old people, driving licence removal
Discussion
It's difficult. I was put in this position a few years back when my elderly father gave me a lift for a night out. He pulled out of my street and caused a car to slam on his brakes. He got to a roundabout with traffic lights on, went straight threw a red light and cut another car up by being in the wrong lane. I knew after that he wasn't just a danger to himself but to others so felt I had to step in. I got in touch with his GP who arranged a driving assessment. I don't know what the letter said but I suspect he wasn't given a choice as he would normally just say no. He did his assessment and his license was immediately removed. It still causes friction now as he has lost his independence but it was 100% the correct thing to do.
I imagine your MIL will have been given an assessment date which she will have to attend or face getting her license revoked. Not 100% sure as once I spoke to the GP about my father, everything else was taken out of my hands.
I imagine your MIL will have been given an assessment date which she will have to attend or face getting her license revoked. Not 100% sure as once I spoke to the GP about my father, everything else was taken out of my hands.
julian64 said:
It will be something standard along the lines of
we want to ask you a few questions regarding your fitness to drive
we also want the details of your GP and permission to write to him for advice
If you ignore us we will cancel your driving license
Except DVLA will have probably got the spelling of licence correct. we want to ask you a few questions regarding your fitness to drive
we also want the details of your GP and permission to write to him for advice
If you ignore us we will cancel your driving license
julian64 said:
You don't need to go to a GP to have someone's license revoked. You can simply report them to the DVLA yourself.
I am told there is no real way to stop them unless the GP will say they are unfit!I listened to a case on the radio the other day and the DVLA will write to the driver and unless there is a prescribed medical issue DVLA will ask the elderly person to voluntarily surrender their licence. The DVLA won't do any more than writing to them asking them if they want to stop driving was what this lady on the radio said. As most won't accept they're past it they carry on until something bad happens or the police get involved.
This was a woman who shopped her own dad as he hit someone car and was a nightmare but she could get no help from the doctor or GP. Her father kept driving until they took his car away and then he fell out with her.
The other case was a mother and baby who died on a crossing when a old guy who had been told by his optician his eyesight was so bad he must give driving carried on regardless and didn't see the mother and baby and killed both.
surveyor_101 said:
I am told there is no real way to stop them unless the GP will say they are unfit!.
That's kind of true. Annoyed relative who wants elderly persons car, or their independence, or has genuine care for their safety, will report them to the DVLAPatient then comes in to see a GP for a driving medical at the request of the DVLA. GP writes back to say whether any medical problems that would affect their ability to drive. If that is the case driving license gets withdrawn
If not then the DVLA make a decision as to whether to conduct a formal driving test or not based on what the relative has said/weight of evidence
A lot of elderly drivers are bad drivers, probably slightly less dangerous than those that have just passed their test, but still bad drivers.
A lot of relatives see no more than a persons age to decide whether they are fit to drive or not.
Its a tricky subject for families. I know one chap who took the keys away from his 94 year old dad with a pristine ford popular (I think) and promptly had an accident in it. Just a bit of anecdotal rubbish to counter the oft quoted my elderly dad drove into a pedestrian.
Just disable something on the car and "it's too expensive/difficult to fix" so they'll have to get the taxi.
My Wife and I have said we are going to write ourselves a letter (In case we get forgetful
) which we will open in 20 years' time - In it will be various 'rules' which we have decided on and #1 will be - "You must give up driving an get a taxi .... do not rely on family or friends for lifts!"
My Wife and I have said we are going to write ourselves a letter (In case we get forgetful
) which we will open in 20 years' time - In it will be various 'rules' which we have decided on and #1 will be - "You must give up driving an get a taxi .... do not rely on family or friends for lifts!"carboy2017 said:
TwigtheWonderkid said:
Except DVLA will have probably got the spelling of licence correct.
Nope he is not wrong in his spelling as that's American English (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/License) 
surveyor_101 said:
I am told there is no real way to stop them unless the GP will say they are unfit!
Yes this has been my experience with my dad's GP. My dad has at least 1 notifiable health condition but only disclosed them when I made sure he did when he was reapplying for his license. The conclusion was that DVLA had his licence for about a year whilst they assessed the GP reports and concluded that he was fine to drive (which he clearly was not). Luckily he voluntarily stopped driving but occasionally 'went round the block' in the car on his own to 'practice'. I keep trying to remind him that he will go to prison if he kills someone in the car. This usually works to keep him out of the car.
Bizarrely he keeps renewing his licence despite never driving, like he thinks the ability to drive will come in handy one day?!
So I don't really think GPs see it as a priority to get unfit pensioners off the road.
xx99xx said:
Bizarrely he keeps renewing his licence despite never driving, like he thinks the ability to drive will come in handy one day?!
No, he probably does it in an attempt to deny the reality he ageing and is getting close to dying.It must be difficult to give up something you enjoy just because you are getting old - whether it's driving, surfing, running, football, whatever - and by keeping a licence he keeps hold of a little bit of his dignity and self worth for a while longer.
boyse7en said:
No, he probably does it in an attempt to deny the reality he ageing and is getting close to dying.
It must be difficult to give up something you enjoy just because you are getting old - whether it's driving, surfing, running, football, whatever - and by keeping a licence he keeps hold of a little bit of his dignity and self worth for a while longer.
My other half gran had a gentleman she lived with for a number of years.It must be difficult to give up something you enjoy just because you are getting old - whether it's driving, surfing, running, football, whatever - and by keeping a licence he keeps hold of a little bit of his dignity and self worth for a while longer.
Great guy but at 78 his driving was so bad he hit the same gas box on the side of their house many times. We worried he would kill someone every time he drove, gp would do nothing. He was taking so many pills it wasn’t funny. He would not stop driving only when his health took a drive he couldn’t anymore.
overunder12g said:
What was your Moth in Laws view on giving up when you discussed it with her OP ?
Plainly you have never raised the thorny matter of "your driving is dangerous and I don't think you are medically capable of achieving an adequate standard" with an elderly family member. I hate being a passenger with my FIL. He isn't quite at the "please stop" stage yet but he is at the "drives too slowly, provides in-depth sight-seeing commentary, yet can't fathom why every journey involves the sound of horns and getting overtaken" stage.
So often he's so intent on telling me what used to be over on the right here, that I have to interrupt before he crawls to a stop. His classic was repeatedly coming nose to nose with other cars on an alternate one-way road with traffic lights controlling direction, by driving through on amber then fannying about. Never happened to the rest of us.
boyse7en said:
No, he probably does it in an attempt to deny the reality he ageing and is getting close to dying.
It must be difficult to give up something you enjoy just because you are getting old - whether it's driving, surfing, running, football, whatever - and by keeping a licence he keeps hold of a little bit of his dignity and self worth for a while longer.
Or, he probably does it because he's a stubborn old bugger who doesn't know what he's doing most of the time and doesn't like people telling him what to do. It must be difficult to give up something you enjoy just because you are getting old - whether it's driving, surfing, running, football, whatever - and by keeping a licence he keeps hold of a little bit of his dignity and self worth for a while longer.
He lost his independence years before he stopped driving. That's dementia for you.
surveyor_101 said:
The other case was a mother and baby who died on a crossing when a old guy who had been told by his optician his eyesight was so bad he must give driving carried on regardless and didn't see the mother and baby and killed both.
If it's the case I'm thinking of he had been prescribed glasses - but wasn't wearing them at the time of the accident.I'm now on the 3 year renewal cycle and need glasses for just about everything, but hope I never get that stupid.
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