Elderly Drivers

On 20 Sep, 12:17, dannyfrankszzz <dannyfrankszzz.2x7...@no-

mx.forums.cyclingforums.com said:

In the past week, on 3 occasions I've been nearly very badly injured by
inept elderly drivers. The problem is that on all 3 occasions they
simply did not see me. Even when I shouted loudly at them, they seemed
to be completely oblivious.

I live in an affluent area of London and so I guess there are probably
more old people around with nice cars and time on their hands than in
other areas.

However, it is incredibly irritating when people don't drive properly
regardless of age.

This is something that's going to become more of a problem and is
something the government is going to need to think about. Personally,
I'd ban people over the age of 70 from driving.

--
dannyfrankszzz

If I were "king for a day" I would pass a law that from one year after
normal retirement age all drivers would need to pass an annual medical
and take an annual driving test to prove their continued competance.
Over the age of 70 the test would become more strict with incentives
to give up driving altogether. I would do this because I have:

1) Been hit in my car by a pensioner, also in a car, driving down the
middle of the road who then claimed to her insurance company that she
was stationary at the time of the incident.

2) Almost been knocked off the road into a deep pond on my bike by a
pensioner in a car who overtook me on a blind corner and then
instantly turned left across me.

3) Witnessed my girlfriend's parked car being written-off by a
pensioner in a car who tried to simply drive away only being stopped
by the fact one of her front wheels was now at a right angle to the
direction it should have pointed.

4) Had to convince my Grandfather to give up driving at night because
of his cataracts after the doctor's assessment had been " Are you
alright to drive? Yes? OK, then carry on"

Rant over,

David

email hidden said:

If I were "king for a day" I would pass a law that from one year after
normal retirement age all drivers would need to pass an annual medical
and take an annual driving test to prove their continued competance.
Over the age of 70 the test would become more strict with incentives
to give up driving altogether. I would do this because I have:

<snip>

If *I* were "king for a day" I would do something similar, but I
wouldn't limit it to pensioners. Regular retesting of all would also
be a part of my scheme, with incentives not to drive at all.

But I'm not king... :-(

PhilD

--
<><

[email hidden] said the following on 20/09/2007 12:39:

Quoted message said:

If I were "king for a day" I would pass a law that from one year after
normal retirement age all drivers would need to pass an annual medical
and take an annual driving test to prove their continued competance.
Over the age of 70 the test would become more strict with incentives
to give up driving altogether.

Personally, I would extend that to make *all* drivers have to retake
their test every 5 years (and I am a driver, so this would apply to me),
then going onto the annual test at retirement age.

Quoted message said:

4) Had to convince my Grandfather to give up driving at night because
of his cataracts after the doctor's assessment had been " Are you
alright to drive? Yes? OK, then carry on"

Eventually my grandmother has given up driving for much the same reason,
although in her case she should have given up 50 years ago! There's
something very wrong with a system that allows people with extremely
poor vision to continue driving with no more than a "Yes? OK, then carry on"

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

Quoted message said:

I'd ban people over the age of 70 from driving.

Quoted message said:

dannyfrankszzz

Danny, will your 70 year rule apply to cyclists too?

On Sep 20, 7:17 am, dannyfrankszzz <dannyfrankszzz.2x7...@no-

mx.forums.cyclingforums.com said:

In the past week, on 3 occasions I've been nearly very badly injured by
inept elderly drivers. The problem is that on all 3 occasions they
simply did not see me. Even when I shouted loudly at them, they seemed
to be completely oblivious.

I live in an affluent area of London and so I guess there are probably
more old people around with nice cars and time on their hands than in
other areas.

However, it is incredibly irritating when people don't drive properly
regardless of age.

This is something that's going to become more of a problem and is
something the government is going to need to think about. Personally,
I'd ban people over the age of 70 from driving.

--
dannyfrankszzz

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070912/driving_dementia_070912/20070912?hub=Health

Teredo said:

Quoted message said:

I'd ban people over the age of 70 from driving.

Quoted message said:

dannyfrankszzz

Danny, will your 70 year rule apply to cyclists too?

I'm not Danny but I don't see why it would. Few cycles weigh half a
tonne or more and travel at 100+ km/h.

John Kane, Kingston ON Canada

PhilD said:

On Sep 20, 12:39 pm, "[email hidden]"

Quoted message said:

If I were "king for a day" I would pass a law that from one year after
normal retirement age all drivers would need to pass an annual medical
and take an annual driving test to prove their continued competance.
Over the age of 70 the test would become more strict with incentives
to give up driving altogether. I would do this because I have:

<snip>

If *I* were "king for a day" I would do something similar, but I
wouldn't limit it to pensioners. Regular retesting of all would also
be a part of my scheme, with incentives not to drive at all.

