How to report an elderly driver that is clearly unable to drive properly

photome

alastairq wrote: »

The same sentiment can be applied across all age groups.

Young, new drivers apparently are more likely to have collisions..and repeat them, than over -25s.

So..let's 'ban' young drivers?

Problem solved?

Well, not really!

It just shifts the problem further up the age chain.

Aged drivers are seen to be a higher risk, anyway.....which is reflected in their premiums.

But, what seems to be forgotten is....aged drivers also have to prove they are fit to hold a driver's licence a lot more often than someone of the age of 40!

So, eyesight [including assisted]....etc have to be at the required standard..the same standard as that of a new driver?

So, if physical fitness is a strong criteria for having one's licence re-newed, why should 40-somethings be allowed to get away with it?

It is a pity that psychological fitness to hold a licence isn't assessed.

Because it is driver attitude that is at the root of nearly all that we complain about, or suffer.

You can go on thinking that and to some extent it is the case, but I see many incompetent drivers on a daily basis. I drive over 30000 miles a year. They come in all age groups. IMO the worst are older people who have no concept of the speed they are driving and no perception of anyone else around them

photome

alastairq wrote: »

You use the word 'acceptable?'

I use the word 'tolerance'!

I posted elsewhere this below



The difference is, you apply an emotive view of the matter., as in my quote.

Really your view as a good driver should be objective!



Age is irrelevant.....what you describe applies to all ages of driver, not just 'old' ones.

your use of the english language is better than mine, so you are always going to "win" an argument based on using different "words".

That doesnt alter the facts as i see them though

Mojisola

alastairq wrote: »

But, what seems to be forgotten is....aged drivers also have to prove they are fit to hold a driver's licence a lot more often than someone of the age of 40!

How does this work? All my Dad got was a form he had to sign to say that he was still fit to drive - he didn't have to have a driving assessment or medical check.

Most people find it very difficult to tell someone else that their driving is deteriorating so, now we're getting older, we've decided that we're going to have our driving assessed every few years by a driving instructor to make sure we're still safe on the road.

Atrades

alastairq wrote: »

That's too harsh!

Making this place seem like a school playground?

Yup I agree that statement is uncalled for, if a person wishes to remain anonymous then that is there prerogative.

spacey2012

The worst drivers on any road are those who think they are better than the other drivers around them.
They are so embroiled with criticising others that they have little perception of the mistakes they make.
This is because, usually the constant incidents they are dealing with appear to surround them and they are always someone else's fault.
Most other drivers, drive all day, every day without these constant incidents and near misses caused by people "who can not drive"
The reason for most drivers not been involved in constant near misses due to others "bad driving" is they are actually paying attention to their own driving and not other peoples.

Hands up who has not had the honking horn fist hands up waving pillok gestating at them only to watch them drive to the next car and end up tangling with them.
These I am sure are the experts we hear from on forums moaning about others driving skills.

alastairq

Sorry but the inability to drive in a way in which you are not creating a HAZARD to road users by driving at appropriate speeds for the road conditions is dangerous... And if say 30 people can drive safely and appropritely at 58 in a 60 limit and the older person can only do say 42 in a 60 and feel safe then it strongly suggests which of them does ot have the driving skill of a resonably competant road user and as such WHO needs to take a long hard look at their driving (ie the older person)..and preferably take some advanced motoring lessons.

No..they are not dangerous..at all! No more so than a tractor driver, or an LGV complying with their speed limit.

The danger [ie the risk levels increase]lies with the inability of too many of the other 30 drivers to cope with that slow vehicle.

Plus, there is an issue with the '30' other drivers being 'right?'

What is forgotten is, the vast majority of drivers simply 'do' what others are doing.
[safety in numbers?]

Very few actually drive along, entirely making their own, appropriate, decisions.

They like to think they are..but reality is very different.

Regarding 'advanced' driving?

The training really is about enabling.!

A by-product being, the trained driver is capable of making better, less risky progress, than before.

Which may not actually be at a 'higher' speed?

Yet, there is an underlying assumption that advanced driver training should make everybody drive faster?

I drive along at 45 mph in a NSL because, I want to.

Not because I cannot cope!

In the same way, I drive along at 60 mph in a NSL because I Want to.

Not because I don't want to get in anybody else's way!

There is a worrying presumption amongst too many that a slower driver is simply incompetent.

What is ignored, worryingly, is the myriad of other reasons why someone wishes to progress more sedately.

This is simply ignored because it is inconvenient!

Inconvenient to one's argument.

alastairq

You can go on thinking that and to some extent it is the case, but I see many incompetent drivers on a daily basis. I drive over 30000 miles a year. They come in all age groups. IMO the worst are older people who have no concept of the speed they are driving and no perception of anyone else around them

Trouble with miles-under-the-belt is, the driver only 'see's' what is immediately around them...and views what they see from their own perspective.

I may not 'do' 30,000 miles a year, but I spend pretty much all day, every day, out on the roads in vehicles of all descriptions.

My job involves 'assessing' driver abilities...not just those inside the vehicle I'm in, but those outside as well [need to, in order to exercise control, with a full licence holder].....even drivers who have held licences for many years manage to display a considerable number of driving faults....some serious....but mostly accumulative.

Yet, these same drivers may well hold the same views I've seen expressed on here.


There are no 'good' drivers....one is only as good a driver as one is, at the hour, on the day.

alastairq

Mojisola wrote: »

How does this work? All my Dad got was a form he had to sign to say that he was still fit to drive - he didn't have to have a driving assessment or medical check.

Most people find it very difficult to tell someone else that their driving is deteriorating so, now we're getting older, we've decided that we're going to have our driving assessed every few years by a driving instructor to make sure we're still safe on the road.

Yet,Dad signed a legal document.

In this case , the State rather assumes the individual is a responsible person?

But, the form still has to be completed [with penalties if incorrect]...a lot more often than someone of 40 year of age.

photome

spacey2012 wrote: »

The worst drivers on any road are those who think they are better than the other drivers around them.
They are so embroiled with criticising others that they have little perception of the mistakes they make.
This is because, usually the constant incidents they are dealing with appear to surround them and they are always someone else's fault.
Most other drivers, drive all day, every day without these constant incidents and near misses caused by people "who can not drive"
The reason for most drivers not been involved in constant near misses due to others "bad driving" is they are actually paying attention to their own driving and not other peoples.

Hands up who has not had the honking horn fist hands up waving pillok gestating at them only to watch them drive to the next car and end up tangling with them.
These I am sure are the experts we hear from on forums moaning about others driving skills.

so long as you are sure thats ok then.

I am just as sure that you are wrong in your generalisation.

I dont gestate (i am male so would be hard)

I dont have constant near misses etc etc but I am very observant as one should be when they are driving and should very much be observing other road users. It is the fact that many old people dont that has led to this discussion in the first place

Mojisola

alastairq wrote: »

Yet,Dad signed a legal document.

In this case , the State rather assumes the individual is a responsible person?

The majority of older people who carry on driving when they really shouldn't don't realise that they aren't up to it. Asking them to self-certify is crazy.

My Dad was able to sign the form quite correctly - his eyesight was good and he didn't have any of the health conditions that the DVLA needs to be notified about.

We should have obligatory assessments for older drivers like some other countries do.