So an 87 year old drives the wrong way down the M1 and kills themselves and takes a young 27 year old man with them. At what point do we see sense and force the elderly to take biennial or triennial competency tests? My mother in law is 60 and she's a shocking driver. When she hits retirement age, i'd start to think a re-test would be in order. Make it free obviously but it makes sense.
We have been here before. These are, thankfully, rare and isolated events. Your mother in law thinks you are a crazy motorcyclist. The solution is for the relatives of elderly drivers to take responsibility and have that difficult conversation and if they can't resolve the issue then seek professional advice. Automatic retests are not the answer.
I disagree. At 62 next birthday, I am very aware that I took my test in 1970 and had it not been for god children and my girlfriend's kids getting to driving age, I would never have looked at the highway code again. To sit the hazard appreciation and a classroom element of the mdern drivng test in all "for cause" cases and from 65 is a no brainer in my opinion. Poor driving standards are not necessarily the prerogative of the old but there are far too many poor old drivers on the roads today. I am determned not to be one of them and have asked my girlfriend to be honest and tell me when my standards fall to the level I find myself criticising most and I will stop drving. Andy
Replace retest with refresher and you would get no argument from me. The only reason to put someone off the road is if they are unable, or unwilling, to abide by the rules of the road or they have a medical condition which makes driving dangerous. An old boy driving the wrong way down the motorway and killing an innocent driver coming the other way is tragic but insurance statistics would tell you that the real dangers on the road are young inexperienced drivers who can pass all of the tests but lack the maturity to behave in a reasonable fashion. Retests, where there is the possibility of failure, will ruin more lives than under the current arrangements.
far more bad young drivers on the road than old ones,,, just check the accident stats,, so what then,, are we going to retest all young drivers !!
So how do you determine if someone is unable to adhere to the rules of the road without an assessment of some sort?
Actually if you check the stats the highest number of ksi accidents on the roads involve 30-59 year olds. I'm not saying that young drivers are saints, far from it, but experience can breed complacency... http://www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/sn02198.pdf
Like I said, a competency assessment when you retire. Not a full on test, but a 50% is their driving roadworthy and 50% is their mental state worthy.
In the case of motorcyclists over the age of 65 (such as myself), the test could be held at a trackday, maybe at Brands, Snetterton or Donington. Any rider who can still lap within 150% of the lap record without crashing must have faculties good enough for riding on the road. Come to think of it, a similar test could with advantage be applied to young riders too.
Also bear in mind with stats, there are probably a lot less really old people on the roads. All well and good saying only 0.004% of 85+ drivers in the county of Kent were killed in their car, when it was only one driver.
I passed my motorcycle test in 1968 (first time) and car test in 1969 (first time)...... (.......No, there wasn't a man with a red flag walking in front...........tests weren't held then) A female estate agent aged about 30 was here the other day............her Audi front tyres were as near as dammit completely flat..........she told she didn't know how to pump them up because nobody had ever shown her how to do it.
I don't think it should be restricted to old folk (whether 65 or 87). Ten year retests for all! I know some shocking drivers and don't feel that age was a contributor, some folk aren't bothered after they pass their tests. Realistically there aren't enough test centres for practical driving tests, so theory, hazard perception and eye-test every ten years for every one gets my vote.
Good data but absolute numbers can be misleading. What is the relative % of KSI based on age group? 30-59 is prob the largest driving age group anyway. Also the older the group the ferwer deaths... In absolute terms, so....
By the time I retire, my pension will be worthless, so how am going to be able to afford a car never mind a bloody re-test. In my experience, the worst drivers, are the twenty something's flying around always speeding and on bakebook.
It don't matter, we get free bus passes, I will be on the bus, retired, stinking of ammonia, getting bullied by school kids and basically told I am not fecking capable of driving by someone half my age. Retirement, no bloody wonder the elderly are seen as grumpy old farts.
