Should he still be driving at 97?

He can still drive on his estate so this should help him adjust

Its sad to accept that your driving days are over.

It is, he can be driven when and where he chooses but this doesn’t help lack of independence

There are 1000s and 1000s of people, mainly elderly, who should not be driving. My dad was one- he also gave up after an accident when no-one else was invoved. OH's dad too.

It is the hardest thing for relatives.

The woman who fractured her wrist in the accident is back on the front page

Oh for crying out loud. I don't buy this loss of independence rubbish. He's always been able to go where he wants when he wants and if he has to be accompanied by drivers and bodyguards so what??

DH had to surrender his licence at 65 due to a mild stroke which robbed him of his peripheral vision so I had to become the sole driver (not that I minded.) We didn't have chauffeurs at our disposal and DH's loss of independence meant that without caring friends he wouldn't have been able to pursue his hobbies or have some kind of life as he knew it.

Do I feel sorry for PP?

Do I heck!

Presumably his philandering days are well over so his need for privacy not quite so much as it was back in the day,so being driven shouldn't be a problem for him .Like Merlot says why on earth would anyone feel sorry for him,he's hardly gong to be stuck at home looking at four walls like most elderly folk who lose their licenses are .

My elderly neighbour who I mentioned was still driving at the age of 92 or 93 has, you might say, now given up her licence, too.

She simply didn't wake up one morning last week, it was all very peaceful, no illnesses or anything to contend with. She'll be missed, she was a character.

As we would all wish Suedonim. But still sad.
I'm not a royalist at all. But for goodness sake, it's sad when anyone has to admit they aren't safe driving any longer. He is a human being.

Seems he can’t be a human being annepl he is wealthy

If he were to die before the queen she wouldn’t suffer grief or her children because they are wealthy.

Ah well, he's relinquished his licence----keep death off the roads. Anyway, I'd want to be driven around at that age, for goodness sake !

Its not hard to show a little compassion. People have been too unkind on this thread I think.

annepl, would you still be saying unkind if he'd killed someone, a child for instance ? He could well have done.

But he didn’t kill anyone did he .

I feel sorry for anyone rich or poor who has to accept the limitations that aging causes .

Well I’m absolutely with merlot on this. Loss of independence? FFS. Do some of you know what real loss of independence is? Do you know about older people who can’t leave home on their own because of disabilities,? Who get so little social care, their homes and their bodies are not clean and they are ashamed? Who live with daily pain of waiting for hip or knee replacements?

Also to those of you who would were so dismissive of the woman’s injuries, she’s had to have a metal plate inserted.I excpect you think she’s making a song and dance about that as well don’t you because we all know having surgery is such fun and it’s not as though there will be any long term implications is there? Like not being able to benefit from an MRI should she need one in the future. How anyone could think what PP did in going out
driving so soon after the incident and without a seat belt was anything but a two fingered salute to us peasants is just, well, words fail me.

The morality or otherwise of certain acts ab should not be judged by outcome - not killing anyone is irrelevant in judging what he did. He could have.

Well, it seems he may be prosecuted for driving without due care and attention. That'll be interesting.

No way will he lose independence. Not with all the lackeys they have around them. Good grief! He's had a good crack of the whip.

Feel sorry for the woman with the broken wrist. Sounds really nasty. Shall we save the compassion for her?

Anniebach I feel much more sorry for me now I can't ride my bike so easily.

Then the Labour MP who lied about speeding should lose her licence for life because she was speeding and so could have killed someone.

I think Phillip should lose his licence , everyone done for speeding should be banned from driving for life, including police officers .

If the other person had been anyone else this would have been a non story! This woman is milking it for all its worth simply because it was P.P. He was blinded by the sun which is a problem for anyone whether they're 27 or 97. Crying all week?!! Oh dear! The roads are safer because P.P.,isn't driving anymore?! ONE old man (blinded by the sun) makes the roads safer?!! As if!! What a stupid comment. Wonder how much the papers paid her for this sob story!!

Maybe he should have lost his licence, maybe not! Perhaps the other car was speeding on a long straight road and failed to notice him, perhaps these ladies were chatting and not quite paying attention? Both situations would have to have be examined thoroughly before making a judgement. No seat belt would be an issue but not a contributory fact to the accident. The sun certainly would. There is often two sides to a coin.

If independence equals being free to go on the road and endanger innocent people then god help us all. Self indugent clap trap quite frankly. Some older people should just grow up and accept the realities of getting older- who’s the snowflake generation really?

Having his independence didn't mean turning out for the school run on a wet and windy day, driving elderly parents to hospital appointments ditto OH's, wearing grooves in various motorways to help with childcare, struggling to find a parking space in town, sitting in traffic jams in the rush hour, worrying about MOT, etc, paying for expensive repairs etc., etc.

It just amounted to giving his bodyguards the slip when he wanted to nip off and visit friends.

How many elderly people would happily surrender their licences if it meant a driver would arrive at the door whenever they felt like going out?

The royal family influence so many people I can only wish the duke had surrendered his licence long ago then others would have followed suit.
Now they can all wait until they are 97! God help us.

Back to his wealth as usual