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Should Elderly Drivers Be Periodically Tested For Their Ability To Drive Safely?
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Just because this particular pensioner was unfortunate enough to seriously injure five young school girls, why should all other elderly drivers be forced to take further driving tests?
Just because this particular pensioner was unfortunate enough to seriously injure five young school girls, why should all other elderly drivers be forced to take further driving tests?
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Regarding retests.
Yes, I think that makes sense, but they should be an entirely different type of test.
Not the Highway Code, not theory or practical.
They should be cognitive and reaction time tests.
If you've been driving for 50 years, we can assume that you know how to drive, and you understand road rules. However, what may be in question is your ability to react quickly and correctly in a number of situations.
This is what should be tested.
It would be a brand new set of tests.
Yes, I think that makes sense, but they should be an entirely different type of test.
Not the Highway Code, not theory or practical.
They should be cognitive and reaction time tests.
If you've been driving for 50 years, we can assume that you know how to drive, and you understand road rules. However, what may be in question is your ability to react quickly and correctly in a number of situations.
This is what should be tested.
It would be a brand new set of tests.
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sp - the problem is similar to that of alcohol - as a culture we have grown up with driving as an intrinsic fact of life which all adults can have punt for if they fancy it.
What we have not done - as with alcohol - is adapt to the serious negative changes that have evolved - leaving us with serious issues as a society.
And the issue is the same as with alcohol - no government will opt to change anything, because it is electoral suicide.
What we have not done - as with alcohol - is adapt to the serious negative changes that have evolved - leaving us with serious issues as a society.
And the issue is the same as with alcohol - no government will opt to change anything, because it is electoral suicide.
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PiedPiper - //andy-hughes
It is an inescapable fact that with age comes a slowing down of reactions, deterioration in sight and hearing, and an increasing inability to deal with ever-busier traffic conditions.
The last bit is nonsense. A 70 year old driver will have experienced gradually the change from country lanes to busy motorways. //
Not true at all.
My premise is based on measurable deterioration in the human body - yours is based on spurious assumption that every driver goes from country lanes to lotorways in the course of a life, which is nonsense.
I am not seventy, but I am sixty-one and I passed my test at 17, and I can confirm the monumental changes in driving conditions during my lifetime.
For the record, I have driven country roads, town roads and motorways since the day I passed my test - I wasn't required to ease myself in by adapting to each road in turn.
Motorways were never not busy - they were just busy then, and death traps now!
The major change, apart from the sheer volume of cars now, is the utter absence of courtesy, consideration, and the ability to anticipate ahead - all of which have been eroded with the passage of forty-plus years.
It is an inescapable fact that with age comes a slowing down of reactions, deterioration in sight and hearing, and an increasing inability to deal with ever-busier traffic conditions.
The last bit is nonsense. A 70 year old driver will have experienced gradually the change from country lanes to busy motorways. //
Not true at all.
My premise is based on measurable deterioration in the human body - yours is based on spurious assumption that every driver goes from country lanes to lotorways in the course of a life, which is nonsense.
I am not seventy, but I am sixty-one and I passed my test at 17, and I can confirm the monumental changes in driving conditions during my lifetime.
For the record, I have driven country roads, town roads and motorways since the day I passed my test - I wasn't required to ease myself in by adapting to each road in turn.
Motorways were never not busy - they were just busy then, and death traps now!
The major change, apart from the sheer volume of cars now, is the utter absence of courtesy, consideration, and the ability to anticipate ahead - all of which have been eroded with the passage of forty-plus years.
PP - //What we have not done - as with alcohol - is adapt to the serious negative changes that have evolved - leaving us with serious issues as a society.
AH, I have no idea what that means. //
Apologies - fingers ahead of brain again - I meant to say that we have FAILED to adapt to the serious changes.
AH, I have no idea what that means. //
Apologies - fingers ahead of brain again - I meant to say that we have FAILED to adapt to the serious changes.
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Many elderly people are well aware of their frailties.
However they often therefore choose to drive on familiar roads at quieter periods. They often have the lifestyle to choose when to travel without time pressures imposed by work.
