My mother has turned in to an 'old person' driver.

[Weekendrebuild]

Well we’re currently moving house an I’ve got circa 10 cars that are being moved into the new barn , very excited more so about the barn / car house. Any how last weekend me an my dad (66) took a train ride to car storage facility I’ve got a few cars in to bring them to there new home . Lets say my dad averaged 8mpg in the e63 m6 as I followed in the m5 we made a right good racket through the tunnel . He definitely doesn’t drive like the Honda jazz brigade yet anyway .

[AC43]

tight fart said:

My mum had a bump in the car in March, police asked her to do a driving test / assessment to keep her license.
90 minute drive with a police officer and another examiner.
She passed with flying colours, she’s 90 in 2 weeks.

My Mum's 92 and still driving around just fine.

She was a bit of a pioneer back in the day, buying herself a split screen Minor back in the 50's.

She won't drive far or in really bad weather but is still driving fine.

[PomBstard]

My Mum, 72, was starting to hate driving and changed her car for an auto - back to being happy to go out again. I think she was becoming less confident with the range of action required with a manual. Still a bit rubbish but generally aware.

[Julessy]

My dad is similar in ways. He generally does a maximum of 40-50 mph on a NSL road and on dual carriageways and motorways about 60, he will also stop and dither at roundabouts or in some cases not react quick enough and end up going past the line at roundabouts. He always leaves his indicator going and always says that my mum and me both drive too fast. He used to be a sensible driver but not slow, he once had a Civic Type R when I was a child and that was probably the last time he went near or over the NSL. He had a Subaru earlier this year for all of about 4 months and whenever I got in it he never got to the speed limit let alone past it.

[parabolica]

georgefreeman918 said:

Noticed this with my father recently, when my brother and I went out with him for the day where he drove.

He hasn't adopted the seating position yet, but he refuses to do more than 45mph on all NSL roads, which resulted in a number of comments relating to how much of a rush everyone else was in and a large number of overtakes.

He has recently retired, so technically I suppose he has no need to rush anywhere!

Same story with my old man. Plus he rarely drops out of top (5th) gear on his L200, even when faced with a steep incline - the thing has to be practically juddering to a halt before he decides to change down a gear. I remember growing up idolising his driving as he was really good - fast but smooth, how things have changed. He used to be fastidious about his cars as well; nothing was ever broken, everything was always sparkling clean. Now I get a bking if I dare to take some window cleaner to the inside of the windscreen because he sees it as an unnecessary faff and a waste of cleaner and he's busy running his cars into the ground.

He still loves tinkering with anything mechanical though; that hasn't changed!

[Mr Tidy]

My mother never took a driving test, as she was 17 in 1939 and there were more important issues than driving tests back then!

But she never had a car of her own until 1967 when she got an inheritance after her Dad passed away and bought a nearly new Fiat 600.

She was a pretty good driver until the 2000s - I remember getting into her Fiesta and having a better view out of the glass sunroof than out of the windscreen!

Luckily we managed to talk her out of having a car in 2010 based on cost thankfully - we would have had a real battle trying to do it on ability!