Is it time to have an age limit for driving on the road?

[Robert Elise]

WinstonWolf said:

We all decay at a varying rate,

and mature at a varying rate. Some 17 yr olds will be sensible, cautious yet not nervous or insecure. some 30 yr olds otoh....

young men are after all, programmed to be a little reckless. and girls like it too. (i need to quote the research but can't be a***d, but it explains why sensible girls still ride pillion - before securing their mate!)

[ShaunTheSheep]

Johnnytheboy said:

even if failing it has fairly limited consequences.

I like this idea, a test every 5 years that sets your road tax rate for example.

Incentive to do well but not the end of the world if you do poorly.

[tankplanker]

WinstonWolf said:

We all decay at a varying rate, it's not how old you are, it's if you're still competent and safe to drive. I'd be in favour of a re-test every ten years till retirement then more frequently the older you get. As an aside, I think driving standards would increase if everyone knew they had to keep their standards up for life.

We had a wrong-wayer yesterday, she must have travelled a considerable distance to get to the point of impact

http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/travel/lat...

I've long been in favour of mandatory retests for everybody regardless of age. You could even trigger a retest instead of the stupid speed awareness courses that persistent speeders only pay lip service to, they'd still generate income but they'd be a bit more meaningful in terms of improving road standards.

I'd also like a separate test for Motorway driving.

[Pistachio]

What I would say is that mandatory yearly/bi yearly eye checks be done as I truly believe that a lot of people don't even know they are deficient in the ophthalmic department.

[Rick101]

I'd happily pay £50 or £60 whatever the going rate is nowadays for a retest every five years. I pay more than that for my IAM & RoSPA fees. It's a small amount against the running of a car.

It's not just old drivers. There are plenty of nobheads out there that shouldn't be on the road.

[smithyithy]

Rick101 said:

I'd happily pay £50 or £60 whatever the going rate is nowadays for a retest every five years. I pay more than that for my IAM & RoSPA fees. It's a small amount against the running of a car.

It's not just old drivers. There are plenty of nobheads out there that shouldn't be on the road.

I think many of us can agree this is the ideal 'solution', but sadly one that probably would never be passed

[Mr2Mike]

CorvetteConvert said:

0000 said:

So we need to add age limits until there are no accidents left at all?

We already do, you can't drive if you are too young.

Explain why young drivers represent the highest risk group on the roads then?

CorvetteConvert said:

Too old is just as relevant.
You don't get A and E staff working at 90 years old, shall we let them work until they are 100 as well?

How about judging people on their abilities rather than an arbitrary number? It was a tragic accident without a doubt, but do you think the family would have felt any better if it was caused by a young driver?

[silverfoxcc]

On the A321 just south of Evendons lane Wokingham there is a small series of S bends with double whites, it is also a 30 limit.which is just the right speed

I had a person in a small foreign car try and overtake me in this stretch

Old... No
Rust bcket... No


Chav type under 25yr old with reversed baseball cap Yes
Slammed and stanced Peugeot Yes

He suddenly got his single brain cell working and decided to abort this action.
Must have had superb eyesiteas as a Mould Demolition 8 wheeler rigid was coming towards us.
I dont think my first aid training would have helped him should he had carr

[Jagmanv12]

An arbitary age is not the way to go.
Re-test every five years at any age might weed out the bad drivers who can be any age.

Would I get in the car of a friend who is in his 80's? Yes because I know he's a good driver.
Would I get in a car with a 20something driver who'll be texting? Not bloody likely.

[eztiger328]

The law needs changing sharpish, how many young families need to be torn apart by some demented entitled old duffer driving the wrong way down the motorway.... again.

Christ its almost a monthly event now.

Where I work and commute is full of these terrible old drivers, even this morning on my drive to work 5 mins prior some stupid old women decided to drive her car out of a T junction into the side of another old duffer, no doubt the old accelerator instead of brake cliche... again.

I was watching old episodes of Top Gear from 1992 on youtube yesterday and even back then it was proven that they were far more unsafe.

But the grey vote is powerful and until the boomers & their children are dead and have been replaced with license holders that have had to pass far more stringent tests (2000 onwards) nothing will change.

[Mr2Mike]

eztiger328 said:

The law needs changing sharpish, how many young families need to be torn apart by some demented entitled old duffer driving the wrong way down the motorway.... again.

With all due respect, bks. Why are you ignoring all the accidents caused by the rest of the population and instead focusing on a small contribution from a specific age group?

This is like banning people from fishing from a pier to fix the dwindling amount of fish in the sea.

[smithyithy]

eztiger328 said:

The law needs changing sharpish, how many young families need to be torn apart by some demented entitled old duffer driving the wrong way down the motorway.... again.

Christ its almost a monthly event now.

Where I work and commute is full of these terrible old drivers, even this morning on my drive to work 5 mins prior some stupid old women decided to drive her car out of a T junction into the side of another old duffer, no doubt the old accelerator instead of brake cliche... again.

I was watching old episodes of Top Gear from 1992 on youtube yesterday and even back then it was proven that they were far more unsafe.

But the grey vote is powerful and until the boomers & their children are dead and have been replaced with license holders that have had to pass far more stringent tests (2000 onwards) nothing will change.

You sound like a massive tt. Do you have any elderly relatives? Do you regard them with such disdain?

[heebeegeetee]

eztiger328 said:

The law needs changing sharpish, how many young families need to be torn apart by some demented entitled old duffer driving the wrong way down the motorway.... again.

Christ its almost a monthly event now.

Where I work and commute is full of these terrible old drivers, even this morning on my drive to work 5 mins prior some stupid old women decided to drive her car out of a T junction into the side of another old duffer, no doubt the old accelerator instead of brake cliche... again.

I was watching old episodes of Top Gear from 1992 on youtube yesterday and even back then it was proven that they were far more unsafe.

But the grey vote is powerful and until the boomers & their children are dead and have been replaced with license holders that have had to pass far more stringent tests (2000 onwards) nothing will change.

Ok, but for the sake of those young families being torn apart, why would you not ban the riskier group of the under 30s?

[Johnnytheboy]

heebeegeetee said:

Ok, but for the sake of those young families being torn apart, why would you not ban the riskier group of the under 30s?

It would just make the next age group up riskier.

[0000]

Johnnytheboy said:

heebeegeetee said:

Ok, but for the sake of those young families being torn apart, why would you not ban the riskier group of the under 30s?

It would just make the next age group up riskier.

The fix for that is obvious, just ban them too...