senile old duffers

any one see the story recently in the the press regarding the silly old duffer who drove down the slip and into poole harbour claimed she became "confused and didnt reaslise she wasnt on the main road"!! god help us,its time your licence was automatically revoked at sixty five and only reintroduced subject to a strict medical being passed and repeated annually until age seventy five, when your on the bus permantly, how many times do you read of some senile fruitcake causing havoc by deciding it would be a good idea to drive the wrong way around the m25, i had a close call recently when a half blind disabled eighty five year old elected to join the northbound m6 at knutsford down the exit sliproad luckily he only killed himself but it could easily have been far worse, im not ageist but i really do feel traffic conditions today aint no place for the average pensioner.

That incident in Knutsford sounds to me like the kind of drivers that seem to frequent that area anyway!
My father in law is nearly 70 and he drives along in his Pugeot 406 at about 3mph totally oblivious to any kind of traffic signals etc leaving a trail of destruction behind him whenever he goes out!

[Peter Milnes]

It is a very good job that the numbers of drivers who have never had to pass a test is reducing rapidly. Most older drivers who had to take a test are perfectly capable on the roads of today. Your beef should be against the about 1 million drivers who regularly drive without Licence, MOT or Insurance, and cause a lot of accidents whiuch cannot be compensated for. Recent case of 8 year-old mown down by just such a driver, who justly deserves our wrath. Most of the oldsters who get "confused" do so because of the medications they are on, which puts the onus on the GPs who treat them.

All the best, Peter

Sorry Peter, I just HAVE to disagree with you there. the onus is on the driver to make sure that any medication he is taking does not reduce their ability to drive. All medications which may do so carry warnings about their potential effects - if this medication makes you feel drowsy or confused DO NOT drive or operate machinery.

I feel that the UK driving license should be valid to age 60 only. After that it should be renewed for a period not exceeding 12 months, subject to a GP's confirmation that the applicant is actually FIT to drive.

Too many accidents are caused by so-called senior citizens who are not fit to be in charge of a zimmer frame. A recent example - I'm in the 940 with my wife, our 13 year old son and his girlfriend, a wide open stretch of the A65 in North Yorkshire and I'm criusing at 60mph. Approaching a minor road junction, a "senior citizen" looks at me, obviously sees me approaching at speed and then pulls out in his Hyundai crapmobile at around 15mph!!! Good job the 940 has ABS!!

Maybe if older drivers were more tightly regulated less of them would be killed in RTA's...

I think our moderator Bob would have something to say about that "style" of driving that you describe, not necessarily the "Senior Citizen" But more on your part. No offence intended here, but you have expressed that the road in question was a "wide open country road" on such occasions the 60mph driver has to be more concious of what's around him i.e hidden junctions, farm entrances, Dirt on the road - indicitive of farm traffic etc, etc, Not just blindly hare around the countryside. Had you hit said "Senior Citizen" it would have been FULLY your fault, NOT THE "Senior Citizen" as you rear ended him, the tread left on the tarmac would indicate a high amount of speed etc, So in short I'd drive with a little more care, rather than blame the "Senior Citizen" as it will be your insurance that suffers.

Soory to have to point this out to you, I'm not a senior citizen as you may think, but someone who has experienced Bobs Expert Tuition First hand, from the Ex police instructors for the advanced driving course held a Knockhill - a Superb investement of £30 notes for a days training and certificate at the end of the day, that helps reduce insurance premiums!! A good Venue for a Scottish VOC meeting!!

No Offence intended, and no anger used, just giving my Tuppenth Wurth!


Regards
Dave M

Dave M

I have been trained to the same standards as Bob has but I have to agree that there is only so much you can look out for when it comes to the cotton top brigade. They say anticipation is the key, but with these old duffers you have to anticipate what they are going to do in the middle of next week. If they can’t judge speed or distances then they should be banned.

