might off mentioned this on another thread, i worked at a garage 20+years ago that had an attendant serving petrol so i guess that's why it attracted a lot of older dudes. quite scary at times watching them pulling out on to the main road, easy several seconds looking left to right. i think there should be some sort of test at a certain age. not wishing to offend by ra way. but come on lets be honest.
As Phil said old drivers, whilst I agree sometimes leave a lot to be desired in their levels of awareness, are a small problem and when they do cause a problem it is usually just bent metal whereas when young males lose it they lose it big time and people die. It just isn't a major problem. Ask yourself what effect would it have on your life if you had an off day and failed your periodical driving test ?
it would have a massive effect, but that's not the point. if i was to sit my test tomorrow i would probably fail. some sort of awareness test i was thinking. a compulsory eye test maybe.
That is a separate issue fin. A periodic refresher would be a good idea for everyone and over 70 there is a medical declaration which presumably includes vision, I think. But a full retest with a possibility of failing would have devastating consequences for those that failed and if everyone passed then it isn't a test. And I repeat, it isn't a major problem compared to other road traffic issues.
catch up on the news mate. again in a non argumentative way. if you can be arsed the information is out there. start with the A9. and work east or west. i am always drawn to the police files on the rare occasion i read the press and journal certain things stick in my mind. i know it would be devastating.
we are an aging population and one day it will be my turn but for goodness sake if yer fit enough do it.
Admittedly the A9 is a terrible road but that is because it is part single and part dual carriageway IIRC. Individual incidents are not always representative of the bigger picture.
i am suggesting there is a problem if you are unfit to drive. there have been several motorcycle fatality's over the years(just sum off many) Scotland, mecca for summer motorcyclists that i can think off. how can you specifically blame age. i don't know. the most recent being a good mates best man a 92 year old woman pulled out killed him deed. by her own admission she was not fit for driving but that could off been shock. as you know the A9 is a belter. and plenty more. whats so wrong about a medical and eye sight test. commercial drivers need them.
I've lived the last 20 months in constant pain, and will likely have at least periodic difficulty walking for the rest of my life because someone misjudged a junction. That someone was an 18 year old lad, who I hold absolutely no ill feeling toward at all. If you expect everyone to be perfect all of the time you are living with unreasonable expectations. We accept young drivers need to develop their skill set, and therefore there is a period where their risk is elevated but acceptable. I understood and accepted the risk when I went out on the road, and I understand and accept young drivers make mistakes. My experience has done nothing at all to change that view. Is that really any different to accepting that older drivers skills will deteriorate, leading to a period of elevated but acceptable risk? Yes, we have all seen old drivers making very poor decisions on the road - the difference between them and younger drivers is that they do it much more slowly usually leaving the other road users time to react to them. Perhaps we all need to give each other a bit more room and consideration? The amount of times I see people just driving at another vehicle with the horn blaring while making no effort to react to the situation is frightening. Being "in the right" doesn't absolve anyone from their responsibility to avoid a collision where possible.
I'd happily sign of for mandatory retests. By the time I get there, cars/bikes will be driving themselves anyway. Not too sure about the rest of you lot though
I inadvertently ended up on a rideout with him. I believe he'd just retired (at 94, he was officially Britain's oldest working man), although my facts may be dubious. He was a motorcycle manufacturer, maker of the SOS - Super Onslow Special.
Whenever we have visitors to the factory I mention that pedestrians have right of way over the forklifts, I then go on to point out that having right of way is little consolation when you've got a pallet full of metalwork embedded in your spine and to keep your eyes open.
When you encounter an elderly person who is inattentive, incompetent, indecisive or just plain stupid ... it is usually because they were already inattentive, incompetent, indecisive and stupid when they were young.
My wish to see compulsary retesting is not in any way age-related. I firmly believe that a retest should be required at least every ten years. Is it "arrogant" to think that my own driving is above that required to pass a test that demostrates that I have achieved the absolute minimum safe standard required to be on the road? I don't think so. The problem with older drivers (in common with most people) is that their ability is only questioned when they have actually had an accident. A mate of mine was hit head-on a couple of years ago by an old guy in his eighties. Mike was riding an R1150 BMW, with a 100w headlight (which was on). The old guy coming the other way in his old Rover 214 had driven across a line of illuminated red markings and under at least two illuminated "red cross" overhead signs. He didn't see any of them or the oncoming motorcycle. Mike was very lucky not to be killed - and yes, the old guy did say "sorry, I didn't see you" ! The police asked him to surrender his licence - quite rightly so. Is his "right" to drive a car more important than other people's lives? Having a licence is a privelidge, not a right. And it is one that should be taken away if the very minimum safe standard cannot be achieved. Why should it take someone getting seriously injured or killed before this happens? I am all in favour of older people retaining their independance - I'm not getting any younger myself - but only if they are not a danger to other road users. Most of the people in the "100 year old driver" programme proved that old doesn't necessarily mean poor driver... And as for younger drivers - statistics can be made to say almost anything when comparing old and young, it depends on miles driven, types of road driven on, length of time a licence has been held and lots of other things. BUT - I also believe that retesting should apply to younger drivers too. It should be applied as part of the penalty for serious driving offences, and to those responsible for causing an accident. NO - I am not a "road safety nazi"... I believe in freedom and minimum inteference from the state as much as, and maybe even more than, the next person. But I also believe in making the roads safe for everyone, young and old...
And, to clarify, I am not suggesting that failing a retest would lead to an immediate and permanent ban. It should be used to check on a person's driving ability; to suggest improvements or recommend further training if required; and only lead to the loss of a licence if it is obvious that the person no longer has the ability to drive safely. Younger drivers tend to have accidents because of a lack of ability or experience ( which often leads them to believe that they are better drivers than they actually are ) - often that can be trained out and they become better drivers. Older drivers tend to have accidents because of deteriorating vision, reactions and thought procces time. This will only ever get worse ( for all of us, unfortunately ), and there comes a time when "enough is enough". I hope and pray that if my driving / riding ever gets to a state where I become unsafe someone tells me! The inevitable outcome of allowing unsafe drivers ( young or old ) to continue to use the roads is more reductions in speed limits. The government has already brainwashed people into believing that speed is the root cause of all accidents - it's easier for them to just pretend that accidents are inevitable and not try to tackle the actual causes. Also it's far less costly to put up a few speed cameras than it is to have actual traffic police out on the roads, doing their job...
