At what point do people give up driving
Discussion
BFleming said:
My Dad has been told to expect €2000+ annual insurance renewal premiums when he hits 80 in 18 months. He currently pays €300ish. It won't put him off the road mostly as he lives in a rural area, but he will moan for the remainder of his life about it!
My mum is 86 and paying £700 this renewal. 6 points, a claim last year (not her fault in the slightest). She's never been a great driver, but is no worse now than she's ever been. Modern cars help - auto boxes and the like. She doesn't drive at night because at that age oncoming cars are blinding. She keeps getting nicked at about 35 in 30s because she was never brought up with speed cameras and is too busy looking where she is going to worry about anything else. Perfectly safe, not worried in the slightest.
My Mum finally stopped when she was 88!
To be fair she probably should have stopped sooner (based on the few occasions I was in her car with her)!
But she never had an endorsement in over 50 years, and the couple of things she hit were a low wall in a filling station and some bushes that were more solid than they looked!
What finally convinced her to stop was when her insurance renewal came through for £500+. I pointed out she had only driven 500 miles in the last year so it would have been cheaper to use a cab! Being "thrifty" she agreed, luckily!
I'm not sure about regular re-tests, but I really think there should be regular sight tests!
To be fair she probably should have stopped sooner (based on the few occasions I was in her car with her)!
But she never had an endorsement in over 50 years, and the couple of things she hit were a low wall in a filling station and some bushes that were more solid than they looked!
What finally convinced her to stop was when her insurance renewal came through for £500+. I pointed out she had only driven 500 miles in the last year so it would have been cheaper to use a cab! Being "thrifty" she agreed, luckily!
I'm not sure about regular re-tests, but I really think there should be regular sight tests!
condor said:
Having bought a new car recently - I'm surprised how slow they are to accelerate. I realise it's to do with saving fuel - but sometimes you need a bit of go on a car.
I don't know what it is... But FIL, 75 yo and proud, drives so slowly into a local TL-controlled bit of road that sometimes he encounters cars coming the other way after their light has gone green... And somehow that is their fault... Not sure how but he thinks it is.I won't get in his car now unless someone else is driving.
It's sad but i think a lot of dodderers don't think they are the ones at fault. We're going too fast and should somehow realise that years before we were born there was a different layout to every junction we meet them on and somehow the historic layout takes precedence over all the current signage and horns will be honked if those whippersnappers don't read their minds (that one is courtesy of my dad rather than FIL... Again, will not let him drive.)
cbmotorsport said:
Mandatory retests are the answer, after a certain age. Although having said that, I doubt I'd pass the modern driving test and I'm 40.
I'm not sure what you could have done. Normally it takes an accident for people (or their families) to realise that they're unsafe, you just have to hope that nobody gets hurt.
As a vulnerable road user - I'm on a motorbike quite often, it scares me rigid that there are people like this still on the road.
You'd be amazed how many people just don't hear or see a blue light/emergency vehicle. Some people have tunnel vision when driving and we aren't talking older drivers. I'm not sure what you could have done. Normally it takes an accident for people (or their families) to realise that they're unsafe, you just have to hope that nobody gets hurt.
As a vulnerable road user - I'm on a motorbike quite often, it scares me rigid that there are people like this still on the road.
Edited by cbmotorsport on Friday 26th May 15:47
I stopped road cycling (apart from commuting) as it's scary. I had a conversation with my GP who is a road cyclist and he thinks mountain biking is dangerous. I literally can't relax on a road bike. I'm twitchy and constantly on edge.
Older drivers are a problem but at least they drive slower
I was doing work in car park of a surgery in the week, needing to go up a ladder.
The ladder needed to be just beyond a corner in the car park.
As you couldn't really see the ladder from the other side of the corner, i put a row of bright orange B&Q buckets to divert around the ladder.
Not one, not two, but three old biddies hit the buckets
The practice manager said they are a menace!
Ive no issues with what age a driver is, however if you cannot see a row of bright orange buckets in front of you........
The ladder needed to be just beyond a corner in the car park.
As you couldn't really see the ladder from the other side of the corner, i put a row of bright orange B&Q buckets to divert around the ladder.
Not one, not two, but three old biddies hit the buckets
The practice manager said they are a menace!
Ive no issues with what age a driver is, however if you cannot see a row of bright orange buckets in front of you........
