[kamoshika]

Saw this gem on our delightful local newpaper website:

http://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/elderly-driver-who-knocked-down-570564

Imagine the outcry if the situation was slightly different and a teenager on a bike had run a red light and knocked down an 82 year old on a pedestrian crossing

Topic

[Sniffer]

antigee wrote:

Sniffer wrote:

…………………………

You need to catch up with current devolved powers for Scotland.  An obvious example is the difference on the alcohol driving limit.  Lower in Scotland than the rest of the UK.

Given the UKs government poor stance on road user legislation I am not sure why any part of the UK devolved administrations would do a poorer job.

fair point – just as long as manage to deal with ageing drivers in a responsible way 

Unfortunately no part of the UK has done that yet.

[antigee]

Sniffer wrote:

…………………………

You need to catch up with current devolved powers for Scotland.  An obvious example is the different difference on the alcohol driving limit.  Lower in Scotland than the rest of the UK.

Given the UKs government poor stance on road user legislation I am not sure why any part of the UK sevolved administration would do a poorer job.

fair point – just as long as manage to deal with ageing drivers in a responsible way 

[Sniffer]

antigee wrote:

Down under rules vary a bit from State to State and I was looking up something on age rules  for my daughter about driving in New South Wales and was surprised to find that elderly drivers can keep their license as long as it is marked up with something like “only going to local shops”……

85 and older

When you reach 85 years old, you’ll need to have a medical review every year, to keep your licence. See Are you fit to drive? for more information.

You also have the choice of taking out a modified licence, or keeping your unrestricted licence. If you wish to keep your unrestricted licence, you’ll need to successfully pass a practical driving assessment, every second year.

Modified licence

A modified licence lets you keep driving under certain circumstances. These circumstances are added to your licence as conditions, which are printed on the back of the card. You must comply with the conditions on your licence when driving.

If you choose a modified licence, you do not need to attempt a practical driving assessment.

For example, you may choose to drive only within a certain distance of your home, or only at certain times of the day. You should discuss your options with your doctor, who can help you work out ways to keep you safe on the road.

…..thats one way of dealing with an elderly car dependent population – come Brexit I guess England, Essex, Cornwall, Wales, NI, The Northern Powerhouse, The EU republic of Ecosse  etc could all seperately elect to have some equally bizarre local legislation 

taken from: 

http://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/roads/licence/older-drivers/index.html

You need to catch up with current devolved powers for Scotland.  An obvious example is the different difference on the alcohol driving limit.  Lower in Scotland than the rest of the UK.

Given the UKs government poor stance on road user legislation I am not sure why any part of the UK sevolved administration would do a poorer job.

[antigee]

Down under rules vary a bit

Down under rules vary a bit from State to State and I was looking up something on age rules  for my daughter about driving in New South Wales and was surprised to find that elderly drivers can keep their license as long as it is marked up with something like “only going to local shops”……

85 and older

When you reach 85 years old, you’ll need to have a medical review every year, to keep your licence. See Are you fit to drive? for more information.

You also have the choice of taking out a modified licence, or keeping your unrestricted licence. If you wish to keep your unrestricted licence, you’ll need to successfully pass a practical driving assessment, every second year.

Modified licence

A modified licence lets you keep driving under certain circumstances. These circumstances are added to your licence as conditions, which are printed on the back of the card. You must comply with the conditions on your licence when driving.

If you choose a modified licence, you do not need to attempt a practical driving assessment.

For example, you may choose to drive only within a certain distance of your home, or only at certain times of the day. You should discuss your options with your doctor, who can help you work out ways to keep you safe on the road.

…..thats one way of dealing with an elderly car dependent population – come Brexit I guess England, Essex, Cornwall, Wales, NI, The Northern Powerhouse, The EU republic of Ecosse  etc could all seperately elect to have some equally bizarre local legislation 

taken from: 

http://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/roads/licence/older-drivers/index.html

[fenix]

Yorkshire wallet wrote:

[quote=Yorkshire wallet]Look at this shocking old bastard taking a cyclist out. Doesnt give a fuck. https://youtu.be/ilp1ee04E1c%5B/quote%5D

 

Jeez Ridiculous driving and sounds like nothing happened about it. 

[hawkinspeter]

I can’t wait until we get

I can’t wait until we get autonomous cars to give these people an alternative. That sentence is a joke; it should be an immediate license revocation for hitting someone like that.

