Is it time to have an age limit for driving on the road?
Discussion
CorvetteConvert 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. 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?
Right, we should increase the minimum age limit to drive. We already do, you can't drive if you are too young. 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?
When we've sorted out the young drivers, we can move on to the elderly ones.
ewenm said:
JonRB said:
Also, there is nothing to stop a recently-passed driver from getting instruction on motorway driving before going out on one solo. It's just another example of drivers thinking that tuition stops when you pass your test.
I did this. It was very useful.But in hindsight, I can absolutely see the benefit of additional training.
Perhaps it's something instructors could push for / offer more proactively as it's never something that was offered to me or other new drivers I knew.
I mean I'd already had 18 lessons with my guy - 1 more lesson post-pass on the motorway wouldn't have hurt.
thelawnet1 said:
CorvetteConvert 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. 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?
Right, we should increase the minimum age limit to drive. We already do, you can't drive if you are too young. 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?
When we've sorted out the young drivers, we can move on to the elderly ones.
CorvetteConvert said:
Anyway, thanks for the input, i personally feel the way forward is a test every year from 75, paid for by the person who wishes to drive after that age, testing basic road knowledge, eye sight, hearing, the ability to make judgements and a basic car handling assessment. Nothing complicated, just making sure they have a basic level of ability and awareness.
Then at 90, it's thank you and good night.
Makes sense to me. There aren't many older folk who give would give up their licence if they didn't have to. Sometimes they stop AFTER they have had an accident, but this may be too late, as is the sad case that prompted this thread.Then at 90, it's thank you and good night.
My grandfather gave his own in sometime in his early 80's, he was ok, but I think he had a bit of a scare one day not long after he'd swapped his Singer chamois for a Morris marina 1.3 and he'd been spooked by the extra power!
CorvetteConvert 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. 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?
I'd doubt it's a symmetrical problem though - being to immature to take on the responsibility of driving is a bit different from being 90 years old with cataracts and reaction time of a mollusc. Some limits are inevitable in life, but we should try to get away from stereotyping wherever possible and major on merit, not prejudice; and that applies whether it's a job interview or being able to drive.We already do, you can't drive if you are too young. 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?
ITP said:
CorvetteConvert said:
Anyway, thanks for the input, i personally feel the way forward is a test every year from 75, paid for by the person who wishes to drive after that age, testing basic road knowledge, eye sight, hearing, the ability to make judgements and a basic car handling assessment. Nothing complicated, just making sure they have a basic level of ability and awareness.
Then at 90, it's thank you and good night.
Makes sense to me. There aren't many older folk who give would give up their licence if they didn't have to. Sometimes they stop AFTER they have had an accident, but this may be too late, as is the sad case that prompted this thread.Then at 90, it's thank you and good night.
My grandfather gave his own in sometime in his early 80's, he was ok, but I think he had a bit of a scare one day not long after he'd swapped his Singer chamois for a Morris marina 1.3 and he'd been spooked by the extra power!
I think regular eye tests should be compulsory for drivers, and at least a driving or health test every five years once you reach 70.
My dad's 76 now, and his driving has noticeably deteriorated in the last few years, although he would argue until blue in the face that he can drive just as well as he always has. One example - he picked us up from the airport last year. It was dark, but dry and clear, and he was pootling along on a straight A road in a 60 zone, doing 40 at most. He started moaning about a car tailgating him (I looked, and it wasn't close at all), then when the car overtook us he started flashing his headlights until I knocked his hand away from the stalk and told him to stop it. He never would have done that a few years ago, and he certainly wouldn't have been driving so slowly in the first place.
How many times have you followed a driver in the dark who dabs their brakes for no good reason every time a car comes the other way. I see that regularly on my evening commute during the winter months, and it's always an older driver that does it. Whether it's an age/confidence thing or poor eyesight, who knows?
My dad's 76 now, and his driving has noticeably deteriorated in the last few years, although he would argue until blue in the face that he can drive just as well as he always has. One example - he picked us up from the airport last year. It was dark, but dry and clear, and he was pootling along on a straight A road in a 60 zone, doing 40 at most. He started moaning about a car tailgating him (I looked, and it wasn't close at all), then when the car overtook us he started flashing his headlights until I knocked his hand away from the stalk and told him to stop it. He never would have done that a few years ago, and he certainly wouldn't have been driving so slowly in the first place.
How many times have you followed a driver in the dark who dabs their brakes for no good reason every time a car comes the other way. I see that regularly on my evening commute during the winter months, and it's always an older driver that does it. Whether it's an age/confidence thing or poor eyesight, who knows?