BFleming said:
My Dad has been told to expect €2000+ annual insurance renewal premiums when he hits 80 in 18 months. He currently pays €300ish. It won't put him off the road mostly as he lives in a rural area, but he will moan for the remainder of his life about it!
Who told him that?That has not been my experience. Make sure he uses one, or more, of the comparison websites. Or is he in foreign parts - by your use of the Euro sign?
It may be different over there, they're foreigners, you see.
Our recently passed 90 year old neighbour drove until he was hospitalised. Took him about 20 minutes to get in the car using a Zimmer frame to get from house to driveway. .
It worried me that his legs would not be strong enough to emergency brake until I first saw him doing 25mph on the 60 limit road between our village and the nearest town. Gave me a (nice) wave as I overtook.
It worried me that his legs would not be strong enough to emergency brake until I first saw him doing 25mph on the 60 limit road between our village and the nearest town. Gave me a (nice) wave as I overtook.
giantdefy said:
alangtt said:
Serious question and I'm not being the pH driving God here. But why are old people generally slower on the roads, does the brain slow down or reaction times or something like that.
Can't see me when I'm that age driving like that.
Mostly we are retired and have no where to be with any urgency, plus on a pension mpg is more important the mph Can't see me when I'm that age driving like that.
Worth bearing these things in mind when you're driving - you tend to assume everyone else is much like yourself, but they're not.
Sheepshanks said:
It is a serious point and alangtt is closer - brain and reaction times slow, plus movement becomes more limited. Apart from being slow, a lot of old people can't turn their heads much so they can't properly check the coast is clear - and that's further hindered by having more limited peripheral vision than a younger person.
Bearing all this in mind, and particularly the mobility, reaction times and physical fitness etc of 18 to 24 year olds, why are the 18 to 24 yo's the group with the highest accident rate of all age groups?av185 said:
condor said:
Having bought a new car recently - I'm surprised how slow they are to accelerate. I realise it's to do with saving fuel - but sometimes you need a bit of go on a car.
Try a test drive next time. Dealers can be helpful.You know the situation? The one where you are behind a vehicle and it keeps braking for no reason.Then it starts to indicate 300 metres from the junction it's intending on turning into.Then when it takes said junction it does so at 1.4 mph to stop it from suddenly falling over onto it's side and rolling over.and bursting into flames.Then you pass it and see a flat cap,bifocals,papery thin skinned hands clasping the wheel and a look of sheer terror on the drivers face.
When you are the car causing that sort of sheer dangerous driving then that's when it's time to get a bus pass.
When you are the car causing that sort of sheer dangerous driving then that's when it's time to get a bus pass.
Section 8 said:
You know the situation? The one where you are behind a vehicle and it keeps braking for no reason.Then it starts to indicate 300 metres from the junction it's intending on turning into.Then when it takes said junction it does so at 1.4 mph to stop it from suddenly falling over onto it's side and rolling over.and bursting into flames.Then you pass it and see a flat cap,bifocals,papery thin skinned hands clasping the wheel and a look of sheer terror on the drivers face.
When you are the car causing that sort of sheer dangerous driving then that's when it's time to get a bus pass.
Or for Section 8 to take some English lessons.When you are the car causing that sort of sheer dangerous driving then that's when it's time to get a bus pass.
I have to say I do think there should be an age limit on driving and in my opinion definately no older than eighty. My wife and I have discussed this a few times and have both said we,ll stop driving at 70 years old, were both 58 now. My wife rarely drives now and I certainly drive much slower than I did in my younger days as I know my reaction times are far slower.
Age related tests are just fine...there is no specific age that applies across the board..the guy below in my pic is over 80 and was able to get a nice and confident turn of speed in his car, so depends. My father never lost a step. MiL became a major menace from being just a normal menace at about 82 and no longer drives...
I have to say I do think there should be an age limit on driving and in my opinion definately no older than eighty. My wife and I have discussed this a few times and have both said we,ll stop driving at 70 years old, were both 58 now. My wife rarely drives now and I certainly drive much slower than I did in my younger days as I know my reaction times are far slower.
why- I find that a lot of younger folks do not know the RULES of the road, and as an older driver I am glad of my instincts, and heightened reactions after more than 50 years behind the wheel. I drive a car that most PH would consider an OAP car, but on an open road- I drive to the limits ( and possibly to squealing point beyond) of the vehicle. I'm sick & tired of coming up behind BMW drivers that can't drive.
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