[Anonymous]

oldstrath wrote:

Grahamd wrote:

Elderly drivers are a ticking time bomb, is about time  we put the victims first and get poor drivers off the road. An immediate license suspension until a test is passed is needed IMHO.

It took about 3 years from the point where we knew my father in law was unsafe to the point of getting a formal assessment done. His GP seemed terrified of saying that he was unfit to drive, even though he clearly was.

They are easy to spot on the open roads. Came across one yesterday on a national speed limit road doing 30. Initial thoughts are phone user or old person, it was the latter. They looked like someone was doing a prank with a corpse in the front of the car except it wasn’t a prank it was sadly, reality.

No doubt their argument is they are safe as they do under the speed limit. Pity there’s a bit more to it that they never get.

[oldstrath]

Grahamd wrote:

Elderly drivers are a ticking time bomb, is about time  we put the victims first and get poor drivers off the road. An immediate license suspension until a test is passed is needed IMHO.

It took about 3 years from the point where we knew my father in law was unsafe to the point of getting a formal assessment done. His GP seemed terrified of saying that he was unfit to drive, even though he clearly was.

[Carmic0]

Seems to be an uncommonly lax

Seems to be an uncommonly lax decision from what I see on Road.cc   The old girl should have been disqualified from driving, fined and told to get a taxi or bus to her activities.    If the young girl had hit the old lady on the crossing there would have been an uproar.   Does anyone in authority give a f*ck about cyclists ?  

[ClubSmed]

I imagine a dialogue like

I imagine a dialogue like this:

Magistrate: Why do you believe that you should keep your licence?
Elderly Lady: Because I like to keep active and I need to drive to my activities
Magistrate: If you want to keep active you could cycle to these activities
Elderly Lady: Are you kidding, there are people like me on the road
Magistrate: Good point, you need keep your licence

[morgoth985]

Yorkshire wallet wrote:

WHERE IS THE PUNISHMENT!!!?!?! £400 is nothing to some people.

Your sentencing now seems to be determined by your choice of activities, a bit like posh doctor girl and her ‘talent’. Surely a PUNISHMENT for running someone over would be the forced withdrawl from your activities which would actually make you think about your actions.

Please Mr. Magistrate, if I’m banned I won’t be able to do things I enjoy for bit.

 

I think the logical conclusion here is “I really enjoy driving, so please Mr Magistrate, I can’t be banned from driving because then I won’t be able to enjoy my pastime of driving.”  Why hasn’t Mr Loophole thought of this one?

[kitsunegari]

Grahamd wrote:

Elderly drivers are a ticking time bomb, is about time  we put the victims first and get poor drivers off the road. An immediate license suspension until a test is passed is needed IMHO.

It’s somewhat scary to know the fact that until very recently it was [b]illegal[/b] for Optometrists to tell the DVLA that someone was clinically unfit to drive, yes this was the responsibility of the patient, if you can believe that. And even though the profession articles have now been changed to state that an Optometrist can tell the authorities if they deem it dangerous enough, there are so many caveats and fears of potentially being sued that many are still too scared to do it.

[kitsunegari]

Yorkshire wallet wrote:

[quote=Yorkshire wallet]Look at this shocking old bastard taking a cyclist out. Doesnt give a fuck. https://youtu.be/ilp1ee04E1c%5B/quote%5DReally very refreshing to see the actions of the motorcyclist and other driver.

[kil0ran]

Hampshire Police have are

Hampshire Police have are spending this week running workshops for elderly drivers, with a view to “ensuring they can keep driving for as long as possible”

Completely the wrong approach.

https://www.hampshire.police.uk/news/general/older-drivers-awareness-week/

 

[Anonymous]

Having watched ‘100 year old

Having watched ‘100 year old drivers’ that was shown on ITV recently and some of the leniency shown by so called professional assessors from RoSPA, it’s frankly shocking how we allow older drivers on the roads without regular testing when it’s clearly obvious many don’t have the ability to drive safely. I don’t mind if they’re doing 25 in a 30 zone or 45 in a 60, that doesn’t bother me in the slightest (as it seems to do most other people driving), it’s the simply not seeing or not being able to react to situations around them that they absolutely must take responsibility for.

Agree above, testing of everyone that operates a killing machine should be a regular occurence, after all we require that employees are tested and retrained when using potentially dangerous bits of machinery in industry, why is the thing that kills thousands and maims tens of thousands allowed to be used without same?

Government inaction makes them complicit in the deaths and injuries sustained as we know that humans can’t be trusted to do the right thing when given such power and perceived entitlement

[Author]

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