Older drivers. Should we take a test at 75?

Prince Phillip was 97 when he had an accident in his car!!!!

I have thought this for many years. There are many more cars on the road these days and driving conditions are definitely worse than when I passed my test. If it was the law, we would all know it was coming. Reactions, eyesight and physical strength generally decline as we get older and we are not always aware of it. I would propose the first retest at 70, then 75 and after that 80. After the age of eighty, I think it should be an annual test. There could be a two strikes policy for each test so that if you fail one test you get a chance to retake it. If a second test is failed, then you could be offered the opportunity of a course of lessons with the test at the end being the final chance, or you could decide that this is the time to give up driving. Public transport needs to be improved at the same time otherwise, sadly. there will be more tragedies like this one - there have been several like this in the past, unfortunately.

I’ll be 70 next week and I recently had to reapply for my driving licence to comply with the DVLA guidance. I was surprised that the form was just ticking boxes to confirm that I was fit to drive and my eyesight remains good. It asked if I’d had a recent eye test but I wasn’t asked to provide a date or the name of the optician. So, really anyone can just tick yes to everything and send off the form.

If that was introduced, the market would be flooded with second hand cars😄😄😄

I cannot help thinking that the black box brought in for willing new drivers to help with their insurance costs, would be good if it was the norm for everyone. However yes I have seen some who can hardly react fast enough walking and I think we might all need confirmation of our abilities as we age so taking it out of families hands with a regular test might be helpful when we can’t face facts.

My husband is in his mid seventies and wants to sit another test, he is not a happy driver anyway and says that if he fails we will just have to get used to public transport. Tbh we use the trains and buses a lot already.
I certainly would not want him to still be driving in his 90s.
Better to be safe than sorry. Really sad 😞 news about the toddler killed.

Sorry dotpocka I'm not sure what you mean?

65 yearly //3 wrecks from over 70s last summer ,eyes and ears too

We were really concerned about my father in laws driving last year . He will be 95 this weekend. My hubbie and mil wanted to talk to him about it , but he just shut them down . He crashed his car in the end last summer . He was reversing out of a space in our local supermarket. He put his foot on the accelerator instead of the brake and shot back into parked car . They were so lucky no one was hurt . He's not driven since , I think , if he'd had to do some sort of test before the accident, he wouldn't have passed

I think that would be a sensible move. The Edinburgh case was horrific. I remember covering a court case years ago where an elderly man had pulled out from a side road and collided with a motorbike - the rider was killed. It later transpired that the elderly man's eyesight was so bad that he could legally be registered as blind. He should never have been behind the wheel. My FiL always told us to let him know if we felt it was time for him to stop driving, but luckily he came to that conclusion for himself before that time came.

Sorry.
I meant to say should be checked at maybe 70 and then repeated.

One of my friends wasn't fit to drive ever in my opinion!
My mother-in-law was still driving pretty well at 96 but was advised not to drive after a TIA.

I think it should be younger than 70 and repeated!

Reading the OP it does seem sensible.
I am 67, could I pass a test at 75 I don't know.
The driver in the above post should not have been driving. My heart goes out to the parents of the toddler.