CorvetteConvert said:
TooMany2cvs said:
CorvetteConvert said:
I know what my father in law drives like, now he is 89. He was a driver in the forces and a very good one indeed, driving everything from wagon and drags to jeeps to chauffeur cars. But i have been out with him a few times recently and i am afraid like most people his age, he is hesitant, he doesn't see like he used to, or hear the same, so he waits forever for a gap big enough to allow 6 cars out, never mind him and he is very apt to forgetting to signal, etc.
For my sins i think something should be done
So what have you done to persuade your father to stop driving? Or have you just confiscated his keys, cancelled his insurance, and sent his licence back to DVLA without his consent?For my sins i think something should be done
Oh, what's that? He's still driving? Something must be done! Stop him!
At which of your future birthdays will you be voluntarily ceasing to drive, regardless of faculties or skill?
CorvetteConvert said:
He and his friend he plays Bridge with are both indecisive and a constant pain to other road users because of their indecision and lack of awareness when they go out together, taking turns to do the driving each week. When we can't take him somewhere he goes alone and his wife says he is hopeless in traffic and she won't even go on the motorway with him.
Yet you've done... nothing... to stop him driving. It's the state's job, and the state's job alone.CorvetteConvert said:
What age? I have NO desire to drive after 80 years old whatsoever. Assuming my health holds good i will hang up my keys around the 80 mark.
You say that now, decades away from it...My parents are both in their late '70s. My father's health is worse than my mothers, and he hasn't driven for years - I don't think he renewed his licence last time round. She still drives, quite happily and confidently. One relative on SWMBO's side died practising his discus-throwing... in his 90s. In the reasonably isolated village I live in, we've got at least one lady of damn near 90 who drives - far, FAR better than many people a lot younger.
Numeric age becomes even less relevant when you get to older people. It's all about their ability.
http://forums.autosport.com/topic/199430-the-oldes...
As to younger drivers, it's all about experience, which they don't get doing lessons.
I had already been riding motorbikes from the age of 17 before I took my car test when I was 20. So my road sense was there and I had survived the first few years but I also drove a hell of a lot from the age of 18.
I had a car and drove myself and my mates (always one of them with a full licence) all over the UK for 2 years before I took my test. I did have one crash, on ice at about 10 mph into a parked car.
Car was a Renault 6 with possibly 30hp
yet the day after I passed my test, I was straight into central London driving Transits and Lutons for a courier company.
So maybe new learners have to have a logbook to prove they have done x amount of miles on various roads before they take the test. Also if everyone were made to ride motorcycles first they'd be better car drivers.
I had already been riding motorbikes from the age of 17 before I took my car test when I was 20. So my road sense was there and I had survived the first few years but I also drove a hell of a lot from the age of 18.
I had a car and drove myself and my mates (always one of them with a full licence) all over the UK for 2 years before I took my test. I did have one crash, on ice at about 10 mph into a parked car.
Car was a Renault 6 with possibly 30hp
yet the day after I passed my test, I was straight into central London driving Transits and Lutons for a courier company.So maybe new learners have to have a logbook to prove they have done x amount of miles on various roads before they take the test. Also if everyone were made to ride motorcycles first they'd be better car drivers.
0000 said:
Thanks for telling me to think to think of my family, I'd totally forgotten about them and if they were killed on the motorway the thing I'd be most concerned about would definitely be how many birthday parties someone else had had.
But you WOULD be concerned with how many lagers they'd drunk i assume? How much gear they had snorted?Let's get this right then. You ARE happy with people being banned and locked up for killing whilst driving drunk or drugged up, but not for killing because your body and mind was simply past it? (An old guy drove out of Tibshelf services the wrong way last month but luckily was forced to stop on the slip road by a van coming in and flashing his lights. The old bloke could barely get out of the car, let alone drive the thing safely. He must have been 90, the Tesco van driver (who delivers to us) told me and said that he should never be on the road).
So temporary 'brain damage', lack of awareness, quality of eyesight and hearing and physical ability through drinking too much or snorting too much, then driving is much more dangerous than permanent 'brain damage', lack of awareness, quality of eyesight and hearing and physical ability through being extremely old and having seen your body and mind deteriorate badly, leaving you with the reactions and awareness of a January hedgehog?
90 year olds don't perform operations in hospitals, they don't drive ambulances, they don't head police forces, they don't ride cop bikes, they don't go down mines, they don't supervise swimming pools. The sad fact is that old age affects us physically and mentally.
