Retests at 70 or at what age.

westhamman

westhamman

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Now I am not into knee jerk reactions and forgive me if this has been talked about recently, but should we see older drivers retested and if so at what age. My dad is 86 and still driving long distances when I am in the car with him driving I still feel perfectly safe, my darling wife says she feels safer with him than me. There are however some very poor older drivers (not just elderly but that's the discussion) if so should we retest, if so how often.
 
Why.? If you are regarded as safe to "Work" until 70, as would seen to be the case with raising the Retirement age, how come you are then "to old" to drive?. I know 20 years old`s who are a menace behind a wheel. The other factor (of course) is that "they" will expect YOU to pay for it!. There are medical conditions with which it is patently unsafe to drive, but that is not the same, and can equally apply to very much younger drivers.

IMV. This suggestion is equally as "Ageist" as removing C1 at 70. And is something I have very strong views about too. Ageism is endemic in this country. And again IMV, should be given equal status as any other sort of "discrimination".
 
This is a difficult question isn't it? Personal mobility is so important to people, and in later life especially, may be the lifeline to independence. I can't imagine what my Mum would feel like if she was told she could no longer drive, but the potential to cause damage and injury when in control of a vehicle is huge and the consequences of a mistake potentially disastrous.

As an advanced police driver for the past 30 years I was subject to constant retests to ensure competence, and yet, except in limited circumstances, drivers are allowed to continue unchecked until the day they die. And the trouble is we all think we're great drivers!! There surely should be some mechanism to ensure that we are still safe on the road behind the wheel, but a wholesale retest program would be hugely expensive and I would imagine there would be a massive backlog of people waiting for retests. Maybe some scheme of check testing (at whatever age!) after 'fault' accidents is a possible answer - but of course that would by definition only occur after the damage had been done.

There ought to be something, I'm just not sure what, or how it would be implemented.
 
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Not sure I agree with retesting, but maybe an assessment of their driving skills similar to that recent programme on tv about assessing older drivers.
But in my experience, it’s not always the older drivers that have questionable driving skills!

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Pity an examiner who has the sad duty to tell someone who has been mobile for 50+ years that they are no longer permitted to drive. My Dad was a laterly lousy driver and I did research about getting him 'banned' on the basis that I would never forgive myself if he hurt someone and I could have prevented it.

'Fortunately' he was diagnosed with mild dementure and moved into a care home.

Quite correct to say that there are lousy drivers in all age groups and many very competent older drivers.
 
I don't think a re-test would be fair but I do think a regular and thorough medical check should be carried out to assess whether a person is still fit to drive from say age 90.

My father in law is in his mid-nineties, still drives and is fine. However, a neighbour of ours drove at a similar age and she really wasn't competent but so until she died. She may have been an incompetent driver throughout her life though and it may not have been down to her advanced age.
 
As our population ages I suspect this question will not go away. I have some sympathy with the ageist argument and there are certainly some very bad younger drivers. Perhaps it will be the insurance companies that insist on age testing if they start to get hammered by claims involving older people.
 
Perhaps any discussion about retests should be driven by factual analysis. As a group older drivers are no more likely than any others to cause or be involved in accidents so why are we even talking about it?

www.brake.org.uk

Knowledge centre | Brake

Learn about safe and healthy mobility with our fact and advice pages
www.brake.org.uk www.brake.org.uk

As PeteH suggests - pure ageism..

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With the public transport system in the state it is, a lot of people would become housebound if they couldn’t drive. I think that everyone should have a medical similar to the C1 every 5 years. There are a lot of people driving over the age of 70 who are allowed to self certify when renewing their licenses. The system allows them to tell untruths about their health and mobility.
 
I think we should all have to be retested every 10 years, with the retest being allowed up to 18 months prior to the due date.

I think the tests could be as simple as an assessment by an examiner, who will advise you on things you need to improve and only refer you to a full test if you are dangerous or have too many serious flaws in your driving.

At age 60 these tests should be every 5 years, then when you hit 80 ever year.

That is just my opinion.
 
As a start I would like ALL drivers to have to submit an eyesight certificate when licences were renewed every 10 or 3 years. I know people who can't see beyond the end of their noses even with glasses and still they drive.

Hearing and general awareness are also an issue of course but eyesight fitness would be relatively cheap and easy to put into place. .

Here there is a "Drive Aware" course for older drivers and many say it has been useful, but it is voluntary and the people who go on it are probably those who would hand back their licences anyway.
 
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tonyidle said:
Perhaps any discussion about retests should be driven by factual analysis. As a group older drivers are no more likely than any others to cause or be involved in accidents so why are we even talking about it?
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I'm just wondering how the accidents per mile driven would stack up? It's interesting that Brake say the accident incident of drivers over 80 increases but there is no background information ......... a driver of 30 might drive 50,000 miles a year,. a driver of 75 might drive 6,000 miles a year and a driver of 85 might drive 2,000 miles a year. If each have one minor bump does that mean they all have the same risk factor? I don't know, just asking.

