Pensioners and automatics
Discussion
Just saw this in another thread.
How many of these "car goes mysteriously out of control" pensioner confuses pedals then presses for all he's worth crashes must there be before the government acts?
http://swns.com/mercedes-drivers-lucky-escape-1415...
Living down in the southwest as I do, we get at least one or two of these a month.
Shouldn't there be a basic annual reaction/competency test for anyone over 75?
And what's the insurance like once you get to this sort of age? Teenagers get completely strafed for their accident statistics but over eighties can't be far behind when it comes to writing off cars.
How many of these "car goes mysteriously out of control" pensioner confuses pedals then presses for all he's worth crashes must there be before the government acts?
http://swns.com/mercedes-drivers-lucky-escape-1415...
Living down in the southwest as I do, we get at least one or two of these a month.
Shouldn't there be a basic annual reaction/competency test for anyone over 75?
And what's the insurance like once you get to this sort of age? Teenagers get completely strafed for their accident statistics but over eighties can't be far behind when it comes to writing off cars.
Whilst I agree with what you're saying about retesting older drivers, there's one thing that my Grandad said to me once that sticks in my mind, that has a valid point I guess.
So what did he say?
Well, after me complaining about the standard of driving from an old boy in front of me, and having a bit of a rant about it, whislt my Granda was in the car, he said 'That old man probably fought in a war for your freedom - So why do you have the right to take away his?'
Now I'm not saying that old, dangerous drivers should be allowed to keep driving if they're a hazzard, but I think my Grandad probably had a point - That said, compulsory testing every 5 years or so from teh age of 75 would be no bad thing
So what did he say?
Well, after me complaining about the standard of driving from an old boy in front of me, and having a bit of a rant about it, whislt my Granda was in the car, he said 'That old man probably fought in a war for your freedom - So why do you have the right to take away his?'
Now I'm not saying that old, dangerous drivers should be allowed to keep driving if they're a hazzard, but I think my Grandad probably had a point - That said, compulsory testing every 5 years or so from teh age of 75 would be no bad thing
MarJay said:
Surely its getting to the point now where most of the war veterans are too old to drive or dead? It won't be long before that is the case.
Then we can take the mick out of the ancient ones who remain alive as much as we like!
Good point well argued - The conversation with my Gradad was probably about 15 or so years ago (He died 10 years ago)Then we can take the mick out of the ancient ones who remain alive as much as we like!
And like I said before, compulsory retesting for anyone over 75 would only affect the ones that can't drive to a decent standard, the ones that can would be fine.
Now what do we do about the other crap drivers on the road?
Superhoop said:
Well, after me complaining about the standard of driving from an old boy in front of me, and having a bit of a rant about it, whislt my Granda was in the car, he said 'That old man probably fought in a war for your freedom - So why do you have the right to take away his?'
The fact that someone old enough to no longer have the faculties to control a car could easily kill someone would seem to me to be a good enough "right", war veteran or not.Either you can drive, or you can't. And if you live long enough you'll reach an age where you can't. That applies to every one of us sadly, no mattter how good we are now. Trouble is, many (like the guy in the story above) reach that point and just carry on regardless.
Needs controlling.
Superhoop said:
Well, after me complaining about the standard of driving from an old boy in front of me, and having a bit of a rant about it, whislt my Granda was in the car, he said 'That old man probably fought in a war for your freedom - So why do you have the right to take away his?'
Was the old boy in question driving a Japanese or a German car?Ben106 said:
i work in a petrol station and the 98% of OAPs are perfecly fine to drive its the 2% that give them a bad name
I live in Suffolk and IME it's the other way around !!! 98% of the fogies around here are dangerous, there is the odd car which appears to have an occupant with the ability to realise they are not alone on the road.Jasandjules said:
I live in Suffolk and IME it's the other way around !!! 98% of the fogies around here are dangerous, there is the odd car which appears to have an occupant with the ability to realise they are not alone on the road.
I'm glad i dont live around there it must be deadly Superhoop said:
Well, after me complaining about the standard of driving from an old boy in front of me, and having a bit of a rant about it, whislt my Granda was in the car, he said 'That old man probably fought in a war for your freedom - So why do you have the right to take away his?'
On the grounds of public safety?The "fought in the war" point won't last for too much longer - if you are 80 now, you'd have been born in 1931 and only 14 when WWII ended, and the 75-year olds would still have been in primary school. There have been conflicts since, but with very small numbers in comparison.
My grandmother had a car arrive in her garden via the back wall of a neighbour's garage under similar circumstances. If she'd been sat out in the sunny corner that afternoon (as she often does), she'd have been flattened. Of course, all sorted under house/car insurance that costs them next to nothing as they're considered such low risk.
Not sure on compulsory re-tests, but I think their optometrists and doctors (and indeed, their own families) should take more action earlier when they have concerns about someone's ability to drive safely. Perhaps a system as used for older HGV drivers where a medical is required on a frequent basis and if there are issues affecting their ability to drive safely, the licence is automatically revoked.
Some terrible reporting in that report.
One minute they're saying he landed with the roof ripped off. The next they're saying the fire brigade cut it off.
Which is it?
Still. Bleeding nora. Having driven with my, now sadly departed, grandfather in his (at the time) new VW Touran DSG, and watched how his reactions and judgement were massively slow - it really doesn't surprise me this happens.
One minute they're saying he landed with the roof ripped off. The next they're saying the fire brigade cut it off.
Which is it?
Still. Bleeding nora. Having driven with my, now sadly departed, grandfather in his (at the time) new VW Touran DSG, and watched how his reactions and judgement were massively slow - it really doesn't surprise me this happens.
sjg said:
On the grounds of public safety?
The "fought in the war" point won't last for too much longer - if you are 80 now, you'd have been born in 1931 and only 14 when WWII ended, and the 75-year olds would still have been in primary school. There have been conflicts since, but with very small numbers in comparison.
I don't think it stands as an argument at all. How does fighting in the war grant you the right to kill someone now by continuing to drive if you're incapable of doing so safely?The "fought in the war" point won't last for too much longer - if you are 80 now, you'd have been born in 1931 and only 14 when WWII ended, and the 75-year olds would still have been in primary school. There have been conflicts since, but with very small numbers in comparison.
The OH got smashed off the road by one of these. Granted she (OH) had pulled out on a roundabout with Doris approaching from the right, but she realised her mistake (even though she was already on the roundabout and Doris was still only approaching, so techincally had right of way anyway) and stopped with the nose of her car just protruding on to the mini roundabout, leaving enough space to either go round or stop. Doris nailed the throttle instead of the brake and barrelled into the side of her car across a distance that any competent driver would have easily bought their vehicle to a standstill without drama, proceeded to push the OHs car out of the way with the engine loudly revving and and wheels spinning, then shot off down the road once we were out of the way. Not the way a car behaves when you hit the brakes really.
Apparently, that was 100% unquestionably the OH's fault.
Apparently, that was 100% unquestionably the OH's fault.
Age is not the problem competancey is. Unfortunatley I see lots of younger people who are a bigger threat to safety than older people who do take care. There are some that should not be on the road due to health issues, but I dismissed one of our young drivers who refused to wear glasses whilst driving as she "looked a dork", never mind she couldn't see.
There are many who are commenting on here would struggle to pass the driving test now let alone when they are 75.
What we need to do is to be aware of older drivers, give them consideration and we will all bump along fine.
There are many who are commenting on here would struggle to pass the driving test now let alone when they are 75.
What we need to do is to be aware of older drivers, give them consideration and we will all bump along fine.
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