Each year the Road Safety team at Torbay Council organise a Seminar and Exhibition for senior drivers. This event has stands that include the Institute of Advanced Motorists, eyesight tests, reaction testing, Devon and Cornwall Police and, of course, the Road Safety section. Talks and film shows with special emphasis on driving for the older person also form part of the show. Visitors are invited to register for a refresher driving test lasting approximately one hour, which is supervised by a qualified driving instructor nominated by Devon County Council, and which includes town centre, suburban, country and dual-carriageway routes.

At the age of 82, I have taken this test for the last two years, and find that it is most useful for correcting bad road habits, and a positive report can help towards safer driving. (A spin-off is that a good report forwarded to your insurance company can help to reduce your annual premiums). Why it is that drivers over 70 years of age are not obliged to take such a test, plus eyesight and medicals at least every time they apply for a renewal of their driving licences? I ask this, having seen a visitor to the exhibition take the reaction test twice, and each time he took over two seconds between being presented with a hazard and applying the footbrake. You can calculate the distance travelled at 30 mph before he would have stopped. The moral is obvious.