What age should we give up our licence?

When i read stories such as the one below i always wonder should we give up our driving licence when we reach a certain age?

An 89-year-old man has died after he drove the wrong way down a dual carriageway and smashed into a van.

Terrified drivers swerved to avoid the Ford Ka, as it sped down on the A12 near Ardleigh in Colchester, Essex, at 8pm last night.

Police were scrambled to the scene but discovered the car had already crashed head-on into the Renault van.
The elderly motorist was pronounced dead at the scene, while the van driver was taken to hospital with serious injuries.

The pensioner was seen driving in the wrong direction near this stretch of the A12 in Essex
A spokesman for Essex Police said: 'Police received simultaneous 999 calls reporting a car travelling southbound on the northbound carriageway.

'Police officers were immediately sent to the A12 but prior to their arrival the car, a Ford Ka, had caused several cars to swerve to avoid it, causing minor crashes before it collided with a van.'

Police said the elderly man initially collided with a red Renault Megane before ploughing head-on into a Renault Traffic van close to a service station.

The pensioner was driving in the wrong direction on the A12 near Ardleigh
The 89-year-old is from Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, but he has not been named.
The van driver is a 37-year-old man from Ipswich. He was taken to Ipswich Hospital but his injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.

The driver of the Renault Megane, a 26-year-old man from Colchester, also suffered minor injuries but did not go to hospital.

Police said all three cars were 'severely damaged' and the busy dual carriageway was closed overnight to discover how the elderly driver managed to get onto the wrong side of the road.

 

I don't know about giving up the licence... but perhaps at a certain age (say 65?) you should maybe have a safety test every 5 years. Maybe not as stringent on the nit-picky of the specific rules as a standard driving test, but just make sure that the driver is aware of surrounding traffic and still safe to negotiate down the road in the presence of other cars.

I've got no problems making some minor allowances for old folk driving (e.g. hesitancy, slow speeds, brief indecision on lane selection) as long as they aren't being lethally dangerous.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

Everybody is different, I don't think you can revoke all licences at a certain age. I would think age 70 you need some sort of test (not necessarily a full test) every 2 - 3 years.

 

Good ideas, do some sort of test to show you are still competent.

 

Age isn't the only test... there's a world of idiots out there. At least old drivers tend to be slow and easier to spot than the drug users and plain incompetents that are prowling our streets.

Just remember, somewhere out there is the lady from Bradford who took 48 attempts to pass her driving test. A chimp could pass sooner than that! In the interests of OUR safety, after the first 20 goes, the examiniers should have had a whip round and bought her a bus pass...


David

 

Good points, who is most dangerous an 80 year old who as been driving for 60 years or a 17 year old newly qualified driver in a hot hatch?

 

Well you should've had to hand yours in ten years ago on your 50th Steve I've witnessed the state of your car.......................................& don't try & blame Andrea or Collette!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Now here is a good canditate to hand in his licence, this guy is as mad as an hatter in a Rover 25, and now he as bought an Alfa 166 V6, the roads in Wales will be more dangerous than those in Mumbai.
















PS you cheeky ****

 

Let's put that to Sir Stirling!

 

lol

Er... yes... with some special exceptions.

 

I think we should give up our driving licence when we start to have problems with or cant use the smilies on this site.

 

Insert smilie that got deleted by purile moderation

 

I'll take that as a bite then

 

Yawn,time for a nap,some of us were up early.

 

An 80 year old who as been driving for 60 years will be exhausted! Time for a few days off to get his strength back.



We had a little old lady hit a girl on the crossing, by our house, last summer. She thought the girls had 'run into the road', but the sad truth was that she had not seen the red traffic light against the sun, or had not looked.

Fortunately the old duck was driving slowly (way under 40 limit) and the little girl must have the strength of an Ox. There was a dent in the Fiesta's wing, the windscreen and pillar where damaged, but she was (relatively) okay.

I've also seen two examples of older persons driving on the wrong side of this same urban dual carriageway! Unbelievable.

But we can't underestimate the importance of independence. A dear and active old friend had lost his license (I can't recall the details, but I don't think it was what you'd really class a safety issue). He continued to drive locally and was reported to the Police (rightly I must concede...). He was distraught: the shame, never had any contact with the Police before and the loss of his freedom. He could no longer visit his friends, nor face his neighbours and took his life.


There isn't a single answer to this. Fitness to drive varies as much as other levels of fitness in older people and being able to stay independent is a wonderful thing.

The present system is a joke, simply self declaring yourself fit. I, for one, don't want to ever loose my license, but this is an issue of responsibility. Perhaps we need to introduce driving tests...?

Say 10 yearly tests for all motorists and annual for old or high risk persons...?


David

 

I believe a proper eye test should be introduced as well. This self declaration of fitness just isn't right. It is a freedom thing though and the spontaneous ability to get up and go is what old people don't want to lose. My Mother and her husband are facing this and will hang up their driving gloves later in the year when the insurance becomes due for renewal. I admire their decision, it cannot have been easy.