View Full Version : To Old To Drive?
I was waiting to exit the CO-OP carpark the other day when a little car with two old people in stopped to let some-one pass prior to pulling in to the same car park. Just as the car passed the little car turned into the car park right infront of a taxi, who had to swerve out of the way as well as jamming his brakes on. Had the taxi not reacted quickly the occupants of the car would have been seriously injured if even worse...The old people could hardly see above the dash board and appeared oblivious to the situation... I am all for freedom but it begs the question...Should they be allowed to drive?Angel
Don`t get me started on older drivers!:lol:
Alice in Blunderland
04-Nov-08, 22:36
Don`t get me started on older drivers!:lol:
We will be one one day :lol: :lol:
Thats if we have a licence to drive.
Be careful if you are going to start labelling folk.
Maybe a look at statistics of accidents, especially serious ones, and what age group they belong in, would be an indication of which group should be allowed to drive......
Kevin Milkins
05-Nov-08, 00:23
It makes me sad to recall an old couple in our village in South Wales that had been a large part of the community for many years.
It was noted that the old guy driving him and his wife about was getting a bit slower to respond to the modern way of driving.
They pulled up at a junction onto a busy road. He looked left and right and all was clear.
By the time he found the gear and pulled out a car coming a bit quick hit them on the side and killed them both.
When do we know when its time to say "Its about time I stoped doing this"?
It makes me sad to recall an old couple in our village in South Wales that had been a large part of the community for many years.
It was noted that the old guy driving him and his wife about was getting a bit slower to respond to the modern way of driving.
They pulled up at a junction onto a busy road. He looked left and right and all was clear.
By the time he found the gear and pulled out a car coming a bit quick hit them on the side and killed them both.
When do we know when its time to say "Its about time I stoped doing this"?
The world an its'cousin canny' answer that one with any truth;)
I was waiting to exit the CO-OP carpark the other day when a little car with two old people in stopped to let some-one pass prior to pulling in to the same car park. Just as the car passed the little car turned into the car park right infront of a taxi, who had to swerve out of the way as well as jamming his brakes on. Had the taxi not reacted quickly the occupants of the car would have been seriously injured if even worse...The old people could hardly see above the dash board and appeared oblivious to the situation... I am all for freedom but it begs the question...Should they be allowed to drive?Angel
You have no sense of adventure. Don't you ever get the urge to give somebody a fright every so often?
Have you never suddenly said "Boo" to make a baby jump out of it's skin?
A bit of danger occasionally makes life worth living.
Lavenderblue2
05-Nov-08, 08:45
Maybe a look at statistics of accidents, especially serious ones, and what age group they belong in, would be an indication of which group should be allowed to drive......
Torvaig - I couldn't agree with you more.
Well said Torvaig - I could list dozens of items from my local paper which would confirm your thoughts ! Sadly.
I've never had a car and I wont drive now, but I know which age group I would rather set out in a car with !
The young drivers have a lot on their side, but alas, they are somewhat impetuous on the road, however they have time on their side and they will improve.
I have noticed there are old drivers and young drivers.
Good drivers and bad drivers.
Trinkie
Thank you Trinkie; yes, there are good drivers and there are bad drivers and they belong to every age group. Don't get me wrong; I have an elderly father who is still driving and I have noticed his reactions are much slower and I do wish he would give up driving but they live in the country, there isn't a local shop, post office, bank and there is no bus route within three miles of them. What do they do?
The family do their best to take them places but he still likes to go for his weekly papers on a Friday and to town to do the weekly shop. How do you tell him to stop driving when he reads in the papers daily of the accidents; needless ones through speeding, lack of consideration etc?
At least elderly people sit at the roundabouts waiting patiently for a good spell to go instead of rapidly taking a conscience decision to "go for it". Surely we should still have the time and patience for our elders.......
Have my own theory on this one; basically if you are a nervous crap driver when young, you remain like that (with a little improvement of course).. if you are a confident safe driver when young you remain like that - of course reactions will partially slow down as time passes..
I know many 60-70 year old's who drive professionally and I know of many young inexperienced drivers who end up dead. Most RTA's I attended were in the 20+ age group.
That's not to say when real old age arrives and reactions DO slow down, then it's time for a reappraisal..
No doubt you know of friends who were timid insecure drivers, wonder if they still are, hesitation being the main cause of accidents.. (imo)
My father in law was still driving well into his eighties, when really it was no longer safe for him to do so. For someone who'd always driven that bit too fast, he became painfully slow. Living a long way from the nearest bus stop into town, and not being that nimble on his pins, his car meant he could still have some independence. It was especially important to him after his wife died - he just needed to get out of the house when he felt he needed to, not at times that people could manage to give him a lift.
More people now drive than ever before and I'm sure many of us won't want to give up that sense of independence, mobility and freedom just because we've reached a certain age. My concern is mainly that very old people can become a danger not only to themselves but to other people. Sadly, they don't always accept that's the case.
Having said that, there are bad and dangerous drivers of all ages, and I know some very good, safe, capable drivers who must now be over eighty!
I sometimes think that there should be a course, exam or such like every so many years to assess your driving abilities. It would give you time to reflect on any bad habits you have gleaned since passing your driving test and any little thing that reminds people of how they should be driving that may help prevent an accident some day can only be a bonus.
The likes of my father and his age group didn't have to pass a test and even if they did, the criteria has changed drastically since nearly seventy years ago! He has always been a very good driver and I always felt safe beside him but now it is just his reaction time that is the worry.