But I'm not king... :-(

PhilD

This is only a constitutional monarchy, so you will need to be the
Prime Minister.

David Lloyd (at work)

Paul Boyd said:

[email hidden] said the following on 20/09/2007 12:39:

Quoted message said:

If I were "king for a day" I would pass a law that from one year after
normal retirement age all drivers would need to pass an annual medical
and take an annual driving test to prove their continued competance.
Over the age of 70 the test would become more strict with incentives
to give up driving altogether.

Personally, I would extend that to make *all* drivers have to retake
their test every 5 years (and I am a driver, so this would apply to me),
then going onto the annual test at retirement age.

Quoted message said:

4) Had to convince my Grandfather to give up driving at night because
of his cataracts after the doctor's assessment had been " Are you
alright to drive? Yes? OK, then carry on"

Eventually my grandmother has given up driving for much the same reason,
although in her case she should have given up 50 years ago! There's
something very wrong with a system that allows people with extremely
poor vision to continue driving with no more than a "Yes? OK, then carry
on"

There is something worse wrong with a system that gives out cars under
Motability to people who are registered disabled because their
disability is that they are blind in one eye and have tunnel vision in
the other.

dannyfrankszzz said:

In the past week, on 3 occasions I've been nearly very badly injured by
inept elderly drivers. The problem is that on all 3 occasions they
simply did not see me. Even when I shouted loudly at them, they seemed
to be completely oblivious.

I live in an affluent area of London and so I guess there are probably
more old people around with nice cars and time on their hands than in
other areas.

However, it is incredibly irritating when people don't drive properly
regardless of age.

This is something that's going to become more of a problem and is
something the government is going to need to think about. Personally,
I'd ban people over the age of 70 from driving.

Personally, I'd ban people under the age of 60 from posting rubbish. It
is probably the case that with increasing age comes an increasing risk
of attention deficit, but to set an arbitrary bar at age 70 is a
distasteful suggestion, to put it mildly. Try reading, for example, Age
related changes in drivers' crash risk and crash type; G. Anthony Ryan,
Matthew Legge and Diana Rosman, Road Accident Prevention Research Unit,
Department of Public Health, University of Western Australia, 1999

Drivers aged 70 and over are shown to have a relatively high involvement
in serious / fatal crashes, but in terms of overall numbers of crashes,
their involvement is very small compared to, say, drivers aged under 30
years.

The answer to inept driving is proper prosecution of all erring drivers
and a sentencing policy which acts as true deterrent to the sort of
behaviour we see daily on the roads from drivers of all age groups.
There is a current attitude in the UK that road traffic law is unlike
other areas of legislation and that breaking such laws is our
fundamental right. I watched a young woman only yesterday driving two
small children, presumably to school, with one hand clamping her mobile
phone to her ear. If she was even caught, how would she be punished?
An irritating fine and three penalty points she can wear with some sort
of perverse pride, as some sort of battle scars?

Elderly drivers need to consider their fitness to drive, of course, and
there are provisions in place, however inadequate at present, to address
this. But if we're going to ban drivers en masse(and I'm not saying I'd
be opposed to the idea) let's at least target the people who cause the
majority of the problems.

--
Brian G
www.wetwo.co.uk

marc said the following on 20/09/2007 14:28:

Quoted message said:

There is something worse wrong with a system that gives out cars under
Motability to people who are registered disabled because their
disability is that they are blind in one eye and have tunnel vision in
the other.

You are joking, of course. You are, aren't you?????? If this tunnel
vision is anything like I get with ophthalmic migraines, then there is
no way someone with that permanently should be driving.

I know years ago we used to have a guy at work with only one eye, and he
told us that he wasn't allowed to drive because of that.

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

Paul Boyd said:

marc said the following on 20/09/2007 14:28:

Quoted message said:

There is something worse wrong with a system that gives out cars under
Motability to people who are registered disabled because their
disability is that they are blind in one eye and have tunnel vision in
the other.

You are joking, of course. You are, aren't you??????

Nope! One of my employees turned up in a brand new car one day , I
asked him where it had come from ( I knew I didn't pay him enough) and
he explained that it was his fathers, via motobility , cos of his eyesight

If this tunnel

Quoted message said:

vision is anything like I get with ophthalmic migraines, then there is
no way someone with that permanently should be driving.

I know years ago we used to have a guy at work with only one eye, and he
told us that he wasn't allowed to drive because of that.

