older people are a "greater liability"

If I were you I'd just say if you want a day out I am driving. If she won't let you then no day out! I presume youre insured so can drivee her car.

It sounds as though she should quit motorway driving, though may be OK just to go to local shops and back in the daytime.

I am 65yrs old and my mother is just turned 93. She is a very very determined and independant old lady and can be very difficult. She also has macular degeneration but seems to have held on to her licence. She drives locally all the time and has never had an accident other than bumps on her car, but
I last drove with her as a passenger about 3 yrs ago and I was PETRIFIED! She drove her tiny Kia at 80mph down the motorway and when she took the East sliproad out on to the A30, not the West, she backed up the slip road and did a 3 point turn to get off. I got out of the car and was furious and thoroughly frightened. She told me I was a hysteric!
I am going down to visit her next week and unfortunately looks as if my DH will have to take the car for a couple of days and leave me without it. My mother wants us to have a day out to a small rural town in Devon about an hour from where she lives, which is also in a country area but involves some motorway driving.

I suggested that I drove her car when I came down as it was quite a long way , but she wouldnt have it at all and said it was her car and she would drive.
I really dont want to drive with her again as a passenger and am thinking of making an excuse to visit her at a later date when I have my car. And even then, she is likely to say that we take her car and she will drive.
Am I being unreasonable or a coward !?

Your own weakness of logic is exposed even in your previous post Anya, so I am not too surprised at your biased assessment of mine, or your rude and pointless attack.

I've noticed on other threads Mair that logic isn't your strong point..

The whole idea is preventive, Mair - to limit road accidents, any one of which, if they involve injuries, are a huge expense to our public services!

If the figures next year demonstrate that this has been successful, I don't think myself that a plate of cheese and salad sandwiches is either here or there! Now the spending of ' slippage' money at the end of a local authority's financial year is another matter altogether.....

Cass
Great idea though not sure you deserved "free" sarnies at tax payers expense! I can think of better uses for the moneY!

My partner and I (late 60's) have just been on a day's FREE Driver Refresher course for older people in Wales organised (with the help of EU funding - make the most of this!) and delivered by the person who used to be in charge of all the police driver training in our area.

It was a mixture of presentations/questions and answer sessions, films and practical out on the road supervised driving. It was all voluntary, and whether you did well or there was 'room for improvement' no-one's licence was at risk!

It was encouraging, supportive, helpful empowering,and thoroughly worthwhile. We would recommend it to anyone. Not sure whether it is available all over the UK but worth Googling to find out. Anyone else been on this?

( We found out about it via an'Ageing Well' day at our local leisure centre).

N.B.Free sandwiches, too!

Gosh, I know what my DH would say if I commented that his driving was not at his best! And it wouldn't be " Oh Dear".
DD1 has instructions from me, to broach the subject when she thinks the time has come.(He's only 67, now) I don't drive and she has passed her Advanced Drivers test.

This should be a matter for each person to decide although there are cases where relatives can see the need to stop. As the statistics are not against older drivers this is punitive and needs to be resisted as firmly as possible. Fortunately there is still plenty of competition so although it takes time and patience we should wherever possible ditch insurers who are taking advantage of us.

In numbers I am 80 but feel more like 60. My wife, who is also a driver, is frequently able to assess my driving and to comment if she thinks I am not driving at my best. That includes driving in other countries around the world. Perhaps all that experience has helped me to maintain a reasonably good standard. To be sure I took an AIM test and came out with an average result which is good enough for normal driving in the UK.

I intend to continue to drive as long as my faculties permit and will fight for fair insurance premiums.

I would dread being without my car,scruffy though it is, as I now have osteo arthritis in one foot.

Your situation sums up why a little leeway and humanity should be shown towards older citizens driving! Most GPs understand this. Its horrible to see the punitive attitude of some (weirdly it seems to be mostly lefties) keen to prevent many older people driving by putting them (and all of us eventually) through very stressful tests which could lead to loss of license.

I presume these people are themselves either well located in urban areas thus do no need cars, or else are so arrogant about their own driving they cannot imagine failing!

WW
They already have to (from Jan 2015), with some exemptions such as if theyve lived in Spain over two years.

Many countries are not as soft on foreigners as Britain is.

