[Misc] Who taps us on the shoulder and says "time you stopped driving old fruit"?

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

According to Department for Transport statistics the UK rules for older drivers originate from the same rules that govern the EU. There has been nothing published to say what will happen following Brexit.

There could be changes to the rules that apply to older drivers in the future after the government has considered recommendations that, according to a Commons briefing, include:

The automatic requirement for drivers to notify the DVLA at the age of 70 of any medical condition that may affect safe driving should be raised to 75,
DVLA should require evidence of an eyesight test at age 75 and encourage vision checks every two years, particularly from age 60; and
The government should support an evaluation of driving appraisal courses offered by the public sector and those in the private sector who wish to participate.’

In February 2020, Tarbuck revealed that, the day after his 80th birthday, he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

On May 15, 2023 Tarbuck was involved in a series of driving offences. He caused damage to vehicles while driving in Coombe Gardens, Kingston-Upon-Thames near his home. According to court documents he pleaded guilty to a series of driving offences committed near his south-west London home. The incident is reported to have occurred a few days after his sister’s funeral. He admitted driving a mechanically propelled vehicle without due care and attention, failing to stop and to give his name and address after a road accident, and failing to report an accident.

So are we to rely on Mrs T to decide that my driving has become a bit 'erratic' or what?

 

[Petunia]

My old uncle was driving up until he died aged 87 and he really shouldn’t have been on the road. Having said that, he was always a crap driver so there was really no change!
A friend/neighbour of my brother is still driving and he is over 100. Apparently he is still pretty good!
Let’s be honest there are some really bad young drivers on the roads too.
I think I will stop when I feel that I am ready to hang up my driving boots, or when a family member tells me I need to

 

[Baldseagull]

Trying to persuade my 87 year old Dad currently. He isn't that much worse than when he was in his 60's to be honest, he has always been a shit driver.

 

[B-right-on]

A sort of relative (the FIL of my SIL) recently passed. Upto a few years ago he was driving, probably in his mid-80s, whilst not being able to walk without his Zimmer frame

Seen it a fair few times in Supermarkets car parks etc... can hardly walk and yet try to operate this metal death wielder. How on earth are they going to perform an emergency stop?

 

[Juan Albion]

Over here, doctors have the right to have your licence taken away. A couple of years ago, we were so worried about an older member of the congregation's driving that I wrote to her doctor and told him what we witnessed (blowing through stop signs, turning onto the wrong side of a road and almost hitting a school bus head on). This put the doctor on the spot and more or less forced him to take action as he couldn't say he didn't know. She never knew it was friends who cared about her who did this to her - she would never have listened to us on our own.

 

[Gabbafella]

Shit/dangerous driving doesn't discriminate.
I see it every day from all walks of life, young women in their Fiat 500's doing their make up while texting, Audi drivers sitting up everyone's arse trying to intimidate everyone they come across, white van man driving at warp factor 9 while leaving the strong aroma of weed behind.
Old people tend to be the other end of the dangerous scale, slow and overly cautious, but all of the above are oblivious to how dangerous their actions can be.
Not sure if there is a set age to relinquish your licence as everyone ages differently, but maybe awareness courses in later years could help keep things a little safer.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Once you reach 70, your licence is only issued for 3 years and has to be renewed regularly. There is a medical form involved where the driver states there are no medical conditions to prevent you continuing.

 

[Flounce]

Once you reach 70, your licence is only issued for 3 years and has to be renewed regularly. There is a medical form involved where the driver states there are no medical conditions to prevent you continuing.

Leaving it up to the driver to answer honestly is not ideal, personally think the application should be checked and signed off by your doctor.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Leaving it up to the driver to answer honestly is not ideal, personally think the application should be checked and signed off by your doctor.

That would be ideal but where would we find enough doctors with enough time?
Most drivers of my age have regular eye tests, so why not contact the optometrist?

 

[Normal Rob]

I took my mum's car keys away and declared it SORN. Her car looked like a bumper car (and had £1300 worth of bodywork repair shortly before I took action) and I was getting complaints from residents in her village.

 

[Happy Exile]

15-20 years ago my wife's grandmother got a speeding fine doing over 40 in a (she insisted) newly designated 30mph area outside a military base. She was 91 and had lived in the area her entire life and wasn't impressed. She gave up driving after that and terrorised the pavements on an electric mobility scooter instead. Without that fine and argument with the police she probably would have kept going a bit longer. A scary thought!

 

[HeaviestTed]

I would think I’m in the minority here but I think the fact you get lessons and pass your test once in your lifetime is crazy, we should all have to redo our test every decade.

 

[bhafc99]

Hopefully senior Democrats, like the Obamas, Clintons etc, will do this in time for the Convention to choose a new candidate.

 

[zefarelly]

Leaving it up to the driver to answer honestly is not ideal, personally think the application should be checked and signed off by your doctor.

You have to have a full medical to drive a car round in circles on a track. It seems crazy to jjust dish license out when the roads are 20 times busier and 173.5% more dangerous*

For an International C competition license you need a full medical and stressed ECG.

*fabricated statistics for sweeping generalised effect

 

[WATFORD zero]

I would think I’m in the minority here but I think the fact you get lessons and pass your test once in your lifetime is crazy, we should all have to redo our test every decade.

Exactly this. Retest every decade (same test that learners take), If you fail, 3 months to pass before your licence is taken away. Increase to every 5 years over 65 and every 3 over 75. I believe 95% of people will pass with a couple of hours 'refresher' lessons, but it's not the 95% that are the worry.

Being allowed to drive tons of metal around at high speed because you once passed a test over 50 years ago is absolute madness.

 

[Since1982]

After a year of cajoling I've finally persuaded my 88 year old dad to hang up his keys. In truth he hasn't driven more than a few miles since the pandemic but emotionally it is a big moment for someone who spent much of working life driving. The medical self certification is ridiculous - my dad would fail on eyesight, heart condition, cognitive ability and general mobility yet the absence of a doctor in the process means he could side step all of this. The family are just relieved.

 

[Since1982]

That would be ideal but where would we find enough doctors with enough time?
Most drivers of my age have regular eye tests, so why not contact the optometrist?

Perhaps because it's not just an eyesight issue.

 

[Elbow750]

My elderly Father in Law's car failed its MoT and was declared not worth repairing by his local mechanic. I found him a cracking 10 year old full service history Fiesta for peanuts.
Turned out the garage were hoping he would stop driving as they had noticed a deterioration in his driving before we did. He drove for a few more years before we persuaded him to stop (helped by eye watering insurance costs). But the garage were right, he should really have stopped when they failed his MoT.

 

[dazzer6666]

My neighbour was driving up to 90. His car was always getting odd new scrapes and dents (caused by ‘people in Tescos car park’ according to him). Was very upset when he got a text from his GP telling him that DVLA were going to be told that his licence should be suspended as he’d been confirmed with dementia, but they did everyone else a favour really

 

[superseagull1994]

My Dad had to give up his license after his Alzheimer's diagnosis but we had made him stop driving a year before that when he started to get confused on the roads leading to a crash in a Tesco carpark that he couldn't remember the details of, fortunately no one was hurt but me and my mum convinced him by pointing out how bad he would feel if he was in an accident and seriously hurt someone because he'd got confused even then it was a struggle to get him to agree. He turned 61 this year.