Should he still be driving at 97?

The junction joining an A road, from which the Duke pulled out of, was shown on tv. It is a long, straight road allowing a clear view in both directions. If a 'normal' citizen had pulled out and caused an accident in those circumstances, I think they would stand a good chance of losing their licence for dangerous driving. In my opinion, the same should apply to him. If he gets away with it and anyone else has a similar accident in future, they will be able to quote his example and rightly ask to be treated with the same leniency!!

Anniebach You seem to be misinterpreting my posts today. I meant the Queen deserves better than PP behaving in an irresponsible way now he has retired not that she deserves a better consort.

You still haven't explained what you meant about a court case?

Think thats what he was after when he stalked a 13 year old knowing she was a future queen ...or dont you believe he was grooming her with his own interests at heart .Makes me queasy to think of any grown man being "pen pals" and visiting my 13 year old.Though we all know the royals have a different attitude to marriage !

Lisagran i was referring to a post which said the queen deserved better. Yes he has faults but had to take on the roll of consort much earlier than expected and I think he has carried out his duties successfully, must have been difficult for him.

Anniebach. Well if he had died the queen could have found someone better

I used to live in this area and know that junction well. As Sandringham is to the east of the A149 and the Duke of Edinburgh was heading away from Sandringham he would been heading westward so the sun may well have been in his eyes. As the other driver approached this junction his car would have been visible from a reasonable distance so could have taken evasive action if not travelling fast. Let's all be happy that there were relatively minor injuries when it could have been so much worse.
There has been talk of reducing the speed limit along this stretch for many years. It's not surprising how many drivers are driving over the speed limit along it.
My husband and I are exchanging our UK driving licences for PT ones and went to the doctors for the medical today. The eyesight test was stand a distance away and read the bottom line of the letter chart and then what colours were pointed to on the colour chart. She then put on the form that we used spectacles for driving. Other than take our blood pressure that was it.

Of course people of all ages can have eyesight problems but it is a fact that eyesight worsens with age overall. Yes I believe it’s the same eyesight test today . Eyesight problems in older age cannot all be solved by updating your glasses can they? Where I think the whole issue of medical fitness to drive falls down is that it relies on self reporting and that’s not good enough for anyone regardless of age

Jal there really are no valid figures compiled that could be used for comparitive purposes. There are bits and pieces of research but nothing that can be added together to produce a definitive set of figures. If there were, it would be easier to come up with some policies. It would also be interesting to know the type, degree and severity of the accidents correlated with age

marye but people of all ages have bad eyesight. To pass the driving test you used to need to be able to read a number plate at a certain distance wearing your glasses. Don't know if that has changed. I can't imagine many old people who can afford a car not getting their glasses updated when necessary as it would affect so many other areas of life. On the other hand perhaps people who have to pay for an eye test might not have them as often as an over 70 person who is entitled to one every year.

I dont think its necessarily about age cut offs. I know some 60 year olds who are worse drivers than some 80 yr olds, but I DO think you should have to re-do hazard awareness every 10 yrs (if you fail you get referred for a full re-test). Or you should have to drive with a black box every few years.

For all ages. Its crazy that someone can pass their test at 17 and then not practice until they buy a car at 30 and still be fit to get behind the wheel with no refresher.

Similarly I know some widows who always sat in the passenger seat when their husbands were alive and then got back behind the wheel with no refresher or re test

Comparative not competitive obvs

What doesn’t exist are figures that give accident rates per age group per miles driven which would be the only ones that would make any competitive sense. Also the age groups need to be quite finely divided eg over 70 is too wide
Yes, I agree, I did think of that but they were the only ones I could find. It was difficult to cut and paste because it was part of an excel spreadsheet (government site).

I'm sure I remember seeing some statistics years ago compiled by the RAC or AA which were more explanatory.

Just a thought about the Duke's car being rolled over. These SUVs have a high centre of gravity and roll over very easily. The other driver needn't have been going particularly fast.

FWIW I think that it must be very difficult to give up the independence given by being able to drive. I dread it, though I hope I have a few more years left.

I have an 1 year licence since being diagnosed with Epilepsy at 48 (I am now 63). I have re-apply every year & most years I have to have an Independent Medical in addition to a report from my GP. DVLA pay for this but not my travel expenses, this year I had to travel up to Taunton from Devon (50 miles each way).

I agree that there should be stricter controls on over 70s, eye test mandatory, I would like to have a Medical Professional input rather than the driver completing the form, how may think they are fit to drive but a Medical Professional may think differently.

My DM was still driving at 87 until the Hospital told her her eye-sight wasn't up to standard. She still feels she is ok to drive but had to listen to advice, she is resentful as she has to rely on other people, no buses, no shop etc in her village.

Not sure I'd be brave enough to tell DoE that he couldn't drive but I suspect Police will have advised him & DVLA could revoke his licence immediately if there doubts about his fitness.

As for sun , I drove back from Somerset to Devon on A303 a couple of weeks ago, there were times when I almost lost sight of the road altogether & I wasn't crossing/pulling out into traffic, driving when the sun is low is a nightmare.

and probably not even then Annaram1
he'll be driving a fiery chariot around up there

I bet he will not give up driving until he goes to heaven.

Jal this rings a bell. What doesn’t exist are figures that give accident rates per age group per miles driven which would be the only ones that would make any competitive sense. Also the age groups need to be quite finely divided eg over 70 is too wide

DH was stopped from driving by the DVLA due to eyesight problems last year. I'm 71 now and still drive and think I'm safe, but said to DD the other day that if she felt that I was unsafe I hoped she would tell me. As we live in an area with very good public transport it wouldn't be too much of a problem.

Nonnie if you get 6 penalty points in the first two years of passing your test, your licence is revoked and you have to start again. I think this was brought in particularly because of young drivers. I don’t agree it’s ageist to treat older drivers differently - eg renewing every 3 years over 70 - neither is it disabilist to have restricted licences for people with certain disabilities/ medical conditions. There is plenty of evidence for example that eyesight declines with age - that’s a fact not a prejudice. It would be ageist to deny licences to all over 70s but to impose extra conditions is not.

I thought I'd posted some statistics about the numbers of different driver age groups involved in accidents - over 70s are not as high as other groups.

Perhaps it was on the other thread

That fine upstanding Christian the Archbishop of York lovingly tweeted payers for the Duke after his accident. A little later he had an ‘oops’ moment and tweeted prayers for the others involved. Bless!!

The press are so over doing this

How would you test older people but not younger ones? Some people always have been slow at reacting. Treating older drivers differently to younger ones would be ageist. If we are going to be hard on older drivers shouldn't we be even harder on people who commit driving offences more than once? If a younger person drives irresponsibly twice shouldn't they have their licence revoked?

Well if he had died the queen could have found someone better

I feel really sorry for the Queen in all this. She has had to weather more than a few storms where the D of E is concerned and must have felt relieved that now he has withdrawn from public life, he is held in some affection and there has been general concern for his recent health issues.

Imagine public feeling though if he'd seriously injured or killed someone due to his thoughtless and reckless actions. He should never have driven off without his protection officer.

The Queen deserves better.