Often they will choose not to use the busy roads that they would have happily driven on when younger, or to embark on long journeys.
That is certainly the way I will operate when I am retired, and I hope the new young generation won't take my keys away unless I get dementia.
I will stop driving when I know I should.
However they often therefore choose to drive on familiar roads at quieter periods. They often have the lifestyle to choose when to travel without time pressures imposed by work.
Often they will choose not to use the busy roads that they would have happily driven on when younger, or to embark on long journeys.
That is certainly the way I will operate when I am retired, and I hope the new young generation won't take my keys away unless I get dementia.
I will stop driving when I know I should.
Hopkirk - //I will stop driving when I know I should. //
Me too - but plenty more don't, and that is the issue.
Maybe they feel as my FIL does - when my MIL was in hospital after a stroke, he accepted all offers from family to drive him to and from visits, and his car didn't leave the garage. Now she is home, she badgers him to take her around as he always has - she has never driven, and has no idea of the danger he is as a driver.
I have told her repeatedly that he is not safe, she simply advises me that he only 'goes local'. My assertion that accidents are not governed by the distance to your home, she looks at me in stony silence.
Me too - but plenty more don't, and that is the issue.
Maybe they feel as my FIL does - when my MIL was in hospital after a stroke, he accepted all offers from family to drive him to and from visits, and his car didn't leave the garage. Now she is home, she badgers him to take her around as he always has - she has never driven, and has no idea of the danger he is as a driver.
I have told her repeatedly that he is not safe, she simply advises me that he only 'goes local'. My assertion that accidents are not governed by the distance to your home, she looks at me in stony silence.
Also to add to the mix.
Perhaps those that fail multiple times at their test should be told not to bother?
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It seems that there is no failure if you have enough money to keep resetting the test. One wonders how safe they could be if it takes over a hundred tries????
Perhaps those that fail multiple times at their test should be told not to bother?
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It seems that there is no failure if you have enough money to keep resetting the test. One wonders how safe they could be if it takes over a hundred tries????
I'd agree cassa - there can be few other situations in which you consistently prove unsuitability to take a ton of metal onto public roads at fatal speeds - and you are still allowed to keep trying.
Driving is not for everyone - some people simply lack the skills needed, and they should be prevented from the constant feeling of failure, to say nothing of of the cost, and be declined further tests.
Driving is not for everyone - some people simply lack the skills needed, and they should be prevented from the constant feeling of failure, to say nothing of of the cost, and be declined further tests.
My MIL just turned 80 and I refuse to get in a car with her as I have for the last 10 years!! she drives like she owns the whole road drives above the speed limit, weaving all over the place.
we have suggested that perhaps as she lives 2 minutes out of town she would be better off getting buses or cabs, especially considering how much she would save by not insuring servicing taxing etc a car, but she refuses and states that it is her right to drive a car!
we have suggested that perhaps as she lives 2 minutes out of town she would be better off getting buses or cabs, especially considering how much she would save by not insuring servicing taxing etc a car, but she refuses and states that it is her right to drive a car!
I would think a simulator test would be most appropriate for the over-70s. The test could start at a level requiring basic sight and reaction ability, progressing gradually to more and more demanding situations. At the end of the test a consultation would make the driver aware of limitations and abilities. Failure to reach an acceptable level would result in suspension of licence or even confiscation.
I am approaching 75 and would be happy to take such a test.
I am approaching 75 and would be happy to take such a test.
30 % of age 17 to 21 age drivers have an accident in their 1st year after passing the test! That is why insurance premiums for them are so high. But 90% of those '17 to 21 age' drivers have the accident due to lack of experience and 'showing off'.
With over 70 age drivers, around 90% of their accidents are due to poor eye sight and/or distance/speed judgement.
There are fewer over 70 drivers , but their numbers are rising fast with us 'baby boomers' now reaching retirement. The situation will get much worse over the next 10 years.
With over 70 age drivers, around 90% of their accidents are due to poor eye sight and/or distance/speed judgement.
There are fewer over 70 drivers , but their numbers are rising fast with us 'baby boomers' now reaching retirement. The situation will get much worse over the next 10 years.
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