Elderly unsafe driver

Mildly_Miffed

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81897782#Comment_81897782

You might walk away, thanks to the airbags and seatbelt pretensioners etc - but you certainly wouldn't be driving that car away…

elsien

No I drove into the back of a car at 30 miles an hour. My car was not driveable afterwards and the airbag didn’t even go off.
Oddly enough, no one tried to steal my keys after it either.

Bonniepurple

I really feel for you OP. I’ve been spared having this conversation with family members. My Mum never learnt to drive. My Dad had a minor accident which resulted in the police being called to manage traffic. They put in a referral to DVLA and, when it came through, it was clear that he wouldn’t be allowed to drive again (health issues). Thankfully, between the accident and the paperwork (approx 2 weeks, if that) he died. My brother and I had been having discussions about how to broach the subject but in the end his body decided. My FiL knew that his eyesight was failing and knew his licence wouldn’t be renewed. He was aware he would be a danger on the road. MiL gave up driving when the car gave up.

I’d contact DVLA and have a word with his GP. They can’t tell you anything, but they might be able to get him in on the pretext of a check up (especially after such a nasty accident with the roundabout leaping out in front of him, turning into a car in the process!). He might take it better from a professional.

WellKnownSid

My Father was of the generation that never learned to drive - he had driven farm machinery as a young boy and then upgraded to a car - paying however many shillings it cost for a paper licence. He never took a driving test in his life and his driving style was 'interesting' to say the least.

I remember as a boy him being stopped by a policeman for driving over a small section of road which wasn't for normal motor vehicles - but it wasn't until I was learning to drive myself that I realised just how bad his driving was - forgetting the lights, no mirror, no signals, didn't know what any signs meant, no speed awareness, no situational awareness at all. I remember getting out of the car in a car park once and pushing it a few feet as a reminder that it would be a good place to apply the parking brake… he wasn't amused!

Thankfully he had an incident where he couldn't take his foot off the accelerator due to arthritis and that scared him enough (and probably half of Oxford) to hang up his keys. Prior to that we would have had to wrestle the keys off of him.

He used taxis after that and actually found it much more enjoyable and cheaper overall. It seems the stress of driving and having to remember everything was real - it was just a comfortable habit.

Bigphil1474

When my dad was reaching that stage we were fortunate in that he was only using his car once a week to drive to the supermarket a few miles down the road. We pointed out the cost of running a car for what could have been a more relaxing taxi ride, and he agreed to give up the car. He didn't think having poor eye sight, poor hearing, no feeling in his right foot, and a tendency to fall asleep as a reason to give up driving though.