Footnote. My father in law has put his Fiesta on the market, after his wife, myself and my wife asked him to yesterday. He reluctantly accepted that he is now a liability on the road and will use taxis instead, the 2 or 3 times a week he goes out. Good move and well done him. He also admitted getting lost last week, just 3 miles from the home he has lived in for 46 years.
LeighW said:
I think regular eye tests should be compulsory for drivers, and at least a driving or health test every five years once you reach 70.
My dad's 76 now, and his driving has noticeably deteriorated in the last few years, although he would argue until blue in the face that he can drive just as well as he always has. One example - he picked us up from the airport last year. It was dark, but dry and clear, and he was pootling along on a straight A road in a 60 zone, doing 40 at most. He started moaning about a car tailgating him (I looked, and it wasn't close at all), then when the car overtook us he started flashing his headlights until I knocked his hand away from the stalk and told him to stop it. He never would have done that a few years ago, and he certainly wouldn't have been driving so slowly in the first place.
How many times have you followed a driver in the dark who dabs their brakes for no good reason every time a car comes the other way. I see that regularly on my evening commute during the winter months, and it's always an older driver that does it. Whether it's an age/confidence thing or poor eyesight, who knows?
Brilliant point. My dad in law still reckons at 89 he could drive the 30 tons wagon and drag lorries he did at 30 and he ACTUALLY believes it!!! This from a bloke who can't get into or out of a bath any more, needs a zimmer frame to walk and cannot manage stairs at all. Oh he takes about a minute to sit up out of a chair! And he takes the wheel of a lethal killing machine!My dad's 76 now, and his driving has noticeably deteriorated in the last few years, although he would argue until blue in the face that he can drive just as well as he always has. One example - he picked us up from the airport last year. It was dark, but dry and clear, and he was pootling along on a straight A road in a 60 zone, doing 40 at most. He started moaning about a car tailgating him (I looked, and it wasn't close at all), then when the car overtook us he started flashing his headlights until I knocked his hand away from the stalk and told him to stop it. He never would have done that a few years ago, and he certainly wouldn't have been driving so slowly in the first place.
How many times have you followed a driver in the dark who dabs their brakes for no good reason every time a car comes the other way. I see that regularly on my evening commute during the winter months, and it's always an older driver that does it. Whether it's an age/confidence thing or poor eyesight, who knows?
0000 said:
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. Too old is just as relevant.I was at the theatre last night. Glass is not allowed in the balcony as it may drop onto those below, you have to have plastic. At worst they'll get wet that way.
19-90 would be a good range to allow people to drive, with tests after 75 and a power limit for first time passers for 3 years.
A guy in Hampstead i know via the Corvette club was bought a Corvette for Christmas by his dad back in 2012. 640 bhp 2 weeks after he passed his test in a Micra. That end of it needs looking at too, or would you disagree with that too? Just curious.
Edited by CorvetteConvert on Tuesday 13th October 07:56
TOOMANY2CVS.
He has agreed to quit driving!
PS I love 2CVs. I always have at least one and i drove from Derby to Monaco and back in a week last year and the year before for charity. It is doing Buxton to Grenoble next May. Again, with a week as the time limit. It's a blackcurrant 1988 Charleston i have now. The last 2 trips were done in my 1987 Bamboo.
He has agreed to quit driving!
PS I love 2CVs. I always have at least one and i drove from Derby to Monaco and back in a week last year and the year before for charity. It is doing Buxton to Grenoble next May. Again, with a week as the time limit. It's a blackcurrant 1988 Charleston i have now. The last 2 trips were done in my 1987 Bamboo.
CorvetteConvert said:
PS I love 2CVs. I always have at least one and i drove from Derby to Monaco and back in a week last year and the year before for charity. It is doing Buxton to Grenoble next May. Again, with a week as the time limit. It's a blackcurrant 1988 Charleston i have now. The last 2 trips were done in my 1987 Bamboo.
sounds great fun. i remember many fun trips in my 2CV which sat alongside a BMW in the drive, so it wasn't my only or first car.as you know, it's actually very relaxing great suspension and very little engine noise it just wafted along at 63mph all day. Big smiles, lots of waves, i miss that.
I have been on the receiving end of a "wrong wayer" and it was pretty scary - all I saw as the car flashed past at what must have been 60mph was grey hair - I had just pulled back into lane 1 after an overtake and if it had been a few seconds later it could have been a different story.
We phoned the police to advise and checked the internet afterwards, but there were no stories, which hopefully equals no accidents.
We phoned the police to advise and checked the internet afterwards, but there were no stories, which hopefully equals no accidents.
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