That wouldn't have disbarred him as long as he can read a number plate
at X metres, he's in

Paul Boyd <usenet.is.worse@plusnet>typed

Quoted message said:

marc said the following on 20/09/2007 14:28:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

There is something worse wrong with a system that gives out cars under
Motability to people who are registered disabled because their
disability is that they are blind in one eye and have tunnel vision in
the other.

Quoted message said:

You are joking, of course. You are, aren't you?????? If this tunnel
vision is anything like I get with ophthalmic migraines, then there is
no way someone with that permanently should be driving.

Quoted message said:

I know years ago we used to have a guy at work with only one eye, and he
told us that he wasn't allowed to drive because of that.

I believe driving with one eye is permitted so long as the vision with
the remainig eye allows a number plate to be read at the specified
distance. requirements for PCVs and HGVs may be stricter.

--
Helen D. Vecht: [email hidden]
Edgware.

Paul Boyd usenet.is.worse@plusnet said:

Personally, I would extend that to make *all* drivers have to retake
their test every 5 years (and I am a driver, so this would apply to me),
then going onto the annual test at retirement age.

I'd make it every three years if you took the standard driving test
and every five or six years if you took a higher standard test (IAM,
ROSPA, something like that).

That way there's an incentive for people to take further training.

Tim.

marc said:

Nope! One of my employees turned up in a brand new car one day , I
asked him where it had come from ( I knew I didn't pay him enough) and
he explained that it was his fathers, via motobility , cos of his eyesight

I think you can get a motability car even if you can't physically
drive. The idea being that then your carer can drive you around.
BICBW.

Tim.

[email hidden] said the following on 20/09/2007 16:12:

Quoted message said:

I'd make it every three years if you took the standard driving test
and every five or six years if you took a higher standard test (IAM,
ROSPA, something like that).

IAM? Higher? Pah!!! I went right off that years ago during a court
case. The woman who drove into my car very carefully explained why she
did what she did - things like:-

"It wasn't a roundabout, it's a motorway junction so roundabout rules
don't apply." (Jcn 21 M5 - a typical motorway roundabout)

"I wasn't indicating right because I was going straight on and people
would think I was going right if I indicated right" (She was going right)

"I used the left hand lane to turn right because it's difficult to get
into that lane at my exit" (and in doing so swept straight across a dual
carriageway exit)

There was more along those lines. Then she muttered to her solicitor,
who shook his head. The magistrate wanted to know what was said. The
defendant said that she wanted it brought to the court's attention that
she has passed the IAM test...

This was a case with no recorded witnesses, and it went 100% in my
favour, by the way. It was unusual in that by and large both parties
agreed with what happened.

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

In article <[email hidden]>,
dannyfrankszzz
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

However, it is incredibly irritating when people don't drive properly
regardless of age.

This is something that's going to become more of a problem and is
something the government is going to need to think about. Personally,
I'd ban people over the age of 70 from driving.

So all [censored] drivers are irritating/dangerous, but you're only going to
ban the old ones?
I'd introduce retests for all drivers, every 5 years or so, and require
a proper eye test too.

"Paul Boyd" <usenet.is.worse@plusnet> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] said the following on 20/09/2007 16:12:

Quoted message said:

I'd make it every three years if you took the standard driving test
and every five or six years if you took a higher standard test (IAM,
ROSPA, something like that).

IAM? Higher? Pah!!! I went right off that years ago during a court
case. The woman who drove into my car very carefully explained why she
did what she did - things like:-

<snip dimness on part of IAM driver>

Tee hee. There was a case near here where a guy who'd just passed his IAM
test went on to knock a cyclist over on a mini-roundabout - on the same day.
He got done for careless driving.

cheers,
cliev

In article <[email hidden]>,
dannyfrankszzz <[email hidden]>
writes

Quoted message said:

However, it is incredibly irritating when people don't drive properly
regardless of age.

This is something that's going to become more of a problem and is
something the government is going to need to think about. Personally,
I'd ban people over the age of 70 from driving.

My guest (an ex bunny girl from the 70s, as it happens) at lunch today
says her mum in Scotland is almost 90 and still drives around - in fact
she's going on a driving tour some time in the next few weeks. She
didn't mention any 'incidents' so I presume that for the moment her mum
is fine behind the wheel. It could be a challenge to prise her fingers
from the steering wheel when the time does come.
--
congokid
Eating out in London? Read my tips...
http://congokid.com

"John Kane" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Teredo said:

Quoted message said:

I'd ban people over the age of 70 from driving.
> dannyfrankszzz

Danny, will your 70 year rule apply to cyclists too?

I'm not Danny but I don't see why it would. Few cycles weigh half a
tonne or more and travel at 100+ km/h.

May be the case but doesn't stop them doing totally stupid things on the
road.

Niall