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Not by me I hope. most 70 year olds I have been in a car with have been fine, it when they approach 80 they seem to go down hill, it does depend well on the driver though. Personaly with my diet I will be lucky to live past 45 anyway.
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70 is too young, personally i think we should allow more leeway....how about 80 or even 85
wife's grandfather has just had his licence re-newed and he is....96. It's brought about the family dilemma. His son has tried to persuade him to get rid of the car and revert to taxis...but unsuccessfully. The interesting thing is, the old boy was surprised it was re-newed, he was expecting it to be revoked. Trouble is we have no real system for doing so, it is left to the individual's GP, which is wholly unrealistic.
Freedom versus someone else's safety.
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All depends on the individual I think My dad gave up last year at 89 he was still a safe driver then but a bit slow.
Got to say I would expect that younger drivers are a bigger danger to themselves and others but again it's down to the individual.
I say let's clamp down on anyone with no licence or insurance first !
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I am rapidly approaching 70 myself. All the elderly members of my family gave up driving before they had to, but a friend of the family who was in France in the war with SOE, drove himself there last year at the age of 99, without trouble as far as I know. He reckons he may not go again, but who knows?
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It took a while for my Dad to give up... he was in his early 70s when he did, after a minor bump with a young girl who'd just passed... seems neither of them had decent judgement of gaps, Dad because of his age and her because of her inexperience... he went downhill very quickly after that, though, it was his life, driving, so when he couldn't do it....
I know a lady in her late 70s who only learned when she was in her 50s (in London!!) and she's a cracking driver... does seem everyone is different!
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Typical Mail take on things.... Ms Ford answers a questionaire for a magazine article that just asks for her opinions and they are then quoted as her "demands".
Had a close relative in his 80s that was reissued a licence after it being removed following a heart attack some 6mths earlier. We knew he was to ill to drive but the doctor happily signed him off. Sadly our fears were realised when he dropped dead just a couple of hours after a 100 mile drive. In truth he could have died at any time during a journey killing the car's occupants as well as those in other cars.
That left his widow at 82, and having not driven for 15yrs, saying she would restart driving. She had a current licence and Direct Line happily swapped the insurance onto her. But.... she was physically and mentally unable to negotiate modern traffic any better than putting a 10yr old at the wheel. Thankfully she agreed to a series of driving lessons and after the first the instructor told her and us she would never be able to take to the roads and we quickly arranged to get the car off the place.
Another close relative of 80 has serious problems driving due to an illness added to age issues. Their doctor happily signs them off each year (I think it's yearly) despite having no idea of just how dangerous their driving is.
I'm not saying anything in particular should be done but it is true the system is lax, for a doctor sitting in a warm surgery having a friendly chat to decide when to put someone back on the road is daft.
David
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While im sure age can play a part, many drivers are rubbish at 40 - just stand in the car park at the supermarket and watch how unaware people are of whats going on around them.
You do see many 70+ drivers who drive aswell as younger ones and generally, especially as they get older, do less miles, they arent a real big problem.
I know two elderly women in their mid-80s and one goes out everyday, does loadsa miles and hasnt a scratch on her car. The other does but because she regularily goes off-roading in her country persuits!
I think aslong as they are healthy, theres no reason to suspect they are worse drivers than anyone else.
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I agree, Stu, but they also tend to drive slower and many other drivers regard that as the worst sin you can do when driving so they want them removed... If it was at work that sort of attitude would be called bullying and those doing it disciplined, on the roads however its the slower (note, not "slow") driver that gets it in the neck and the bully gets away with it.
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I am quite happy for older drivers to go slower aslong as its not silly slow.
It gives a huge amount of independance, especially for those not very able bodied and I would never be quite so selfish as to demand they leave the roads so I can get where Im going 30 seconds earlier.
Unfortunatly, decency on british roads is not fashionable which is why many want the elderly locked away in their homes. Nobody should have to rely on the kindness of strangers to get about and whoever the town planners are, they are actually responsible for elderly people needing to drive so much as nothing is nearby anymore.
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