RE: OAP drivers: a liability?
Discussion
saxxeblt said:
Having read all this thread I'd be very wary about what you are asking for.It may not be relevant to you in the immediate future but it may well bite you on the arse later.
And my 55 year old view point, a poor driver is a poor driver.
SAXX
Absolutely on both points.And my 55 year old view point, a poor driver is a poor driver.
SAXX
One final comment to all those going "yeah, and this doddering old OAP did this in their car and it was only my super-human driving that avoided an accident!!!". Look back...have you EVER had an accident? Have you ever had a near-miss? Have you ever made a mistake that could have been nasty if someone else had been in a different spot (e.g. overcooked but thankfully the road was empty)???
I'll wager there's NO ONE on this thread that's not made a stupid cock-up at least once while driving. I'll wager most have made several.
So...what's to say that the OAP's mistake that YOU saw wasn't a 'one off' aberration like yours obviously was???
lyonspride said:
HWC itself states that slow moving vehicles should pull over, thus failure to do so is a deliberate obstruction of the road. The HWC is not the law, but failure to follow it can with sufficient evidence be prosecuted as driving without due care and attention.....
Why would anyone wilfully obstruct the road?
I would imagine the drivers you are raging about may be doing 40 or 50 in a 60 zone - this is not willfully obstructing the road. If you can't pass them safely and have to sit behind them, tough. They have every right to be there. Expecting people to adjust their movement to suit you is an incredibly arrogant position to take. Why would anyone wilfully obstruct the road?
And if you drive like that around me and I catch up with you at a junction, I will insert the pointy end of my zimmer frame into your private parking place. It is entirely deserving. Don't be a cock.
lyonspride said:
Well you don't need to worry, because I don't tailgate..... I don't give them the pleasure of a reaction, I wait, I plan an overtake and I do so before they've even seen me coming.
Tailgating doesn't allow you to see/plan ahead.
I find that doing the above, doing nothing at all wrong, this is when they make abusive gestures, flash, honk or find some other way to attempt to goad or annoy me. They NEED an aggressive reaction so that they can feel as though they're superior or "in the right"....
Failing that, when faced with the prospect of being incompetent they turn into the road going highway code version of forum grammar Police, they need to find something (no matter how minor), to pick fault with.
But I don't give them what they want and it drives them nuts
If you often wind up other drivers, you are obviously the one with a driving problem. I'm certain 99% of drivers receive no such attention. Only tTailgating doesn't allow you to see/plan ahead.
I find that doing the above, doing nothing at all wrong, this is when they make abusive gestures, flash, honk or find some other way to attempt to goad or annoy me. They NEED an aggressive reaction so that they can feel as though they're superior or "in the right"....
Failing that, when faced with the prospect of being incompetent they turn into the road going highway code version of forum grammar Police, they need to find something (no matter how minor), to pick fault with.
But I don't give them what they want and it drives them nuts
ts attract it. Seriously you should consider getting some professional help before you come to grief..Jimboka said:
lyonspride said:
Well you don't need to worry, because I don't tailgate..... I don't give them the pleasure of a reaction, I wait, I plan an overtake and I do so before they've even seen me coming.
Tailgating doesn't allow you to see/plan ahead.
I find that doing the above, doing nothing at all wrong, this is when they make abusive gestures, flash, honk or find some other way to attempt to goad or annoy me. They NEED an aggressive reaction so that they can feel as though they're superior or "in the right"....
Failing that, when faced with the prospect of being incompetent they turn into the road going highway code version of forum grammar Police, they need to find something (no matter how minor), to pick fault with.
But I don't give them what they want and it drives them nuts
If you often wind up other drivers, you are obviously the one with a driving problem. I'm certain 99% of drivers receive no such attention. Only tTailgating doesn't allow you to see/plan ahead.
I find that doing the above, doing nothing at all wrong, this is when they make abusive gestures, flash, honk or find some other way to attempt to goad or annoy me. They NEED an aggressive reaction so that they can feel as though they're superior or "in the right"....
Failing that, when faced with the prospect of being incompetent they turn into the road going highway code version of forum grammar Police, they need to find something (no matter how minor), to pick fault with.
But I don't give them what they want and it drives them nuts
ts attract it. Seriously you should consider getting some professional help before you come to grief..Munter said:
That misses the point. Younguns get better at driving with experience, if we want anybody to be driving they have to get through that stage. Then they are great at driving. But as the bodies ability tails off people start to get worse again. The question is at what point does it get so bad they are not safe and getting worse.
pretending the biggest problem on the roads is anything but new drivers is silly - but whilst I'm sure attitude is a factor, the dominating thing will always be a simple lack of experience - there's no real way of getting better at driving than getting out there and taking a risk. But also +1 for retesting of everyone - I don't care why someone's a bad driver... just if they are.paranoid airbag said:
... whilst I'm sure attitude is a factor, the dominating thing will always be a simple lack of experience
Attitude and lack of concentration/distraction causes more problems than lack of experienceA driver realising they are lacking in experience can make the choice to concentrate better and take it easier but great experience cannot compensate for bad attitude
The main issue for older drivers is health issues which in turn can lead to poor concentration
Munter said:
That misses the point. Younguns get better at driving with experience, if we want anybody to be driving they have to get through that stage. Then they are great at driving. But as the bodies ability tails off people start to get worse again. The question is at what point does it get so bad they are not safe and getting worse.
Munter said:
That misses the point. Younguns get better at driving with experience, if we want anybody to be driving they have to get through that stage. Then they are great at driving. But as the bodies ability tails off people start to get worse again. The question is at what point does it get so bad they are not safe and getting worse.
