Geriatric drivers!

The law seems to be pretty sketchy around this issue, or at least enforcement of any laws does.

I've known a number of people who have decided for themselves that they're no longer safe to drive.
Usually to the relief of their friends and families.

They may well cling to their cars eazybee but if they’re unsafe, that’s just wrong.
A lot of people, myself included, made what we thought our last move, to somewhere more urban with easier access to public transport and facilities, I don’t intend to carry on driving at any cost when either I, or someone else, tells me I’m not safe.

there are depressingly frequent incidents of elderly people driving automatics causing accidents by pressing the wrong pedal.
i first noticed this when i was nearly a victim years ago, as a car roared over the pavement and embedded itself in a lamp post.
but many younger people drive aggressively.

eazybee

I am attending a family party tomorrow about nineteen miles away., held to compensate for a much reduced covid wedding. To drive there takes half an hour and costs about £4; to go by bus takes one and a half hours and costs £7, last bus arrives 7.30pm, next one available Monday.
Taxi costs £50 at least one way, more later in the evening.
Fortunately I have scrounged a lift, which I hate doing; as few people are coming from the same direction it was difficult. Since I retired I have done my share of driving people about who don't/can't drive, and I know how reluctant many people are to go even slightly out of their way to give a short lift.
This is is why the elderly cling on to their cars.

And risk injuring innocent people

I was awaiting for a storm of protest, but yes, I also know too many stories of very elderly people driving without due care and attention.

I worked in elderly care for years, and as touching as it was that spouses still visited, their driving was often questionable.

Bearing in mind that I've never been able to drive, of course.

MapleleafAwful younger drivers will often get better with experience, older drivers will not improve their driving with age.

I agree with retesting at 70. I already will not drive on motorways as am to nervous around lorries and cannot seem to drive over 50 mph.

My friend’s mother still drives short distances at 95. Her family have done everything they can to stop her but she waits until she’s alone and then goes out. No reason why she shouldn’t legally drive but it’s a worry for them as they feel her reactions must be slower at her time of life.

eazybee I don't dispute your figures and it's certainly true that taxi/public transport are more expensive for many. But I'm also reminded of a list of costs produced by the AA (some years ago now, I think more than 10 so things will have gone up) that showed the actual costs of running a car including capital outlay/depreciation.

The costs were calculated not just on average, but depending on the size of the car and the annual mileage. The bottom line was it cost at least £9/day and potentially considerably more. So a lot depends on how often you have to pay that £50 cab fare.

I passed my driving test at the age of 25. I started to develop the kind of bad habits that enable you to fail your test, at about 25 and a half. I'm certain few of us have our hands at 'ten to two', can reverse round corners beautifully etc. When I lived and had to park my car on a main road, I could fit into minute spaces in seconds. I lost that facility the week after I moved.
And of course there's the ever-changing written test on the Highway Code.
Those who've driven a year or two might think they could pass their test tomorrow, but could they?

I am attending a family party tomorrow about nineteen miles away., held to compensate for a much reduced covid wedding. To drive there takes half an hour and costs about £4; to go by bus takes one and a half hours and costs £7, last bus arrives 7.30pm, next one available Monday.
Taxi costs £50 at least one way, more later in the evening.
Fortunately I have scrounged a lift, which I hate doing; as few people are coming from the same direction it was difficult. Since I retired I have done my share of driving people about who don't/can't drive, and I know how reluctant many people are to go even slightly out of their way to give a short lift.
This is is why the elderly cling on to their cars.

When I see people who can’t manoeuvre their car in and out of supermarket parking spaces in my opinion they shouldn’t be driving,
When I see older people leaning forward clutching the steering wheel for dear life and peering myopically over the top, I despair.
If you are not competent or confident stop driving! Just as cheap probably to take taxis when you need to as it is to lay road tax insurance etc etc.
My mother had a monetary lapse in concentration ..no harm done…when she was early 80’s and came home and never drove again, although she was one if the best drivers I knew. I take my hat off to her for that decision.

My DF was still driving at 92! He was excellent, but a lorry hit him, his car was written off and he decided not to buy another. I guess he was a one-off.
I’d be interested in a ‘fit to drive’ assessment Quizzer. How did you get one?

I have two dents in my treasured car. Both inflicted by ladies circa 25 who simply weren't paying attention.

In a shoppers car park earlier we spotted a little white haired old lady driving the wrong way in the system - cars were backed up, horns further back were blaring. A driver at the front of the queue (leading the pack going the right way) leaned out and shouted across “you’re going the wrong way love”. I expected her to try a 3, 5 or even 7 point turn, but no, she ploughed on ahead going her own way, regardless. We parked our car and as we walked past the red car who had tried pointing out the error of her ways, the wife sighed and said “what a performance eh? And after my husband tried telling her she just stuck two fingers up at him”. Charming old dear. Not.

A very elderly man pulled out of a side road in front of me yesterday. I had to slam on my brakes to avoid hitting him. He then proceeded to turn right very slowly. The most worrying thing was that he was completely oblivious to what he had done in almost causing a collision.

Here (Denmark) the mandatory medical certificate needed by drivers over 70 has been done away with, as retirement age is approaching 70 now.

The reasoning is that we live longer, and no-one is taking into a account that although that is true we do not on average remain healthy or retain good eye-sight and reflexes past 60 - something!

It took a misjudged encounter with a fire engine for my Dad to realise it was time he gave up driving. He was trying to move out of the way but picked the wrong way. Fortunately no serious accident, just a scrape. He was over 80.

Yes, there are some awful older drivers, but equally, there are some awful younger drivers too.

GagaJo

My grandad was still driving in his 80s and really shouldn't have been. He admitted to me that he couldn't drive unless he had a car in front to follow.

Mine too - and he had obtained his licence before 1934 so never had to pass a test..

My grandad was still driving in his 80s and really shouldn't have been. He admitted to me that he couldn't drive unless he had a car in front to follow.

When my 70th birthday was looming I had a form from DVLA asking about my general health and eyesight. These aren't followed up as far as I know; the DVLA accepts the answers given but that doesn't stop an older driver being untruthful and having his driving licence extended. I agree with Quizzer that there should be a test when you reach 70. With people living longer it is inevitable that the number of older drivers will increase. Bringing in a test will weed out the demon drivers.

Certainly in NSW, Australia we need a medical and eye sight test at the age of 75. Also at the age of 85 you must take a test if you wish to drive further than 25kms. Not sure where the 2 yearly eye sight test is required.

Blossoming

Isn’t there a retest at 70?

No, but you have to reapply and confirm your fitness to drive, in your own opinion. After that, your licence must be renewed every three years.

Certainly in Australia, over 70s have to be retested every few years .
Not a bad idea, along with mandatory eye tests for all drivers every 2 years.
Having worked in an opticians for a number of years, I could tell horror stories about people that really were not up to standard visually for driving, including one chap that was in his early 70s and basically only had peripheral vision in one eye - turns out he worked as a taxi driver!!!

Isn’t there a retest at 70?