)
Another point is the quality of the car, state of brakes etc - elderly people often drive ancient cars.

All older cars, at least in the UK, have to pass the MOT each year so older cars should not inherently be any more dangerous than brand new ones. We have always driven old cars, we can list the cars we have owned that were less than 5 years old when we bought them, we have done it so rarely. Currently both our cars are over 10 years old, but that is not because we are old and cannot afford to replace them, but because we can afford to buy really good quality cars because we buy them old and drive them until they either become unreliable or catastrophically fail the MOT, when we scrap them.

We read our local paper every week and I would say that for every accident caused by an older driver there are ten or twenty caused by heedless young drivers, and they are certainly the cause of most of the fatal accidents.

Around here I've seen so many people still using mobile phones whilst driving - just as dangerous some older people. You don't have to be a pensioner to be dangerous on the roads - some cyclists are a pain in the proverbial too! Bring back the beat bobbie I say!

Earlier today I heard some horror stories about the driving of a local lady by someone who was about to be driven by her. to a funeral at their church. We both know she should not still be driving but don't know how to report this anonymously.
Thankfully they did arrive back home safely after the funeral!

Wrecking a car is a rite of passage for some young males. One who had just passed his test and whose mother had bought him a car, hit two other cars, a wall and wrought iron gate on the street outside my house. While the police were on the scene, the boy's mate was sending pictures of the crash to other friends with the message, 'look what we've done'. I don't think any of us seniors would be so gung ho, do you?

I think there should be some clear and known way of reporting those driving unsafely.

Some years ago I was hit on a roundabout by a car that was going slowly and had ample time to see me and break. The driver was young elderly but, I suspect, possibly had the start of some degenerative disease like Parkinson's that had drastically slowed down his reflexes. It was clear from later discussions with my insurance company that he had no idea of where I had come from or my speed. I did say to the insurance company that I thought he needed a medical assessment if he was to continue driving, but it seemed there was nothing that could be done.

I have a relative who is 80 and he is still perfectly able to drive to S Spain and back. But then he is generally very fit and active with no health problems. Fell over backwards in the flower bed and laughed. Did not need a hand up. People vary so much.
However I do think, given the rapidly increasing numbers of over 80s, that an eyesight test and maybe a driving re-test at 75 or 80 would be reasonable. My DIL's nan is still driving in her 90s and all she has to do is sign periodically that she is still fit to drive.

I am ok poddling around the country lanes where I live but am getting to hate motorway driving because of the speed and competition of other drivers. I feel intimidated by the lorries and do not want to speed with the testosterone maniacs. My children laugh at me but I feel you shouldn't drive where you feel unsafe. I am 71 and drive a mini, which doesn't help as people don't associate this car with a pensioner although we are the only ones who have an affordable insurance policy.

As most posters say, it's mainly the younger ones who have bad accidents but I hope I will give up driving if I ever feel I'm dangerous on the road.Having a car is a lifeline if you live in the country though. Same as others, I have noticed it's harder to drive at night nowadays, I never used to give it a thought.

It's not helpful to look at the issue by saying 'but younger people have more accidents for other reasons'- etc, surely. The fact one form of danger maybe bigger is irrelevant in many ways.

Again, it is not about age, per se- some older people are safe to drive at 80, or 90, and some are not. We all know people who should NO LONGER drive but still do- and there should be a way of putting concerns and requesting a safety test anonymously- really. Some of the older people here have no idea about lanes, how to use a roundabout, etc, and drive so slowly that they encourage others to take risks in overtaking- or they would be stuck behind them for hours on these mountain roads.

I have an older friend who has worked out the best petrol consumption is at 60- so he will drive at 60 more or less anywhere- be it on the motorway or on a snowy mountain road going downhill. I know just refuse to share his car when going to meetings here!

I think older unsure people stick out like sore thumbs when they drive, because they are so slow.

My stepfather will only drive locally now, much to our relief, because when he drove my sister and I back from my grandfather's funeral we hid down low in the back seats on the motorway, we were so embarrassed.

In Lincolnshire the Enemy was old men in flat caps driving painfully slowly and pulling out without looking. A farming friend said that it was because they were all retired tractor drivers, unable to get out of the habit of driving at 10mph and convinced that they had right of way at all times. One neighbour's niece (yes he had been a tractor driver) came round one day to try to get me to write a letter to his GP, saying that I thought that he was 'slightly unsound' and therefore unfit to drive. I refused, and a year later he did cause an accident as he pulled out of his drive without looking. I think the problem really was that the roads are so much busier and people do drive faster. I suspect his victim was speeding through our village and the accident was partly his fault, but there was no denying that Jim did treat the road like a farm track.

60km per hour, not miles btw!

someone has mentioned previously mobile phones - I only ever see younger drivers doing that. I have also seen a young man playing a hand held computer game whilst driving!

It seems tome likely that the doddering, non-observant hardly compos mentis elderly driver has probably never been any good... otherwise good habits would have carried over into the later years. That senior cit. driving too close behind you will always have driven like that, never understanding the need for thinking space, for example.

Not sure there- my parents we both excellent and confident drivers- always. My mum actually more confident in town as she commuted to the large town daily, in all weathers (and we do get a lot of snow and ice). But they did slowly become more hesitant and just plain 'bad'- making poor decisions and lacking in quick reflexes. Both were really good drivers until their 80s, but then it all went pear shape. Mum had an accident and ended up in a ditch, and gave up driving as she realised she could have killed somebody - but dad continued to drive until he went into an OAP home, aged 94. He had the sense to limit himself to driving locally- but still. He plainly refused to use public transport (which is very good) and just would not let go- and his doctor always passed him as fit- which he was, really.

Taking away the driving licence of an elderly person can be the hardest thing to do. Many families know full well their older relative is no longer safe to drive- and try to discuss it- and get flat denial and refusal. And it is very hard- as you know that if they kill a child or a family, etc- you would not forgive yourself for not having acted about it.

It's because it's the last little thread of independence before giving in to the feebleness and dependence of really old age.

oh, and I get it, totally- I would be devastated myself if and when the time comes. And yet- the dangers are just too great.

Flower of the West i have just had a similar experience while riding my bike as close as possible to the edge of the road. I was hit with no warning. A bystander called police and ambulance and charges were laid against the 82 year old driver for ' failing to share the road with a bicycle'. The driver proceeded to yell at me that she--'did--not--do--it--deliberately!' Not a word re if i was ok/hurt/or--- She then went to work getting names and addresses of witnesses and her passenger took photos of me and my bike! They certainly seemed to know what to do while i sat stunned with my bike on top of me in the road. Did she see me at all before she hit me ? The court performance may be enlightening.

amarmal - that is dreadful - I do hope you are OK.

I have Macular disease so my eyes are tested x2 a year, once by my optician and later in the year at the clinic. Both will be very quick to let me know that my eyes have not reached the minimum standard for driving.

I have not been able to drive in dusk or dark for years and nowadays I only drive locally. I could drive into the centre of London because I know the route so well but motorways are beyond me because I am terrified on them which is not good.

I would have to resort to mini cabs because I have problems walking and the bus stop is around 10 minutes walk away. Moving is not an option while my brain is still functioning because my house has been adapted to my needs.

I think that I may take up the IAM assessment. Thanks for that.