Should drivers have an assessment/test after a certain age?
Do you think that drivers should have some kind of assessment/test after a certain age?
Obviously not a full blown test like you have to when learning. But some kind of assessment to make sure they are still ok on the roads.
I know young drivers can cause issues on the roads i'm not denying that. But older drivers can cause issues too.
Yesterday evening- In a carpark at a small retail park in town near me, an older man came out of a parking space, and by the looks of it he pressed the accelerator rather than the brake. He hit about 15 other cars in the capark. Quite a few of them were badly damaged and were more than likely write offs. I know someone whos car got hit, and luckily all she had was a dented bumper. Other cars came off a lot worse than hers. 2 of the cars were still there with police tape on this morning. And there was still debris from other cars on the carpark.
Obviously not a full blown test like you have to when learning. But some kind of assessment to make sure they are still ok on the roads.
I know young drivers can cause issues on the roads i'm not denying that. But older drivers can cause issues too.
Yesterday evening- In a carpark at a small retail park in town near me, an older man came out of a parking space, and by the looks of it he pressed the accelerator rather than the brake. He hit about 15 other cars in the capark. Quite a few of them were badly damaged and were more than likely write offs. I know someone whos car got hit, and luckily all she had was a dented bumper. Other cars came off a lot worse than hers. 2 of the cars were still there with police tape on this morning. And there was still debris from other cars on the carpark.
Reply 1
Original post
by Emma:-)Do you think that drivers should have some kind of assessment/test after a certain age?
Obviously not a full blown test like you have to when learning. But some kind of assessment to make sure they are still ok on the roads.
I know young drivers can cause issues on the roads i'm not denying that. But older drivers can cause issues too.
Yesterday evening- In a carpark at a small retail park in town near me, an older man came out of a parking space, and by the looks of it he pressed the accelerator rather than the brake. He hit about 15 other cars in the capark. Quite a few of them were badly damaged and were more than likely write offs. I know someone whos car got hit, and luckily all she had was a dented bumper. Other cars came off a lot worse than hers. 2 of the cars were still there with police tape on this morning. And there was still debris from other cars on the carpark.
Obviously not a full blown test like you have to when learning. But some kind of assessment to make sure they are still ok on the roads.
I know young drivers can cause issues on the roads i'm not denying that. But older drivers can cause issues too.
Yesterday evening- In a carpark at a small retail park in town near me, an older man came out of a parking space, and by the looks of it he pressed the accelerator rather than the brake. He hit about 15 other cars in the capark. Quite a few of them were badly damaged and were more than likely write offs. I know someone whos car got hit, and luckily all she had was a dented bumper. Other cars came off a lot worse than hers. 2 of the cars were still there with police tape on this morning. And there was still debris from other cars on the carpark.
I think they should definitely as your mental functions and reaction time definitely decline the older you get
I'm glad your friend's ok! That sounds stressful....
Original post
by Maximum-tragedyI think they should definitely as your mental functions and reaction time definitely decline the older you get
I'm glad your friend's ok! That sounds stressful....
I'm glad your friend's ok! That sounds stressful....
Yeah it deffo looked stressful. There was a video of the aftermath on one of our local facebook pages.
At the moment its relying on drivers being honest when they renew their licence every 3 years.
I think maybe an hours lesson with a driving instructor would work. Not test conditions, just normal driving. The instructor can then say yes they are ok or no they arent ok and sign them off.
Reply 3
Original post
by Emma:-)Yeah it deffo looked stressful. There was a video of the aftermath on one of our local facebook pages.
At the moment its relying on drivers being honest when they renew their licence every 3 years.
I think maybe an hours lesson with a driving instructor would work. Not test conditions, just normal driving. The instructor can then say yes they are ok or no they arent ok and sign them off.
At the moment its relying on drivers being honest when they renew their licence every 3 years.
I think maybe an hours lesson with a driving instructor would work. Not test conditions, just normal driving. The instructor can then say yes they are ok or no they arent ok and sign them off.
That's surely just a driving test by another name though? as if you don't get 'signed off' you presumably can't drive? if anything it takes the process out of the hands of qualified examiners and puts it in the hand of private instructors with a conflict of interest.
