Should old people be allowed to drive?

[Chris]

There are many stories of people being killed by cars driven by people in their 70's and beyond whose reflexes are not what they used to be.

Should people over a certain age be banned from the road? Or is that another example of age discrimination?

[griffus]

There are many more people killed by speed mad, drugged up to the eyeballs,drunken young yobbos who have no respect for others, no matter what their age. Get them off the road and the death toll would plummet.

[Chris]

Very true, griffus.

But if that goal were to be realised, then the spotlight would turn even more to accidents caused by elderly drivers. No doubt some of those accidents are caused by deteriating reflexes, but I'm sure many other pensioners are quite safe drivers. How do you make the distinction?

[delboy]

i myself have seen the impact of un-safe elderly drivers.

i have been stuck behind them going 25 mph on a road with a speed limit of 60 mph.

i have been cut off by them on the motorway and have seen many accidents caused by their carelesness.

but no govenment will do anything about it for fear of losing the “grey vote”

[Nice One]

Yes ! But only if they are confident enough to take the Advanced driving test, it is not as bad as it sounds. I am 82 and have done it, the instruction was very good, and after 62yrs.driving and people saying we should give up, I can now say to them, Have You Past It,, or are you past it. ????  :)

[Snail]

I got rid of my car years ago, not because I was incapable of driving safely, but because others, both oldies and youngies, are incapable of driving safely. What they get up to is beyond belief. They seem to think it's their duty to flout the law, and the law does nothing to stop them. It's scary on the roads these days, and not only on the roads; they think the pavements are theirs as well.

[meggie]

There should be a voluntary system whereby older people can check if their reflexes and physical codition does not impair their driving ability. I don't think we are fairly assessing ourselves. I would like independent verdict of our capabilities but not driving tests with all the expense.Snail is correct the unqualified, uninsured drivers are the biggest threat!
Meggie

[Snail]

The government pass the laws in order to confuse us into voting for them. The general public flout the law and thank their lucky stars that they have got such a useless government.

[Sally]

Going for the hat-trick here.  I think that everyone should have to sit a re-test at 10 yearly intervals.  It's not only oldies who are a menace on the roads, many of the young boy racers forget all they were taught and drive like mad heads.

[carbasics]

This is certainly a hot topic at the momnet, there have been recent documentaries on it.

I am going with sally, I agree that everyone should have to retake their test every 10 years.

Times change and so do road conditions.

[daisey2008]

Yes, I agree - re-tests for everyone every 10 years. As someone has already said, driving /road conditions change over time, also laws applying to driving change over time & I think most of us will admit to drifting into bad driving habits over time.

As an oldie myself, I don't mind driving behind a 20mph oldie but realistically, if they only feel safe driving at that speed, are they really safe at all?

Without trying to be controversial, I think the biggest cause of driving accidents involving  the elderly is automatic cars, where, in a moment of panic, the accelerator is pressed instead of the brake. I had my parked car written off by a lady who then went on to smash a park bench (luckily no-one was sitting on it at the time) & demolish a wall - all because she'd pressed the wrong pedal. In same the week my car was demolished, there were two other reports of similar incidents in the local paper. What do other people think?

[Driving-Nutter]

Personally,

My view is that old people SHOULD be allowed to drive because if they have passed their driving test and they are perfectly good drivers, then my opinion is that they should carry on driving.

The only time they should stop driving is if they get an illness or disease which will obviously stop them from using their vehicle.

[Maddriver]

I totally agree with driving-nutter!!!!!!

Old people should be allowed to drive, i also think at the age of 65 they should retake their test to see if they are good enough.

Many Thanks

[melvinator]

To be honest,
my granny drives better than my dad.
and my grandad drives as well as my mum.

I think that once youve took your test you should get retested every 2 years untill your 50 and then every year, because so much can change to do with your health.

[Maddriver]

Hi there
oh you talk some real rubbish dont you.I am a 75 year old man interested in racing cars around the streets, so dont you say anything like that again  . Please reply.