Elderly Drivers...

bodgerx

Retrogamer wrote: »

I think there are dangerous drivers of all ages, but i've noticed it seems to be the elderly that tend to slow down to join the motorway rather than speed up.
It's not so bad if they slow down then pull behind me, or speed up and get in front of me but please don't slow down then pull out in front of me

+1

I wouldn't be 'age-ist' about it.

Lack of ability at the wheel is not just a problem for the older driver.

There should be done basic retest every 5 years or so.

scheming_gypsy

I think we should leave old drivers alone and be more considerate. Not because I'm very tolerant of the doddering old duffers, but because I'll be one of them one day and don't want to risk swapping my license for a bus pass.

spacey2012

The reason there was no old people in the old days is they all got eaten.
They were totally unaware of anything around them and up crept a hungry Wolf or wild boar and wallop

Iceweasel

bodgerx wrote: »

+1

I wouldn't be 'age-ist' about it.

Lack of ability at the wheel is not just a problem for the older driver.

There should be done basic retest every 5 years or so.

Wow - first someone said re-test every 10 years - now every 5 years!

Who's going to fund all this extra testing and examiners then?

By the way my definition of an 'elderly driver' is anyone at least 20 years older than I am.

And I have no intention of telling you how long I've had a bus-pass for. LOL

[Deleted User]

80odd old woman drove wrong way up slip road to A1 duel carriageway near me the other week and drove southbound on the northbound carriageway. This was before killing herself and putting someone else seriously injured in hospital.

arcon5

Iceweasel wrote: »

Wow - first someone said re-test every 10 years - now every 5 years!

Who's going to fund all this extra testing and examiners then?

By the way my definition of an 'elderly driver' is anyone at least 20 years older than I am.

And I have no intention of telling you how long I've had a bus-pass for. LOL

As is usually the case, the motorist. Probably 1 hour per person, so £20 per hour for car, £20 for tutor, ten £60 for the government to setup an IT project to manage it.

LandyAndy

Deleted_User wrote: »

80odd old woman drove wrong way up slip road to A1 duel carriageway near me the other week and drove southbound on the northbound carriageway. This was before killing herself and putting someone else seriously injured in hospital.

Perhaps she was taking it literally?

Seriously though, so what?

Drivers of all ages do stupid things. Tell us your age and I doubt it will take long to find someone of the same age who has done something equally dangerous and with equally sad consequences for themselves and others.

Bongles

Retrogamer wrote: »

i've noticed it seems to be the elderly that tend to slow down to join the motorway rather than speed up.

Can't say I've noticed that. I have two motorway/dual carriageway joins on the way to work and two more on the way home, plus passing several junctions on the way once I'm on the motorway. That give me lots of opportunities every day to see how people drive on slip roads - both ahead of me when I'm joining and beside me when I'm established. I've made a point recently of looking at the drivers who don't use the slip road properly to see if I could reinforce a particular prejudice and I just can't see a pattern. Young, old, male, female, ratty old car, shiny new car - the world of slip road dithering seems to be to an beautifully diverse and inclusive community.

interstellaflyer

It's always going to be an emotive subject, however, a couple of years ago, I had to stop my late father driving because he was just not safe behind the wheel, he had a couple of minor incidents, first he reversed out of our drive and got the car stuck up the bank opposite, he blamed the car for being too powerful, a 1.0 Matiz? he had to get the local farmer to tow him off the bank using a tractor, next, he gave my Mrs and Daughter a lift somewhere and my Mrs, who doesn't drive, was well and truly frightened, he was all over the road, the last straw was when he hit a kerb in town puncturing a tyre, then drove 3 miles with a flat tyre to a garage even though there were 2 tyre places in town, by the time he got to the garage the damaged tyre had taken out the plastic inner wing mouldings, damaged the wing and taken out some of the lower body skirting. Up to about 85 my father was a very good driver, however, the standard of his driving deteriorated very quickly after that, he got confused very easily which then led to poor decisions making, on top of that, thinking a 1.0 Matiz was too powerful and his lack of ability to keep the car on the correct side of the road made him very dangerous to other road users.

[Deleted User]

Deleted_User wrote: »

80odd old woman drove wrong way up slip road to A1 duel carriageway near me the other week and drove southbound on the northbound carriageway. This was before killing herself and putting someone else seriously injured in hospital.

LandyAndy wrote: »

Perhaps she was taking it literally?

Seriously though, so what?

Drivers of all ages do stupid things. Tell us your age and I doubt it will take long to find someone of the same age who has done something equally dangerous and with equally sad consequences for themselves and others.