Is she too old to drive? Pensioner crashes into a marquee at a flower show and causes a terrorist alert?

I'm late 60's and drive about 14K miles a year, here and abroad! I can filter my car into traffic better than most and know the capabilities of my car and myself. I drive larger cars of 2 litre and above. I don't generally speed but don't hang about either. For the last 12 years, I have driven an automatic out of choice and a diesel for the power as I tow. I don't rely on reactions to drive safely, I can anticipate most problems before they arise but can do emergency stops when required. I'm safer than the majority of drivers and have the driving record to prove it. Age doesn't mean you're getting decrepit by any means. Each driver should be judged on their own merits. I often wonder how many of them ever passed a test in the first place!

Age has absolutely nothing to do with it, nor do I think dementia has either. The number of stupid to foolish to occasionally forgetful drivers is pretty evenly distributed across all age groups.

It is all part of the ageist mindset of society. If a 20 year old tearaway undertakes or a slightly ditzy 21 year old has instructions for using an automatic in the car with them, we purse our lips disapprovingly or smile understandingly. but if someone over 60 does that all hell breaks loose and people clamour for everyone over a certain age to be banned from driving.

Personally I can see no reason why every driver should not undergo health checks every 5 years and retests every 10.

funnygran, DH is 73 next month and has just had to renew his.

While agreeing with your final point MOnica, it is wrong to say that dementia has no bearing on the ability drive.

in most states here.at age 70 you have to retest.some every year some ever 18 months to 2 years.
after seeing my dad go off the road for mixing up the pedals,i totally agree with this.
he was a cop all his life spent most of it on the road so convincing was hard.he became ill and in early stages of dementia so his ex wife came to do the driving.

My friend who is 80 and is a competent driver. My Sis-I-L is in her early 50s..I won't travel with her if she is driving!

Whilst age may have detrimental impact on eyesight, swift reactions etc. a good driver is not necessarily determined by age so having a cut off age limit is possibly not the better solution. I would say any person, involved in a serious accident that causes damage to person or property (other than a scratch on a car
) should have to retake a test before being able to get insurance.

codfather, who has decided you are competent and so much better than most other drivers? I don't think it is a judgment we can make ourselves. I bet most people think that they are much better drivers than everyone else too.

DH certainly does!

Farnorth.....I never even witnessed it actually but plenty of the Church goers did,and no one ever mentioned it .
Because she never got into an accident we can but presume her driving was not impaired.
However I cannot quite "buy" this.......there are plenty of those "blank spots" to the most competent driver with excellent vision.

Recently driving on a 30mile limit section of road with signs advising road works ahead I was tailgated by a music blaring guy in his England flag adorned car. I was horrified to see, when he finally overtook .a' baby on board' notice in his rear window.

Here (Denmark) the law has just been changed allowing drivers to continue to drive, irrespective of their age.
Previously, licenses had to be renewed on the driver's 70th birthday, and a GP had to certify that the person was in possession of all his or her faculties.

It will be interesting to see whether the change results in more accidents involving elder drivers, or not.

We had great difficulty convincing my mother that she was not fit to drive when she had increasing difficulty turning her head to the side to check her wing mirrors.

My aunt on the other hand, sold her car when she retired and was still a competent driver, so that she would not in later life pose a risk to others.

Funnygran Ive just renwed mine at aged 73. Incidentally Panache I also have a friend aged 73 too who has sight in only one eye. It took a couple of months for her to renew her licence (mine took a few days) as she had to have detailed eye tests and certification from two opticians about her visual field. So having one eye doesn't becessarily mean she is incapable of driving safely! She has probably had more checks than most of us!

An arbitrary cut-off seems unfair, as people age differently, but I think post 70 there should be a little more than a self assessment. The DVLA only seems to take up medical checks/review if you declare a health condition yourself.

I think the inevitable slowing of reactions and a decline in ability to deal with challenging driving situations is almost more important to be assessed independently than general health, as it’s human nature to assume you’re still perfectly capable. A version of the driving test would seem sensible.

Anyone who has attended a “memory clinic” for investigation into possible dementia will have already been reported to the DVLA as the clinic informs them.

My daughter has no qualms about telling me what I am doing wrong so when she says I am driving perfectly well (in London traffic with her child in the car) I know I am safe to drive at 76. I also know that at the first sign of incompetence I can rely on her to tell me? and I will give up, not a problem in a big city with excellent public transport.

Age should not be a bar to driving. However competence should. I would have thought that in any accident it should be possible to ask for the person to pass a competence test before they drove again. This seems quite fair.

I have just changed to an automatic car as I wish to master it whilst I still have a brain that can pick up new things. It would be a pity to leave it until too late.

I agree that more than self assessment should be used at over 70 (though I'd hate to take another driving test!!)
It would also seem sensible to check driving ability of over 70s who have an accident (other than minor bumps and scrapes!)

Many, many years ago the matron of the Dartmouth hospital (not elderly) was drowned after accidentally reversing her automatic car into the river and thereafter I heard of many more minor accidents in that town. Having once driven my daughter's automatic I decided that I would never feel happy owning one.

1. Automatic driving should be a separate test/licence. ALL of the car through shop/building wall/window incidents near me recently (& theres been a few!!) have been older drivers in automatics!

Its easy to blame age BUT think a bit deeper... why did these older people chose automatics? Was it that they are perceived to be easier to drive? They are in some ways but they are also more of a "loaded weapon" in other ways. You cant just switch to an automatic and drive the exact same way just without the gear changes! A separate licence could solve this!

Also REGARDLESS of age, driving should be considered a skill that needs updating regularly.

I think there is a separate licence already but not in quite the way you mean notanan. If you take a test on an automatic car now you are unable to drive one with gears.

I mean that the manual test should not qualify you to drive a manual, like it does now.

People think its just the same without some bits, but there are extra risks so its a different skill.

But all licences should have an ongoing learning clause, like professional registrations do.

I think everyone from maybe 45 or 50 should have to have an eyetest to renew a driving licence every few years. I think a lot of younger fit people do not realise their eyesight has deteriorated.

We've spent the last 18 years in France, where a driving license is for life - unless you commit some serious driving offence.
I'm 82, back in UK, and my french license is apparently legal for 3 years.
I loved driving in France, the roads were so quiet, but I had stopped driving at night, and to and from the busy roads around Toulouse.
My main problems are probably slower reaction time, more prone to daydream, and also hearing . You need to be able to hear someone coming up behind you to overtake.
Also here, unfamiliar with the road layouts, and heavier traffic. But TG not as busy as the SE . I'm going to book in for an assessment - as someone said, I could get some useful advice which could give me confidence.
I want to drive up to Morpeth for the next
Northumberland Gransnet meetup!

It is amazing that the police, courts and doctors always seem to side with incompetent drivers instead of supporting unfortunate victims just because they want to appear understanding and not distress the driver. My daughter-in-law was mown down on the pavement by an elderly driver. She has been left disabled and has received no compensation after 18 months. My husband is 95 and he would legally still be allowed to drive. No-one has told him not to except me!

am a very experienced driver but dislike driving an automatic. I feel more in control in a car with gears and a clutch and a proper hand brake, not the new-fangled ones which are just a push button to put it on and pull the button to take it off.