One incident (maybe 2) that involved an old duffer that has never passed a test, was driving his wife (combined age of 93,000,000) in a British Leyland monstrosity towards a round about. Me hacking down the right hand lane of a duel carriageway with lights and music going. This old duffer indicates right and moves in to the right hand lane, I move to the clear left hand lane as I wanted to go straight on. Now the traffic on the roundabout had either seen or heard me approach and began to give way even though they don't have to. Now there is enough space for me to get a 3.5 tonne Mercedes van through but his old duffer has other ideas. He proceeds out in front of me and turns left in to the traffic then stops dead when he eventually sees me. I have nowhere to go and plough in to his rear 3/4. When he got out of the car I could not believe what I saw. He was in a neck brace, had a brace on his right leg (keeping it straight. So how he drove I have no idea), He couldn't see past his nose, his hearing aid was whistling away because it was turned up as loud as it would go and the old duffer still couldn't hear me when I asked if he was ok!! Then to top it off his wife told him to take his "tablet" for some epilepsy. Now I don't know if you are aware or not, but it is illegal to drive if you suffer from epilepsy. Needless to say he was banned from driving after this. But the ironic thing is, the accident was my fault because I was driving under blues and two’s.

So I agree. Ban them at 60!!! Ok that would mean the ambulance service loosing half their members but.............

If You had been trained (Not Denying you haven't) Then you would have been able to anticipate and "Slow down" accordingly. To quote " Me hacking down the right hand lane of a Duel Carriageway with lights and music going." How do you think that reads?? "Well errrrmm Officer, there I was "Hacking down the right hand lane, lights and music going" If you've seen "Scotch and Wry" with Ricki Fulton doing his impression of "Supercop" then you'll understand what I mean "Riiigght Stirling, oot ra Caur!" (Hilarious:-) ).
Don't misunderstand me, in the situation that you've described, I agree completely that the old boy should not have been driving whilst wearing a neck brace as his vision would have been limited due to mobility, so I agree with you there, But the statement "hacking" Does imply something else..... Nuff Said.

On the note of Old Buddies Driving out there, How many of you out there have passed your test and, During that test used glasses for long distances/Short distances, Then only use them on limited use after that?? It's the same thing there, You've needed glasses to pass the test therefore should wear them whilst driving, but do you?? You feel that your eyesight is fine or near fine and that you only need glasses occasionally, Sorry , you should be wearing them when ever driving. I can think of three people within walking distance from my house that wear glasses permanently but "Oooops I forgot them.." Then drive the car!!! One In particular is Deaf in the right ear and doesn't wear his hearing aid, because "it looks cumbersome" So therfore he can't hear what's coming to him from the right, yet He still drives!!!

I don't agree with banning The OAP, but yes, a regular retest would suffice....Then again, how many normal drivers would agree to retesting on a regular basis??? Would you (Generalised, not Specific) say "yes" to a retest??

Interesting topic here.... Test In Moderation or controlled circumstances, I think.


Regards
Dave M

I have to admit the idea of a retest would terrify me. Not because I think I am a bad driver - but just because I hate thinking I am being judged - even taking people I don't know out in the car makes me wonder what they are thiking (yes I am paranoid!). The week before I took my test, nearly ten years ago, I was that nervous I could hardly eat.

I don't think people should be forced to stop driving when they reach a certain age (far to generic) but think regular (every 5 years?) there should be a retest. I could use it to lose weight every 5 years through stress :)

I think a medical should be copulsory - whatever age - in order for you to retain your license. As far as the glasses are concerened if you can't see without them, and are not wearing them, then you are driving illegally IIRC...

Stu

Hi Stu. No offense taken, after all, we're all entitled to our own point of view.

The point I was trying to get across is that, on the occasion I described, the OAP driving the Hyundai displayed an amazing lack of judgement in thinking that he had room to pull out in front of me. Given the road conditions at the time (dry road and clear visibility) my speed of 60mph was appropriate. I was also aware of the minor road junction in question and, having seen the Hyundai approach, I had taken my foot off the gas and was just covering the brake pedal. Had I not have done so the consequences could have been worse. As it was, driving defensively enabled me to start braking that extra second earlier and steer round the car in question.

I also agree with retesting of ALL drivers (not just OAP's) on a regular basis. I do not claim that I would pass a driving test now, in fact having no doubt developed a few "bad habits" during my 27 years behind the wheel, I probably wouldn't. But, if someone failing a retest had a certain length of time to get their driving up to the required standard by being professionally retrained by an ADI or such, then I believe such a system could be made to work.

Matt

I don't care what anybody else thinks but ...

That's probably one of the funniest posts we have seen here for ages. I just need to try and get that picture out of my mind before I get the car out!


Mike