I don't think that misses the point. If statistically younguns are allowed to start off badly at 16 and then when they reach 20-24 years old, still be twice as likely to have an accident as 65-75 year olds, then if you give the same opportunity of decline to the older group as you give the same opportunity to get better to the younger group, then any kind of testing would come in well beyond 75 year olds. I'm trying to get away from any kind of penalisation for age as statistics clearly show the most dangerous group is younguns gaining experience. With that in mind, this should be treated as an overall review to week out 'bad drivers' or the cause of accidents with no reference to age. No every 10 years for youngers groups and every 3 for 60 plus because that doesn't tie in with the stats. Every 5 / 10 years for everyone, with eye tests / GP checks for everyone - blanket system which would probably be easier and less costly to manage.
I'm not in favour of the costs required to administrate something on that level though.
I have to agree that they should be made to do a refresher test, and they should also have to travel at the speed limit, not 10 mph below in a 30 or 30-40mph below in a 70. In the case of the woman driving up the wrong side of the interstate, this actually happened to me on a dual carriageway, however the woman driving the car did look slightly crazy.
Why all this sudden desire to target people? If you have a Filipino driving licence you can drive in U.K. on this for a year....have you ever driven in Manila or even the Philippines Provinces and seen the diplorable driving standards? Yet these people seem to have a safe driving record here. O.K. not "old wrinklies" but surely more evidence that it's attitudes which no short test will sort out. Retesting would bring out best behaviour when it suits!
We are over-regulated now, so no more costly scams please! Anyone causing an accident except a minor one (as assessed by the police) should be put off the road until they pass a retest......would sober up some of the boy racers too.
We need more police out to catch the uninsured and banned drivers....why are there so many still at large when we have Number Plate Recognition facilities?:mad;
We are over-regulated now, so no more costly scams please! Anyone causing an accident except a minor one (as assessed by the police) should be put off the road until they pass a retest......would sober up some of the boy racers too.
We need more police out to catch the uninsured and banned drivers....why are there so many still at large when we have Number Plate Recognition facilities?:mad;
Since its genetics and general health that dictate physical and mental abililty to operate machinery in a complex and ever changing environment, I don't think age is necessarily the problem.
There are plenty of tts on the road of all ages, including so called professional drivers!
An early contributor says that it's easy to get a license these days, I disagree, but do think that a regular refresher is needed in some cases and as another has said, it could be a simple as a 30 minute drive observed by an expert. (Cue the government to another easy revenue raiser!)
My Dad gave up his license at 80 knowing he was not able to react quickly enough given the volumes of busy traffic, but most old buggers are in denial about their varying abilities.
I've just turned 60 and would be most annoyed to be judged on age alone as to whether I was fit to drive, but would certainly be prepared to demonstrate my abilities to a SUITABLY QUALIFIED examiner.
There are plenty of t
ts on the road of all ages, including so called professional drivers!An early contributor says that it's easy to get a license these days, I disagree, but do think that a regular refresher is needed in some cases and as another has said, it could be a simple as a 30 minute drive observed by an expert. (Cue the government to another easy revenue raiser!)
My Dad gave up his license at 80 knowing he was not able to react quickly enough given the volumes of busy traffic, but most old buggers are in denial about their varying abilities.
I've just turned 60 and would be most annoyed to be judged on age alone as to whether I was fit to drive, but would certainly be prepared to demonstrate my abilities to a SUITABLY QUALIFIED examiner.
MyM8V8 said:
My Dad gave up his license at 80 knowing he was not able to react quickly enough given the volumes of busy traffic, but most old buggers are in denial about their varying abilities.
I've just turned 60 and would be most annoyed to be judged on age alone as to whether I was fit to drive, but would certainly be prepared to demonstrate my abilities to a SUITABLY QUALIFIED examiner.
Well done your DAD but not many will do thatI've just turned 60 and would be most annoyed to be judged on age alone as to whether I was fit to drive, but would certainly be prepared to demonstrate my abilities to a SUITABLY QUALIFIED examiner.
Examiner would mean a TEST - do you really want to do a test under DSA style driving rules or would you rather have a leisurely safe driving assessment driving in a style you usually use?
MyM8V8 said:
Jobsworth!
Get yourself down to the Pod sometime and I'll show you what a 60 year old can do!!!
ETA With glasses too!!!
Cheeky!!Get yourself down to the Pod sometime and I'll show you what a 60 year old can do!!!
ETA With glasses too!!!
I have not and will never say that drivers over 60 are not safe capable drivers but there are health issues which creep up unnoticed and there is no compulsory checks made
R0G said:
Cheeky!!
I have not and will never say that drivers over 60 are not safe capable drivers but there are health issues which creep up unnoticed and there is no compulsory checks made
You are not very old then. When you get to my age, you start to get letters from the NHS and your GP offering regular health checks for this, that and the other. I had a once over only last year, full MOT with bloods etc. No need to get more beaurocrats involved, we can barely pay the bills now!I have not and will never say that drivers over 60 are not safe capable drivers but there are health issues which creep up unnoticed and there is no compulsory checks made
BBS-LM said:
Not 5min ago I was nearly in a accident coming off a roundabout, bloody old age pensioner in a little vauxhall just did not see me and decided to just pull out on me until I slammed on the brakes to try and avoid him, even when I hit my horn he still look bewildered.
I've just watched one trying to park, he went for an end space, nose first and hit a wall, reversed out, did a 25 point turn, opened his window to moan to one of my colleagues about our reserved parking spaces (the MD's space), left the carpark, came back, our newest employee was then rushed outside to make sure he didn't hit any of our cars, he tried again, did another 25 point turn, gave up and hasn't been back since.All in all, 30 mins of hilarity, on an otherwise dull day
I bet he's never had an accident, but I do wonder about the trail of destruction he's left behind.
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