Driving Licence renewal after 70
- Thread starter kes
- Start date
Its a tough one! However think how much worse it could get if the worst happens ? A hard discussion but it will be a lot harder if its say a child.
And cyclists with those dazzling lights strapped on their heads.
When I had to go out and rescue my Dad at night because he was lost about a mile from home,That’s when I thought it’s time,Didn’t have to report him,Just hid his keys.After a life time of driving everything from tractors as a boy to low loaders it was hard on him but he soon got used to it.Turned out he had the on set of Dementia and just about everything else.
Last year I was driving behind an elderly man who was going along in a brand new car, in first gear (he must have thought he was driving an automatic) at 25mph in a 40 zone literally bouncing off kerbs and drifting onto the wrong side of the road and eventually took out a bollard at a pedestrian crossing.
I was desperate to stop him but obviously I could do nothing at the time. If I overtook him and physically made him stop I would of course have been quickly arrested by police for “aggressive behaviour/road rage”or whatever and immediately lose my FAC, so that wasn’t an option.
I had to stop my vehicle and call the police to report it. I waited 45 minutes in a queue to speak to a person, who basically told me I shouldn’t have bothered reporting it.
I expected the police to at least visit this person at their home address to discuss it, but apparently nothing is done about these incidents.
I was desperate to stop him but obviously I could do nothing at the time. If I overtook him and physically made him stop I would of course have been quickly arrested by police for “aggressive behaviour/road rage”or whatever and immediately lose my FAC, so that wasn’t an option.
I had to stop my vehicle and call the police to report it. I waited 45 minutes in a queue to speak to a person, who basically told me I shouldn’t have bothered reporting it.
I expected the police to at least visit this person at their home address to discuss it, but apparently nothing is done about these incidents.
Well i have just reached the cheapest car insurance category but now its peaked it will start rising up gradually . Everyone is different i know a good few on gods waiting list who drive absolutely spot on despite advanced age and teenagers likewise . remember lies , damb lies and statistics come into all this . I hope when my time comes i realise it but the world is far harder to live in when you cannot drive ( outside of the big cities anyhow )
sikamalc
Administrator
Its just another excuse to take away our freedom. As far as I can see we are all being led up a never ending path of loosing our rights to choose what we want, where we want it and how we want it, by every government that comes along.
I see today that the SNP are now banning all log burners in any new development. Every time one looks, there's another piece of our freedom to choose taken away.
Freedom in this country is becoming rare. And public transport for many is a joke, so why shouldn't any person over 70 be allowed to carry on driving, as long as they are physically able to do so.
I see today that the SNP are now banning all log burners in any new development. Every time one looks, there's another piece of our freedom to choose taken away.
Freedom in this country is becoming rare. And public transport for many is a joke, so why shouldn't any person over 70 be allowed to carry on driving, as long as they are physically able to do so.
Yeah very true ! Once i have phoned the police to report a genuine case of someone way past being a competent driver . Apparently the cops already knew about them and where already on with getting in touch with the rest of the family, apparently its very, very difficult to slap a driving ban on anyone who is driving "within the law " I mean this old girl was doing speed in the teens at best on an open road no traffic only the big tailback behind her LOL
sikamalc
Administrator
Note, what I said in the last sentence. If physically able to do so.
I would rather see an elderly lady driving at slow speed, than an idiot boy racer in a clapped out car, with no insurance driving at 70mph in a 30mph zone. And killing a young child or hitting a family in a car.
Or a drunk driver, or high on drugs, driving at excessive speed and killing someone.
I would rather see an elderly lady driving at slow speed, than an idiot boy racer in a clapped out car, with no insurance driving at 70mph in a 30mph zone. And killing a young child or hitting a family in a car.
Or a drunk driver, or high on drugs, driving at excessive speed and killing someone.
So this is the key. How many times do you hear about pensioners caught going the wrong way on the road or hitting cyclists, then when they get stopped by the police, find that they can't even read a licence plate from about 5 paces away.
Last time I went into the opticians, this came up in conversation, and they were telling me how they cannot legally report someone who fails their eye test (for driving standard) and subsequently refuses to get their eyes corrected (whether by glasses or contacts) - due to patient confidentiality. Meanwhile, plod gets a bell the second we mention the word Depression in ear shot of the GP...
I am fine with the elderly driving, and whilst sight loss (and other driving conditions notifiable to the DVLA like seizures etc) do occur to plenty under 70, I would suspect it is significantly more common the older you get (especially sight conditions...). However, as it stands, unless the person in question grasses themselves up to the DVLA on things like this, mandatory re-testing is the only way to catch them out.
sikamalc
Administrator
Granted this does occur, but I doubt it out weighs those on the road that drink and drive, or take drugs. I heard a short while ago that an estimated 1 million plus drivers are not even insured, whether this is true or not I don't know. But that's a lot of uninsured people, rarely would I think an elderly person be uninsured?
I have my regular eye sight test, and passed with flying colours late last year. To be honest it did come up in conversation regarding reporting people who had failed the eye test. I cant remember what was said about reporting it to the authorities, you may well be right.
However I think it would be unfair and certainly expensive and time consuming to ask those over 70 to take a re test. I think it also falls to a certain extent on the family's responsability to advice the senior family member to pack up driving, if they are incapable of doing so safely.
Oh indeed... Certainly just have to listen to some of the chaps drinking in the shoot bothy after a day in the field on the drink driving...
But there in lies the main problem... How do you get the balls to tell your old man that's enough - especially as it could end up being a very ugly argument as Tackb is worried about...
Indeed, one of the places I go, the estate workers have standing orders to report to the young laird whenever they hear a shotgun, as the old laird is half blind and quite infirm but refuses to give up his guns. I presume plod isn't informed (yet) as the old laird is still technically the master of the estate, so family fallout may have big ramifications.
kenbro
Well-Known Member
Ha, but cars are made by drivers and drivers are not.Hmmm.
Interesting juxtaposition - cars are tested for fitness to be driven at only three years of age then annually thereafter but drivers……..
Ken.
fixedwheel
Well-Known Member
Yep, the responsibility for informing DVLA about any medical condition that would affect your ability to drive lies with the licence holder.
However, in your discussion with the optician, what happens if the patient just takes the eye exam prescription, and gets glasses made elsewhere? Not a totally cut and dried situation anymore.
Not to mention h
That's the legal rationale behind the optician not taking it further. However, they did confide that they have had patients in who do not meet driving standard, but steadfastly do not believe it wrong, "because well I can still see can't I!". And it's those ones which are challenging...
That's the legal rationale behind the optician not taking it further. However, they did confide that they have had patients in who do not meet driving standard, but steadfastly do not believe it wrong, "because well I can still see can't I!". And it's those ones which are challenging...
fixedwheel
Well-Known Member
Yep, agreed. Would we be better if we did like we see on all the US programs, and do an eye test at a local DVLA office?
Not seen those programmes I'm afraid
but equally I believe there is some kind of NHS system that tracks your eye tests (what with it being free every 2 years?). So maybe a small extention/flag that notes that a new prescription was issued - and automatically removed when that prescription is brought into another opticians? The other one that the optician was saying about, is those especially getting into their 50s, who don't realise that their eyesight is going, after having had perfect vision for years.
my 6 yr old could drive me back from the pub then tooSimilar threads
