Taking The Keys Away

[CooperD]

Interesting looking a programme tonight on BBC1 at 2235. It's about old people driving. Having followed some doddery ancient fker in a Skoda this afternoon slowly plodding along with a queue of traffic building up behind them I'll give it a watch.

[illmonkey]

I think this would just make me really cross. Maybe one to stay away from?

[illmonkey]

fk. This is scary.

[frosted]

At the end of the day , I feel sorry for CD*.When you live in the middle of nowehere how else can you leave the house and if you dont , what happens ? You just die

[Digger]

CooperD said:

Interesting looking a programme tonight on BBC1 at 2235. It's about old people driving. Having followed some doddery ancient fker in a Skoda this afternoon slowly plodding along with a queue of traffic building up behind them I'll give it a watch.

That . . .could be you one day.

[anonymous-user]

It's a tricky one really, and i think the change is not so much in old people, but the changing pace and pressures of "modern" motoring. Now more than ever cars are faster, people more impatient, and above all, much much buisier than ever. As general driving standards seem to be falling is it right to be relying on other motorists to "cover" ones own mistakes or delays (it seems often the case that a lot of older drivers are not dangerous as such, but taking longer for any given maneouver just opens them up to a much greater "risk". Perhaps 20 years ago you could hesitate for 10 secs at a junction and not have 13 cars honking behind you....

For me, the first time i use 4500rpm just to get off my drive, i'm handing my licence in!!!!

Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 2nd November 23:27

[CooperD]

Digger said:

CooperD said:

Interesting looking a programme tonight on BBC1 at 2235. It's about old people driving. Having followed some doddery ancient fker in a Skoda this afternoon slowly plodding along with a queue of traffic building up behind them I'll give it a watch.

That . . .could be you one day.

I would stop driving if that was case.

[heebeegeetee]

CooperD said:

Digger said:

CooperD said:

Interesting looking a programme tonight on BBC1 at 2235. It's about old people driving. Having followed some doddery ancient fker in a Skoda this afternoon slowly plodding along with a queue of traffic building up behind them I'll give it a watch.

That . . .could be you one day.

I would stop driving if that was case.

They're gonna have to drag me kicking and screaming out of my car, when it comes to giving up, I reckon.

I couldn't help thinking there was a degree of bullying going on, esp. with the woman who did actually give up.

Neither of her children mentioned anything about getting an assessment or some extra training or whatever - and as for her reversing, in my experience it was no worse than 98% of the drivers out there anyway.

[john_p]

Thing is people just don't believe their driving has deteriorated at all, they'll just blame other people "driving fast" or "they came from nowhere" etc

I am surprised that you get your licence at 17 and that's it, basically forever, until you drop dead or your GP has to get involved. Many other areas of life require periodic retraining and reassessment - why should driving be different?

[Halb]

Max_Torque said:

It's a tricky one really, and i think the change is not so much in old people, but the changing pace and pressures of "modern" motoring. Now more than ever cars are faster, people more impatient, and above all, much much buisier than ever. As general driving standards seem to be falling is it right to be relying on other motorists to "cover" ones own mistakes or delays (it seems often the case that a lot of older drivers are not dangerous as such, but taking longer for any given maneouver just opens them up to a much greater "risk". Perhaps 20 years ago you could hesitate for 10 secs at a junction and not have 13 cars honking behind you....

For me, the first time i use 4500rpm just to get off my drive, i'm handing my licence in!!!!

Edited by Max_Torque on Tuesday 2nd November 23:27

I think that is the crux. How many aholes who need to wallop right up your jaxie at the lights and then overtake at silly places are there on the road, loads, most driving Audis
People's driving now is just awful.

[Muzzer]

I saw the start of this.

I felt sorry for them - for a lot of old folk, their car is their independence and it's a lonely life without it.

But when you can't read road signs properly, judge distances or anticipate problems, it's time to stop. Before you do some damage.

[Halb]

Muzzer said:

But when you can't read road signs properly, judge distances or anticipate problems, it's time to stop. Before you do some damage.

That could be said of a great many drivers though

[blunder13]

The car Andrew Stanton uses with the old couple is MY car (the black Golf).

It was the only ADI car (with duals) big enough to take the camera crew and equipment.

So my car is famous. But watching the programme I was more impressed with the truck driver going the wrong way towards the roundabout!!

Oh and yes my number plate reads 'L500 GOO' this is because my phone number is 500 600.

Sorry about this random post but I had to tell someone

[heebeegeetee]

blunder13 said:

So my car is famous. But watching the programme I was more impressed with the truck driver going the wrong way towards the roundabout!!

Horse box driver if you don't mind. It may or may not be an HGV, but either way, it will be a 'hobby' driver who only drives something bigger than the norm, or drives on routes other than their normal routine occasionally.

What it showed was what happens when an average driver is asked to drive something a bit bigger than the norm - chaos.

(For those who didn't see it, on this programme about the peril of older drivers was a younger driver driving on the wrong side of the road and then around a roundabout the wrong way. Priceless. )

[anonymous-user]

heebeegeetee said:

(For those who didn't see it, on this programme about the peril of older drivers was a younger driver driving on the wrong side of the road and then around a roundabout the wrong way. Priceless. )

i'm not sure we got to see the driver of the horsebox, they could have been 90 as well??

Thing is, everyone f**ks it up occasionally when driving, that horsebox driver was obviously confused, but assuming they don't drive like that every time they go out then actually the overall risks are fairly low. The problem as you age and your reactions start to slow down is that ALL the time you are driving you are a risk. And high risk x high probability is what is dangerous.

[Jasandjules]

Muzzer said:

But when you can't read road signs properly, judge distances or anticipate problems, it's time to stop. Before you do some damage.

Yep. Not a lot of point driving at 25mph if you have the reaction time of a glacier and will mow down the person in the road before even applying the brakes.....

[heebeegeetee]

Max_Torque said:

heebeegeetee said:

(For those who didn't see it, on this programme about the peril of older drivers was a younger driver driving on the wrong side of the road and then around a roundabout the wrong way. Priceless. )

i'm not sure we got to see the driver of the horsebox, they could have been 90 as well??

Thing is, everyone f**ks it up occasionally when driving, that horsebox driver was obviously confused, but assuming they don't drive like that every time they go out then actually the overall risks are fairly low. The problem as you age and your reactions start to slow down is that ALL the time you are driving you are a risk. And high risk x high probability is what is dangerous.

I'd bet my house they weren't 90, or anywhere near it.

From what I saw, the driver stopped at a junction but had the vehicle so badly positioned that he/she simply couldn't see to their left - so just pulled out anyway. Then they didn't know or recognise which side of the road they should be on, and didn't seem to be aware of what a roundabout looks like.

Now I don't think you get that spectacularly bad in a moment. He/she must be a really pretty st driver all of the time. Tbh, I'd have said that that vehicle was an HGV, but nobody at the wheel of that vehicle had an HGV licence if you ask me.

Imo none of the elderly drivers on that prog got anywhere near as bad as that horsebox driver, and do you know what? That woman who simply couldn't reverse her car - that's what a heck of a lot of drivers are like, in my experience. At work we have a narrow drive, and you either have to reverse in or out, and honestly, practically nobody can do it. We get hardly any customers who can reverse a car in a straight line for a distance of 25 yds or so. Even the bloke who owns the place insists on reversing by turning round in the seat and looking through the back window, instead of using the mirrors, and he swipes a nearside mirror off at least once a month every month.

I don't think it's fair to call elderly drivers high risk. They might be a higher risk than the safest age group of all, but then so are other age groups. But the elderly are better (best even) at self-policing.