The Student Room Group

3 dead after car with caravan drives the wrong way down the M40

One would hope they throw the book at the caravan driver https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/uk-news/m40-crash-leaves-three-dead-15286794

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Reply 1
Original post by Rock Fan
One would hope they throw the book at the caravan driver https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/uk-news/m40-crash-leaves-three-dead-15286794

Given he's dead, that'll be unlikely.
Original post by Drewski
Given he's dead, that'll be unlikely.


Ah ok well guess not suppose they will never know why he did
Reply 3
Original post by Rock Fan
Ah ok well guess not suppose they will never know why he did

Because he was in his 80s.
Original post by Drewski
Because he was in his 80s.


This is why they should retest elderly people
Original post by Drewski
Given he's dead, that'll be unlikely.

Original post by Drewski
Because he was in his 80s.

:rofl:
Reply 6
Cheaper than flying to Switzerland I guess. But a very selfish way to kill yourself.
Original post by Drewski
Because he was in his 80s.

There was a man who stopped driving at 102 (IIRC), because he found other drivers too slow.

I'm for compulsory retesting, but for everyone.
Reply 8
Original post by RogerOxon
There was a man who stopped driving at 102 (IIRC), because he found other drivers too slow.

I'm for compulsory retesting, but for everyone.

That's 32 mph above the speed limit, what was he expecting?
Reply 9
Original post by RogerOxon
There was a man who stopped driving at 102 (IIRC), because he found other drivers too slow.

I'm for compulsory retesting, but for everyone.

I know there are always going to be exceptions to the role, but the vast majority of drivers over 70+ are a liability to themselves and a danger to others.

And yeah, I've always thought there would be a retest every 5-10 years. For everyone.
(edited 5 years ago)
Original post by Drewski
I know there are always going to be exceptions to the role, but the vast majority of drivers over 70+ are a liability to themselves and a danger to others.

As are a lot of young drivers. I had my moments.
Original post by Drewski
I know there are always going to be exceptions to the role, but the vast majority of drivers over 70+ are a liability to themselves and a danger to others.

And yeah, I've always thought there would be a retest every 5-10 years.


Bit arbitrary for me. There's plenty of dangerous drivers in their 60s - why not retest them every 5-10 years? Or maybe people in their late 50s - that's physiologically when eyesight, hearing and reaction times start to noticeably decline...
Original post by Drewski
I know there are always going to be exceptions to the role, but the vast majority of drivers over 70+ are a liability to themselves and a danger to others.

And yeah, I've always thought there would be a retest every 5-10 years.


The truth is that people over 70 are around four times less likely to be involved in road accidents than males aged 17-21, despite significantly slower reaction times. That is hardly surprising. On the whole they realise their failings and drive accordingly - more experienced, slower, carefully, considerately. The young do not realise their failings and drive according to what they think they can do, which is usually on a par with Lewis Hamilton's fictional better-driving brother.

I know: I was that young driver.
Original post by Reality Check
Bit arbitrary for me. There's plenty of dangerous drivers in their 60s - why not retest them every 5-10 years? Or maybe people in their late 50s - that's physiologically when eyesight, hearing and reaction times start to noticeably decline...

When I said retest, I mean for everyone. That was unrelated to the age comment.
All this talk of re-testing is simply not going to happen. The system can't cope with the current need, never mind re-testing all those that have already passed.

There are approaching two million tests a year and around half of these are passes, so in five years time there would be an additional burden of 50% if there were a five year re-test period, without even considering the tens of millions of current drivers. So, let's assume there are twenty million of those - that is another 200% of the current workload if they all have to be tested within five years, and repeated ad infinitum.

It doesn't pass a simple sanity test, and even a ten year period is still far too much.

In any event, the standard of driving needed to pass the test is no challenge at all for the vast majority of people who have been driving for a long time. Testing would achieve nothing.

A crackdown on the senile few and those with other health problems that affect driving (like eyesight) would be far more effective.

There is more reason to ban all under 25s than there is to ban the elderly, and that isn't entirely reasonable or sensible either.
(edited 5 years ago)
I read overnight that the car involved in this crash had foreign number plates, so there may have been combinations of confusions going on in the mind of the driver. One has to wonder how you could drive five miles the wrong way up the outside lane of a motorway and not realise you may have boobed. One also has to wonder why his wife's probable screams of terror had no effect on him.
Original post by Good bloke
I read overnight that the car involved in this crash had foreign number plates, so there may have been combinations of confusions going on in the mind of the driver. One has to wonder how you could drive five miles the wrong way up the outside lane of a motorway and not realise you may have boobed. One also has to wonder why his wife's probable screams of terror had no effect on him.


Southbound on the M40. Just off the boat from Fishguard perhaps?
Mores victims of the grey dawn, entitled *****.
Original post by Reality Check
Bit arbitrary for me. There's plenty of dangerous drivers in their 60s - why not retest them every 5-10 years? Or maybe people in their late 50s - that's physiologically when eyesight, hearing and reaction times start to noticeably decline...


I'm not seeing the problem, gotta draw the line somewhere like with minimum age, why not when they get their free bus passes?
Original post by the beer
I'm not seeing the problem, gotta draw the line somewhere like with minimum age, why not when they get their free bus passes?


Busses suck though :P

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