How would you feel if you had to retake your driving licence in full- when over 70?

Having just come back from living in the
EU for 21 years (Spain and France) I changed my UK licence way back for firstly a Spanish, and then a French one. Now I cannot drive in the UK as I am not only over 70 but would have to re take a test since it is well over 50 years since my original English one ! NOT about to happen, so I will stick to taxis, busses and the metro ! In France the licence is for life unless a medical reason prohibits this. It IS somewhat dangerous when you get very old drivers on the road ...they are also able to buy little cars 'Sans Permis; which they can drive without a licence at all. Ha ha I did ask here if they did that and the answer was NO

Fernhillnana

Yes, I’d be up for it…think I need a refresher.

your council will do refreshers and assessments if you want to do it

knspol

I haven't driven much at all since DH retired as he always drives. Now he's ill and I'm doing more driving I find I have totally lost confidence especially if DH is with me when he turns me into a nervous wreck with his comments/criticisms/deep sighs! I would welcome some sort of test or compulsory refresher to give me a balanced view of my driving.

tell him he has two choices...to shut up or to walk. I had this conversation with my late much beloved DH when he started doing training for the IAM (advanced motorists) and RoSPA. In his keenness he started to comment on my (safe but lacklustre) driving. I told him once to shut up or leave the car and when we got home I asked him if he thought I was safe to drive (we were both in our 40's so not an age thing) he said yes I was safe but I could get through traffic better, overtake more and so on. I pointed out that I did not want to and just as I had to accept his style of driving, he had to accept mine. The penny dropped and we had no more problems. Personally I think your husband is being very rude and disresepectful and if I was telling him to be quiet, i would be using expletives to do so

Why are insurance costs so high for young people? Oh yes, they have the most accidents not the over 70s. I know a young female 24 years old who will drive miles on minor roads to avoid joining a dual carriageway. Just doesn't feel confident. At least she recognises her weakness as should drivers of all ages.

Yes, I’d be up for it…think I need a refresher.

I haven't driven much at all since DH retired as he always drives. Now he's ill and I'm doing more driving I find I have totally lost confidence especially if DH is with me when he turns me into a nervous wreck with his comments/criticisms/deep sighs! I would welcome some sort of test or compulsory refresher to give me a balanced view of my driving.

I haven't driven much at all since DH retired as he always drives. Now he's ill and I'm doing more driving I find I have totally lost confidence especially if DH is with me when he turns me into a nervous wreck with his comments/criticisms/deep sighs! I would welcome some sort of test or compulsory refresher to give me a balanced view of my driving.

I'd probably fail as I don't speed,cut in front of other drivers when overtaking,expect people to slow down when I am joining a road from a slip road especially when there is loads of space behind a vehicle where I can fit in, drive slowly on a roundabout allowing others to merge in, or park on the pavement. All the points mentioned must be standard tuition nowadays as so many do them!

I think a good idea, but I would be a nervous wreck and think I would fail. I passed first time in my early 20's, but have found as I've got older I don't enjoy it anymore and would rather get the train

I think 70 is far too young to make a test compulsory. I also think there should be gradations with limitations on the licence. After all we can drive a car and not HGV's so why not for some eyesight issues not driving after dark, or reactions not on a motorway.

My friends are hoping that very soon cars will be able to drive themselves on major roads so some of these problems will be solved.

I rather like to. In a new modern car - after lessons on how best to use all the new features.

We definitely need more control over older drivers. One local lady, over 90, was a complete menace. Her new car was covered in dents within weeks, but she denied ever hitting anything. She drove without glasses although she wore them for everything else. She was reported to the DVLA but nothing was done. She passed away recently and our town is now a safer place.

Peasblossom

Personally I don’t think saying that you need a car justifies continuing to drive when you are no longer safe.

I’m not saying that you are, just that it’s not a good enough excuse for endangering others.

It’s a decision we’re all going to have to make at some point ? We all know people who’ve continued to drive long after they are safe. Maybe we need someone to help us make that very difficult move.

Completely agree.

If everyone had to re-take the full driving test at age 70, I wouldn't mind but I like to see fairness. It should apply to everybody if it comes to pass.

I certainly think a proper medical should be carried out. Eyesight and reaction time very important.

However, they need to realise that they will have to supply hospital transport for people. At the moment, they do provide it but rely heavily on people being able to transport themselves to and from the hospital.

I wonder if perhaps, instead of the full test, a different sort of test could be devised. One which is more designed for experienced drivers.

It does also need to be remembered that many young people and middle aged people cause accidents on the road and I have a feeling that, statistically, older drivers come out well in this regard.

From past experience I think men are much more likely to carry on driving when they’re unsafe and people are less likely to tell them to stop. I will stop driving immediately if I even remotely think that I’m no longer safe.