I have been driving for 55 years without an accident though my car does bear a few scrapes and scratches and I have been on two speed awareness courses. Either I have a heavy right foot or I've been unlucky with speed cameras - I prefer the latter explanation. I would dread being without my car,scruffy though it is, as I now have osteo arthritis in one foot. I really appreciate those speed indicators they place on main roads to tell you that you are exceeding the speed limit - or not. I'd like to see a lot more of them.

Imagine the panic amongst all the ex-pats in Spain if Spain decided the same

I do think drivers should retake a test at 70, and against every 5 years. There are some very bad old drivers in the roads and some excellent ones. We need to weed out the ditherers, the incompetent and the just plain dangerous.

Outright ageism.Old people are not the biggest hazard.

If you want to remove dangerous drivers why not make everyone redo the test every ten years? Anyones driving can deteriorate at any age.
And certainly foreign drivers should have to do OUR test after an initial grace of say three months.

I had my first accident last year, after over 50 years of driving. I had just turned 80. No-one was hurt TG but it upset me a lot, we live out in the country, no public transport.
I believe that if anyone is injured the Police are involved and the consequences can be bad. Which is as it should be.
And your license and insurance are withdrawn.
In France a driving license is for life, though they're talking of introducing tests at 70.

I do think drivers should retake a test at 70, and against every 5 years. There are some very bad old drivers in the roads and some excellent ones. We need to weed out the ditherers, the incompetent and the just plain dangerous.

A friend of mine in her 70s who competes in sailing competitions regularly drives abroad towing her Mirror dinghy. She would pass any test with flying colours.

I am almost 73 and drive a large powerful car. I the last 4 years I have driven 50K miles in it including driving between Portugal and England and back on my own. So I definitely don't feel that 50 is old in terms of driving. My Mum was 50 when she started to learn to drive. She gave up driving at 70 simply because my Dad, a non driver, kept nagging about the expense of running car when they had a free bus and tube pass.

Ana that was me twice in 5 yrs. 39 and 41 mph coming down hills out of one county, on open uncomplicated roads, that just over the border in our county where I do most of my local driving would have been 40mph.
Not for a while now I am used to those roads. I am not one who speeds because they can.

As usual there is no joined up thinking! If older people are not supposed to drive we need regular public transport, especially in rural areas.
If people will be expected to work until they are 67yrs it is totally impossible, if they live in a village, unless they have a car!
My mother didn't even learn to drive until she was almost 50 yrs - she had 30 yrs of accident free motoring . She doesn't drive now that she is over 90 yrs but she has moved into a town.
My brother and sister-in-law live in a small hamlet - no buses at all.
It is self regulating - the really elderly who still drive generally only go a few miles from home.

DH's Uncle George is 97 and still driving, though not usually very far. He has had no accidents or points on his licence, and it gives him his independence as he lives on his own and does everything for himself. He is not a bad driver but you probably wouldn't want to be behind him (grin)

Exactly. The ability to drive is an absolute lifeline for many old people, and they probably present far far less of a risk to others than many younger drivers who arent the best, if only because they drive less and very cautiously.

I remember my Dad when he was in his seventies and was still driving. He was very stubborn and pig-headed and would always hog the outside lane on motorways, driving the other drivers mad and making them take risks to pass him as he did drive rather slowly. I remember once I drove down to the roundabout to help him to find the way back to Wales and pointed to the direction he should take and he drove around the roundabout the wrong way. I knew he should give up, as I thought he would end up causing a serious accident, but he wouldn't listen to me. He died at 81 before he did cause an accident, but I felt it was just a matter of time.

DH's Uncle George is 97 and still driving, though not usually very far. He has had no accidents or points on his licence, and it gives him his independence as he lives on his own and does everything for himself. He is not a bad driver but you probably wouldn't want to be behind him (grin)
Fair warning if you live in North Wales.

I'm 71 and an Advanced Motorist. Better than many a young person. Never had a point on my licence or an accident

To qualify for a National Speed Awareness Course the driver’s speeding needs to be within certain limits for example in a 30mph zone, your speed needs to be between 35mph and 42mph. On motorways, the figure needs to be between 79mph and 86mph. Furthermore, you will not be offered a Speed Awareness Course if you have taken one in the three years prior to your most recent speeding offence.

So it seems quite possibly true that the man was doing 84 mph (on a motorway)- I didn't know that!

I thought it was for 'minor' speeding offences, i.e. anything less than 10mph over the speed limit.

I went on a course myself three years ago, and it was actually quite informative!