I know a lot of people have no patience with elderly or hesitant drivers and I acknowledge the fact that they cause many accidents but so do people who drive fast, react fast and expect everyone else to do the same. That's fine if we know that all the drivers out there are sharp, on the ball and aware of all that can happen but they are not!
So where do we draw the line? Many drivers resent speed traps etc., but if there were no limits, there would be more carnage on the roads than there is already. What gives us the right to go speeding around the country expecting all and sundry to get out of our way just because we have a lovely fast car, ours senses are buzzing and we are high on speed?
I love driving fast; there is nothing more exhilarating than having a machine answer all your demands but we all know in our heart of hearts it is madness.
Can you imagine someone from the dark ages coming upon the modern world and seeing very fast machines passing each other within inches in different directions and the occasional human on a slow two wheeled machine or horror of horrors, walking a few inches from these machines? Madness.
The sorry thing is that our infrastructure has not kept up with the evolution of motorised transport. In an ideal world, roads would be kept well away from built up areas and pedestrians and cyclists would use completely different routes. There would be "jump on, jump off" slower moving transportation for getting around our cities and towns with never any contemplation of combining "fast" and "slow".
No one in their right minds nowadays would design the modern methods we have of moving around our habitat.
Ach weel, I'm off now for anither cup o' coffee and will get a beeg bit o' paper an' redesign 'e infrastructure of 'e British Isles!
I may be some time.......:eek:
My dad is in his mid eighties and still driving his car gives him a great deal of independance for getting out and about but we do worry about him when we hear of his travels and the distances he drives
I always felt safe sitting beside him but last year had a hair raising experience with him in a car park he choose to go against the direction arrows I was clutching the dashboard he turned and said your awful nervous why is that :roll:
teenybash
05-Nov-08, 17:00
I think everyone recognizes there are good and bad drivers across all age groups and also reflexes do slow with age........but there are many elderly drivers who rely on their cars, not as a luxury but a neccessity.
Here, there are a fair number of older drivers who do not live in town or village and who have no access to a bus service............they genuinely need their cars until someone...like local councils come up with a solution.
Phoebus_Apollo
05-Nov-08, 17:16
I think once you reach 50 you should be forced to resit your test - the body naturally deteriorates and by the time you reach old age your vision,reaction etc are all fading.
50!!! that 'aint old age!
Phoebus_Apollo
05-Nov-08, 17:33
50!!! that 'aint old age!
Well according to national stats you`ve got 25 years left to live - so I would say 50 is old.....ish
oldchemist
05-Nov-08, 17:42
I was driving back from Thurso this afternoon when I met what I think was a dark-coloured Jaguar being driven at enormous speed (100mph+). It was dangerous and I bet it was not being driven by an old person, whatever "old" is.
FIFTY!!! (No I am not - even after what TBH has had to say on the subject!) I don't feel there is a need to resit yer test at that age but I do hope that people from the age of 40 even take up their eye test option as I feel that is important.
teenybash
05-Nov-08, 18:33
I think once you reach 50 - the body naturally deteriorates and by the time you reach old age your vision,reaction etc are all fading.
You speak for yourself!!!!!;)
Well according to national stats you`ve got 25 years left to live - so I would say 50 is old.....ish
50 old !!!!so what happened to middle age then if the you are still young at 40
Hope you successfully achieve your 3 score years and ten
And in the mean time I will set my clock to 75 waiting on my countdown
My reflexes are just fine thank you for now
but as to the future none of knows thank goodness whats ahead and how we would react in any situation young or old
Phoebus you may well achieve a 75 plus reign hopefully you will
I just wonder how you would review the situation then when you reach the grand old age of 50
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy) interesting site (if you lived in Swaziland you've have missed the re-test by 18 years?)
I agree with a lot of what has been said in this post and if the driver is injured or killed that is his problem albeit sad and selfish, if the the old dear in the passenger seat is aware and happy with the potential harm to her life, then again all well and good. But had this been a lunch time and the place is usually thronging with children... well, why not mow them all down... and if the old couple don't do it, then the taxi driver gets a choice... kids or old couple... yeah, I can go along with that...
My father-in-law (80) is also still driving after 2 crashes both his fault... go have some fun old man...
Angel
'fraid I am starting to lose patience with older drivers. I used to be more tolerant, but I have seen some pretty bad driving lately. I understand the independence bit, and I understand the fact that some older folks live in remote areas and need a car, but there are some older drivers who are quite simply a nuisance to other road users at best and a danger at worst.
Driving in the early afternoon yesterday from Thurso to Wick (Watten road) in a large van I was slowed down to 38 miles an hour until I eventually managed to get past some old driver peering over the dashboard. The road speed on the long straight stretch was 60mph. There were plenty of opportunities for the person to pull in and let traffic past but they were too something to allow this to happen. I encounter this attitude from old drivers (I do mean old, not just 'older') on an almost daily basis. When I lived in NW Sutherland and travelled the twisty roads full of passing places, this was never a problem - drivers were generally courteous and considerate.
I get annoyed also with the pedagogical old drivers who will sit at 25-28 miles an hour, but put their foot down if you attempt to overtake them. Definitely not a way to help other road users stay calm, or alive.
You get bad drivers at any age, but I feel that older drivers tend to greater arrogance whilst younger drivers tend to greater impatience and rashness. Couple the two and the result often leads to injuries and death.
A little more acceptance of the possibility that other road users have different needs from our own would be very helpful, but yes, I think some people are too old, or too stubborn, to drive.
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