Personally I don’t think saying that you need a car justifies continuing to drive when you are no longer safe.

I’m not saying that you are, just that it’s not a good enough excuse for endangering others.

It’s a decision we’re all going to have to make at some point ? We all know people who’ve continued to drive long after they are safe. Maybe we need someone to help us make that very difficult move.

I could get a bus to my local co op but wouldn’t be able to carry the shopping back. Plus the fact there’s only a bus every hour. I actually need to forget about all this though as it’s freaking me out more than covid! Thinking about it wed’ve struggled to get to the vaccination centre last week without a car.

outside the cities, public transport is very sparse, and even within them, many people live too far away from bus stops.

Do you honestly think that bus services will be improved in rural areas to help over 70’s that are no longer allowed to drive? Surely it would make more sense for over 70’s to have a regular medical and eye test. Lorry drivers have to do so. A lot of problems with older people driving may be to do with them being non compliant regarding their medication etc. DH and I had started to use public transport more and more before covid but both feel it will be a long time before we want to do so again. Our local surgery was closed down so we’d have to get a bus to the nearest town. The hospital was moved to the outskirts of town and is now two bus drives away. I’ve often had to rush my dogs to the vets over the years and there is no vet nearby. Everything in this country is geared up to people being able to drive and I can’t see that changing soon. My bladder can’t cope with long bus journeys for a start. My children would have to do so much more for me and it would be impossible for me to visit my son even though he’s only 20 minutes away by car as there is no direct bus to his house and I’d have to take a bus to another county only to come out again.

Goodness! I wouldn’t want the discrimination of being banned from motorways if my vision & fitness were ok at 75 ?
Most accidents happen on local roads anyway.

I think I would have no problem with over 75s being prohibited from driving on motorways - licences to expire automatically when that age is reached, and full vision test before a new one is issued with motorway prohibition written in. It would be unpopular, which is why 75 seems a more acceptable age. Compulsory retirement age in many professions.
Not something to be introduced overnight - people need good warn and time to adjust.
As many have said, bus and train services will need to be improved in advance, and we should all do what we can to support local corner shops etc.
This is a new version of reduced car use and for people who can't easily bike or walk long distances.

OH was sent for a test , he passed , but he was definitely not safe ! In the end I hid his keys in my dressing gown pocket , the spare key was lost ages before
Actually he didn’t make as much fuss as expected , the only sad thing was he decided his equally ancient friend wasn’t a safe driver and he stopped going out as much
Next week is the Anniversary of his death and all these little things come back to me , I wonder if I was as kind as I should have been ?

Peasblossom

I don’t see the problem. If you’re fit to drive you’ll pass the test.

If you don’t pass the test you’re not fit to drive.

If you think you’d fail the test, why are you still driving??

Absolutely agree! I'm under 70 at the moment but if the time comes and I fail the test then I should not be on the road!
I have had great difficulty over the last year trying to stop my now 98 year old mother driving! If there had been an automatic test at, say every five years after the age of 70, I'm sure she would have had her licence taken away years ago. She could not see any reason why her driving was not okay to carry on, and it developed into quite an unpleasant issue between us, especially as my brother was encouraging her to buy another car! I ended up using slightly deceitful means to stop her; contacting her optician, explaining the problem, and they called her in for an eye test. This revealed a problem with her peripheral vision, and they told her she could not drive any more! Problem solved or so I thought, but she forgot she had been told this. I contacted them again and asked them to send her a letter confirming what they had said. She was devastated as I expected and felt her independence had been taken away, and that she was being judged as incapable; something she hates. But it worked and she stopped! Fortunately she didn't kill anyone, but an automatic test applying to all over 70s would have been much more effective.

Sorry NotSpaghetti missed it. That’s a good website and I agree stats speak for themselves, not we individually observe, and what excellent drivers we may feel we are.

Whether we like it or not we are not as sharp or fit over 75 and this is borne out in national stats (also in car insurance rates).

I must be living in a different part of the country to most of you. One of the biggest problems I see on the roads is either younger men or men in 30/40s driving excessively fast, this I see almost every other day. A few days ago someone was speeding and overtook TWO cars very narrowly missing a car travelling in the oncoming direction to him.
I am not 70 as yet and by all means if people feel they no longer feel fit then surrender their licenses. I still feel fit enough to drive. Do you mean take the complete test as they now do the Theory test and then the actual driving test?
I passed my driving test 45 years ago and have never had any major accidents and have only had two speeding tickets and that was when they changed a road I had used a million times from 40 to 30 miles an hour. We have recently had many roads painted up with bus lanes luckily my son told me watch put for them as his partners father did not know they were totally for buses as they were so new and he drove in them. The way the council catch you out and bring in road revenue money.