OAP drivers: a liability?
Should older drivers face greater restrictions? A Government body suggests they should
Mild-mannered where Brake is hysterical and far more influential within the corridors of power, PACTS could see this one pushed through.
We all know the dangers of elderly drivers. If we need reminding, there's that shot of 93-year-old Jack Higgs' Fiesta resting upside on PistonHeader Family Guy's Porsche 993 back in 2008.
Or how about footage of an 84-year-old woman in Philidelphia driving the wrong way upan interstate in 2010.
But at the same time we all fear the day we'd have to permanently hand over the keys for our own safety. Not that we'll be forced to. In the UK, you have to reapply for your licence every three years after turning 70. But here's no test, no medical, just a declaration from yourself that, yep, I'm still an A1 wheelsmith.
We can't go on like this, reckons PACTS. As a country we're getting older, with one in six now aged over 65, with one in four predicted in 2050. We're hanging onto our licences longer too. Back in 1975, only 15 per cent of people over 70 kept their licences. As of 2010, it was over half.
Japan is our crystal ball. The ageing population over there has turned the Toyko motor show into the equivalent of a Motability exhibition, with a huge array of gadgets and converted vehicles to keep older people driving.
Given all that, the PACTS idea of a mandatory course makes sense. "It would be a refresher course to outline difficulties they face and suggest ways they could make it easier to drive more safely," said a PACTS spokeswoman.
The role model is the SAGE course in Gloucestershire, where older drivers voluntarily sign themselves up for the £30, hour-long monitored drive. Or they can be referred to by the police or (brave) relatives.
PACTS points out the speed awareness course network could easily be adapted to include the older drivers, but is nicely concerned about drivers getting ominous looking letters through the door from the local camera partnership. "It's vital that the course providers are seen as a non-threatening organisation."
It all sounds very sensible, this author having personal experience of the family split following the attempt to prise the keys to a Peugeot 106 from a 94-year-old relative last year. An official thumbs down on safety grounds would have saved a lot of additional heartache.
So what do you think? Mandatory courses sound like a good idea? Or does the government need to go further still?
Worst piece of bad driving i've seen was an old lady pulling out of a lay-by in front of me a couple of years ago.
It was the sort of long lay-by that's separated from the dual carriageway by chevrons. I saw ahead that she was starting to move forward from where she was parked, but there was time for me to stay in the inside lane and i would be past before she exited from the junction at the end of the lay-by.
Unfortunately that's not what she did. She turned immediately right ACROSS the chevrons and into my path!
I swerved into the outside lane, resulting in a tyre squealing slide at 70mph. I gathered it up, and then sat in the inside lane at 50 mph, cursing old people. No doubt she was "tutting" to herself at the hooligan that hadn't pulled over for her un-indicated and dangerous 90 degree turn into dual carriageway traffic.
Generally a good idea, but we shouldn't discount the huge numbers of younger bad drivers that could also benefit from refreshers in this vein.
At the end of the day people will say it's common sense, but I wouldn't want someone telling me what to do with my licence after paying my dues for years...
t behind the wheel.http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2012/03/12/call...
My own grandfather, who at the grand age of 70 still thinks he is right in everything he does driving wise. It's everyone else that is wrong.
Apparently everyone drives too fast (saying this whilst doing 45 on a 60mph A road), others headlights are either too bright or too dark (despite the fact he has bad vision) and leaves braking right up until the last minute because he cannot see the junction and his reaction times are slower than a sloths - he's my grandfather and we all love him very much but we run like hell to grab his keys when he says he's "just popping to the shop".
Driving is something he shouldn't be doing and he knows it deep down inside; i'm sure he isn't alone. Unfortunately some people just don't know when to quit until a bad accident involving innocent people happens.
Generally a good idea, but we shouldn't discount the huge numbers of younger bad drivers that could also benefit from refreshers in this vein.
I'll be honest tho, it doesn't surprize me that much. My experience of the driving test was that it had basically no connection to how you actually drove, and was entirely down to whatever mood the examiner was in at the time. The Motorcycling one seemed far more sensible - but possibly I just got better examiners when I took that.
My mother is a nurse working with the elderly and apparently when people do have to give medical evidence or have a notifiable condition doctors are loathed to stop anyone driving, dispite the danger they pose. These are people who are incapable of living alone (They need a nursing home - diffrent to a care home) yet are seen as fit to drive.
However I agree that being "old" dose not make you a bad driver, and bad drivers can be of any age.
Last year my friends niece was killed when some old duffer drove onto the pavement (throttle pressed instead of brake) and crushed her into a shop window. He'd already had a crash the week before, the police told him not to drive but could not stop him.
Either too cautious or too dangerous.
I swerved into the outside lane, resulting in a tyre squealing slide at 70mph. I gathered it up, and then sat in the inside lane at 50 mph, cursing old people. No doubt she was "tutting" to herself at the hooligan that hadn't pulled over for her un-indicated and dangerous 90 degree turn into dual carriageway traffic.
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