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I have always said everyone should have a medical which should include a reaction test of some sort
Although a pain in the butt I welcomed the C1 medical as it put my own ( and womans ) mind at rest
But I do think the medicals should be done by your own quack and be free as some doctors seem to take the pee ( and not just as a sample either :rofl: ) a bit !
 
tonyidle said:
Perhaps any discussion about retests should be driven by factual analysis. As a group older drivers are no more likely than any others to cause or be involved in accidents so why are we even talking about it?
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Fair point!!

Perhaps there should be a regime of checking competency throughout a driver's life rather than an assumption that passing a test, possibly at 17 years old, fits you for a lifetime of driving. Cars and their capabilities are very different now from when I passed my driving test in an original Mini in 1980 for example.
 
tonyidle said:
As a group older drivers are no more likely than any others to cause or be involved in accidents so why are we even talking about it?
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Also, statistics can be skewed to give us whatever story we would like. For example how many drivers in the 70-90 bracket are there compared to 40-60?? There are bound to be more of the latter group involved in accidents purely by virtue of the numbers involved. Or do we look at the percentage of each group??

Very complicated - 'Lies, damn lies and statistics'
 
The ABI says averages for insurance claims, both frequency and costs, fall with age until mid sixties from then on they start to rise again. By mid eighties the cost of the average claim is only exceeded by the 18 to 20 age group, the claims frequency doesn’t rise so dramatically but still goes up. There seems to be evidence that age, at both ends of the scale, has a bearing on accidents and costs so perhaps that is why we are talking about it.
 
At 77 I'm all for a medical check and driving assessment for all drivers over 50 @ 5 year intervals. From my own experience I had to stop my farther driving in his late 70's as he had no awareness and very slow reactions when driving. It was a difficult decision as he as was an ex haulage contractor had driven every vehicle imaginable including tanks from the age of 13 yes 13. Grandad would go to the pub and dad would drive him home in a model t ford tipper wagon.
 
I am now over 70 and drive about 12,000 miles per year, most of them in the motorhome. I think I am a better driver now than I was 30 years ago when I was driving a powerful company car all over the South East of England covering 3 times as many miles and always in a hurry. In those days there was only two pedal settings, either full up or full down. I am amazed as to how many more I have found in the last 30 years.
 
Much better idea than all this testing. The roads are at bursting point the last thing we need is more cars on the road yet young drivers just want to get on the road. How about having a say a 50 year licence to drive system, your licence would last for 50/55 years then hand it in to give new drivers a chance. Seventy year olds can find better things to do with their time than driving. Don't be selfish, hand the keys over to your kids and get on with getting old gracefully.:cool:
 
I think an annual assessment isnt a bad idea. I have refused to go on motorhome test drives with people because they start with thing's like "My eyesight isn't what it used to be!" I have also taken over on a test drive and refused to let the customer drive any longer when they pulled out onto a busy junction after not looking and were oblivious to the lorry fast approaching the passenger door I was sat in!
One old lady actually veered of the road, when I looked to see what she was doing, she was staring at her watch to see what the time was and not looking where she was going!
Also another point:
If "Grandfather" rights carry on past 70, in theory someone who has lost/ deteriorated their eye sight, hearing, reflexes, alertness etc could in theory jump in a 36 foot RV and cause chaos. Also imagine if someone slips through the net which happens and causes a crash on the motorway and takes out a couple of families.....

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Simon Howards Motorhomes said:
I think an annual assessment isnt a bad idea. I have refused to go on motorhome test drives with people because they start with thing's like "My eyesight isn't what it used to be!" I have also taken over on a test drive and refused to let the customer drive any longer when they pulled out onto a busy junction after not looking and were oblivious to the lorry fast approaching the passenger door I was sat in!
One old lady actually veered of the road, when I looked to see what she was doing, she was staring at her watch to see what the time was and not looking where she was going!
Also another point:
If "Grandfather" rights carry on past 70, in theory someone who has lost/ deteriorated their eye sight, hearing, reflexes, alertness etc could in theory jump in a 36 foot RV and cause chaos. Also imagine if someone slips through the net which happens and causes a crash on the motorway and takes out a couple of families.....
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Restricting selling motorhomes to those who are under 70 I would think is not conducive with your job as sales manager of a motorhome retailers. :unsure:
 
buttons said:
Seventy year olds can find better things to do with their time than driving. Don't be selfish, hand the keys over to your kids and get on with getting old gracefully.:cool:
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I seriously hope I will still be driving a motorhome around at 70!! (health and competence allowing - of course ;))
 
buttons said:
Restricting selling motorhomes to those who are under 70 I would think is not conducive with your job as sales manager of a motorhome retailers. :unsure:
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Why would it restrict? I don't get it?
I have merely said I won't get in a van if I don't feel comfortable with the driver
 
westhamman said:
Now I am not into knee jerk reactions and forgive me if this has been talked about recently, but should we see older drivers retested and if so at what age. My dad is 86 and still driving long distances when I am in the car with him driving I still feel perfectly safe, my darling wife says she feels safer with him than me. There are however some very poor older drivers (not just elderly but that's the discussion) if so should we retest, if so how often.
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Some very very poor driver's of all ages including professional ones.I cannot believe how much room so many need to pass parked vehicles etc,,,many seem to have very little skill..Think passing the test now must be a doddle and it wasn't difficult back when I passed in 1962..Don't think taking a retest would bother me..BUSBY.

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