DVLA: Make all OAP's over 70 re-take their tests

[furry]

mental Good Point m8...

As shown in this good discussion on here...its diffcult to decide where to draw the line...

Certainly like they do with HGV drivers...I'd be up for the medical test as well...

I think Tevor McDonold's Tonight program was wrong in just filtering out OAP's...Like with people obsessed with speed...they are also obsessed with age...and thats wrong. being older doesn't automatically make you a bad driver...

(allthough I would say it's fair to comment that driving tests back in their day were far easyier...and driving conditions were also easyier!)

As shown on the program though...1 out of 4 passed...but I'm sure at least 2 of the 3 that failed...would pass with a few lessons to correct their ways which have gone off over the yrs...We all forget and unless someone else tells us different, how are we to know we are doing wrong???

As I said all the accidents I've had have been aviodable...and if I had my way...I'd make all 3 of them re-sit their tests cos there is not a hope in hell of them passing...

Also as suggested...current situation regarding training/learning is just purely geared up to help you pass the test...rather than actually to help you gain knowledge and experience.

I Feel the same about motorbike training as well...Most (Not All) just want to fleece you of cash, then within a few days pass your test and fire you out on the road...espically those who take the DAS route.

I was lucky that the place that took me for my CBT...rather than spending 1 day...asked me to come back the following day...and spent all day with me for FREE as being a small school they are more focused on putting safe bikers on the road, rather than just firing you though the system.

Re-testing for me I think would pick up on any bad habbits and/or things road users are doing wrong...they can then go back and get further training till they can pass

PS: 4x4's should be banned unless your in a rural area...and mums who do the school run need to be banned too (I always walked 1.5 miles each way a day!) LOL

[Mark-Blade]

Very difficult subject, and not one that can be generalised...
Accidents....are caused by so many different things, not just age, although I have to say, I'm as guilty as the next person for getting uptight by being stuck behind an older driver doing well under the speed limit, but if, when the "red mist" appears I take the chance to overtake, (in a one off chance, risky situation) and hit a car or bike comming in the opposite direction, It's still my fault, as there is (as far as I know) no minimum speed limit on our roads ?
Yes there are elderly drivers out there that may be shouldn't be driving, but not all are incompetent.
Just as there are good and bad bikers.
What the answer to this is...I don't know, but as was mentioned in an earlier post, DVLA can't keep up with the demand for new drivers applications, let alone all the re-tests.
Tom L......
Not all 4x4 drivers are out to get bikers either...

[Tom L]

i dont know if in marks post it's the dreaded [ you ] button claiming another victim but with 4x4 it damn feeels like there gunning for me

i dont think on normal roads there a minium speed limit , i know one exsists on motor way and dual carridge way, dont know what tha it is though.

[Mark-Blade]

furry.........they havn't built a car strong enough to safely ferry my kids about yet....
At the end of the day we all have to look out for ourselves, and everybody has rights...we need to think about what we'll be like as an older road user, and weather we would want to be subjected to special treatment, just because of our age..( I know furry said all should be subject to a re- evaluation of our driving skills btw)
No doubt there have been many conversations over tea and cakes (on lace napkins) about how this " big, noisy, motor bike went passed me at what must have been 100 mph" while I was on my way to the garden centre.........
The moment we put that key into the ignition we are putting our lives at risk, we know that by now, but on the other hand....isn't that part of what makes riding a bike as exciting as it is??...who wan'ts a totaly predictable ride ??

[Mark-Blade]

It's ok Tom L.... I was just pointing out another generalisation....
I wasn't using "the button" but don't take it personally..

[technobear]

My dad is 70.

My dad still drives, safely in my opinion.

My dad never took a driving test.

My dad has never been involved in an accident.

Tests prove nothing.

Stupidity and lack of concentration are the biggest causes of accidents (IMHO).

Retaking the test will have very little effect on accident rates, the same as lowering speed limits left, right and centre has had very little effect, and speed scameras have had very little effect.

who wan'ts a totaly predictable ride ??

Who wants a totally predictable life?

It may be what the government wants. It sure isn't what I want (which is why I threw all my toys out of the pram on April 22nd and resigned on April 29th - time to throw everything up in the air and see where it lands ;) )

Life is scary. Life is dangerous. It always has been and it always will be and no amount of legislation or governmental meddling is going to change it.

[chris_1127]

No doubt there have been many conversations over tea and cakes (on lace napkins) about how this " big, noisy, motor bike went passed me at what must have been 100 mph" while I was on my way to the garden centre.........

funny you should mention it, my dad was telling my grandparents the other week how they were out for a sunday drive the weekend before, doing about 45 in a national speed limit zone in the countryside, and these "maniac" bikers flew past at about 80 miles per hour i had to point out to him how id had the opposite problem to him that weekend, being stuck behind doddery old buggers doing far slower speeds than were safe/reasonable for 60 zones ;)

bad driving isnt just age related, and its a hard thing to combat with a single approach - ive seen as many young drivers with a deliberate disregard for other road users as i have old drivers with no clue whats going on around them - how do you tackle that? but i do think mandatory regular health and eyesight testing, increasing in frequency after a certain age would be a great benefit - my girlfriends nan was recently diagnosed with quite advanced dementia, and she had been driving (badly) up to about 3 months before she was diagnosed she really should have been taken off the road a long time before....

[leatherpatches]

There is no way everyone over 70 should be made to re-take their test.

Just ban them completely, that's what I say!

We could all go faster and there would be less traffic on the roads. Plus Rover no longer need their business (sorry - poor taste...).

[furry]

LMAO @ leatherpatches

Well the re-test idea in theory...is meant to be a filter...as in...

Take test
Pass (Lucky B*****D)

Fail...

Do some lessons, get up to scratch

Then...

Back to the above...Take the test again.



It works in all other aspects of our lives...why not with driving? Only an idea! My own view is age has nothing to do with it, I've seen all ages drive both in a good and bad way...admitedly I'm always telling my old man off for being in the wrong lane...but he's only ever had 1 accident and drives 80 miles a day

"they havn't built a car strong enough to safely ferry my kids about yet..."

Make em bleady walk! LOL or just buy a Volvo!


Anyway at the end of the day...life is all about calculating risk...if there is steps we can take to put ourselves in a better position to do that...then I'm all ears

[clunk]

Anyway at the end of the day...life is all about calculating risk...if there is steps we can take to put ourselves in a better position to do that...then I'm all ears

The most sensible thing you've ever said on here, and you have said a lot of things

[pocket_rocket]

Just spotted this on the bbc news website:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/4537399.stm

Jac

[Jak]

just buy a Volvo!

I thought the site automatically censored swearwords

[furry]

LOL Jak and I was gonna buy one too hehe

Anyone seen the Volvo 4x4's going around now??? they are f.cu.kin massive might as well be a HGV truck

pocket_rocket maybe she wanted to drive her car round the store instead of getting on a scooter

So it seems OAP's are required a medical every 3 yrs then according to that bcc news report...Trevor McDonold reckoned otherwise...unless I mis-heard the program wrong????

As said before...HGV drivers etc have to have medicals...don't see why it should only be them and not the rest of us?

[pocket_rocket]

Not sure about the medical every three years. My dad is an OAP and has to re-apply for his licence quite frequently (cannot remember the timescales) - but I think he just has to declare on the form that he is fit to drive, I'm sure he doesn't go for a medical.

Jac