Original post
by StriderHortThat's surely just a driving test by another name though? as if you don't get 'signed off' you presumably can't drive? if anything it takes the process out of the hands of qualified examiners and puts it in the hand of private instructors with a conflict of interest.
It was just an idea. There has to be some way of seeing if older people are still able to drive safely. I'm not saying a full blown test or anything. Leaving it up to the person themselves to decide if they are ok to drive will mean that people say they are ok to drive when they might not actually be.
I think a streamlined assessment of the core elements of driving (vision, reaction time and awareness) could be something that may be useful to implement
Reply 6
With the current system, from the age of 70, you have to renew your licence every 3 years. When you renew it you have to declare any medical conditions and that your eyesight meets the minimum standards.
Lying about these things can result in prosecution and a large fine.
Car insurance costs start to rise from your late 70's onwards.
I personally think that the current system for older drivers is fine. The UK Government agrees with me.
There is some dependence on honesty. With those lying facing significant punishment if caught.
Introducing a semi-test for older drivers would be age discrimination. As the sort of person that lives to their 90's tends to be the sort of person that has minimal medical issues through their lives, stays active and alert up until 3 weeks before they die. Some of them will die in their sleep, having been fully active and alert the previous day. The doddery elderly person stereotype is just that. Some people go doddery as they age. Some don't. It's not fair to punish the non doddery ones, nor to saddle them with additional annoying hoops to jump through, just because others of their age shouldn't be behind a wheel.
Older voters make up a significant part of the electorate. They're not turkeys that will vote for Christmas.
Lying about these things can result in prosecution and a large fine.
Car insurance costs start to rise from your late 70's onwards.
I personally think that the current system for older drivers is fine. The UK Government agrees with me.
There is some dependence on honesty. With those lying facing significant punishment if caught.
Introducing a semi-test for older drivers would be age discrimination. As the sort of person that lives to their 90's tends to be the sort of person that has minimal medical issues through their lives, stays active and alert up until 3 weeks before they die. Some of them will die in their sleep, having been fully active and alert the previous day. The doddery elderly person stereotype is just that. Some people go doddery as they age. Some don't. It's not fair to punish the non doddery ones, nor to saddle them with additional annoying hoops to jump through, just because others of their age shouldn't be behind a wheel.
Older voters make up a significant part of the electorate. They're not turkeys that will vote for Christmas.
I think the issue is that practically yes, this probably should be in place for both the individuals safety as well as others, however I think there are legal (i.e. around discrimination laws) and political (no party is going to commit to "we're making old people take extra tests" as it would harm their election platforms...) barriers that make it probably unlikely to come about.
What really needs to happen is public transit and social care needs to be properly funded, as this could then incentivise older people to use these services rather than drive themselves in the first place. If there was a bus every 15 minutes like clockwork which was comfortable and easy to access, and/or dedicated social care services to provide transport to those less mobile in old age, and this is made cheaper and easier/more convenient than having to maintain a car and drive themselves, I suspect the issue would solve itself for the most part.
What really needs to happen is public transit and social care needs to be properly funded, as this could then incentivise older people to use these services rather than drive themselves in the first place. If there was a bus every 15 minutes like clockwork which was comfortable and easy to access, and/or dedicated social care services to provide transport to those less mobile in old age, and this is made cheaper and easier/more convenient than having to maintain a car and drive themselves, I suspect the issue would solve itself for the most part.
Reply 8
Original post
by Emma:-)It was just an idea. There has to be some way of seeing if older people are still able to drive safely. I'm not saying a full blown test or anything. Leaving it up to the person themselves to decide if they are ok to drive will mean that people say they are ok to drive when they might not actually be.
I'm not meaning to attack you over the idea, but those would be my two immediate objections.
I feel from a personal autonomy perspective, unless there is a specific incident or condition, that people have a right to decide if they are ok or not without having to get someone else's permission and they have to take responsibility for this like every other driver. I feel if you start taking these choices based on a specific characteristic rather than the individual you open the doors to abuse for everyone.
I think the system we already have is reasonable.
(Edit - if someone is debilitated or has conditions where they know damn well they shouldn't be on the road, taking their licence away likely wouldn't stop them)
(edited 10 months ago)
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