Should elderly drivers be forced to re-sit their driving test?

[Rugbyref]

How about retesting all drivers under age 25 every 2 years? It would be good to see stats on proportion of accidents involving over 70s versus under 25s. Discuss".......

[Blackcat1]

Someone I know passed her test 3rd time. She admits she has no sense of co-ordination whatsoever! And has had 6 bumps in 2 weeks after passing & all her fault! She just have been very lucky on test day!!l

[Nighthawke]

Suggests to me that there is a fundamental problem with her tuition then. How on earth can someone with such an issue get through training and testing and pass?

[Blackcat1]

She did everything correct on the day of her test I guess maybe had l & r on her hands lol. My friend a clever guy, went to Cambridge University , studied medicine , and has his pilots license but cannot pass his driving test! He has been driving for years but always seems to freeze on the day of his test and makes silly mistakes. He's given up for the time being!

[Thunder]

I take it none of the bumps have been serious enough to warrant insurance claims or police intervention ?

[Blackcat1]

Just the 1 insurance claim the rest were minor I think!

[Blackcat1]

I really want to know who passes these people!? I mean she is quite a hottie , maybe a short skirt is the way?

[AyrForce1]

Well if you possessed even just an ounce of cynicism you would have to conclude that the insurance companies have probably paid off the driving examiners to pass just about anyone they can. Kerching! Certainly seems that way looking at some of the idiots on the road these days.

[Thunder]

Where I live you just have to see the poor standard of driving instructor/s, to see that the poor students don't have any hope of actually learning the art of driving. Seems to be yet another area that is suffering from dumbing down rather than aiming higher.

[AyrForce1]

Continuing my massive cynical streak this evening, I should probably have added that having the maximum number of useless/dangerous drivers on the roads is also in the interests of numerous large automotive companies actively involved in the development of driverless cars as it will help them push their agenda and to acquire suitable legislation or licences as needed for such technology.

[raptor9]

Like all teaching professions, there are good ones, and bad ones. In the Driving School industry, there were certainly attempts to weed out the bad ones, tho' I am talking here of being retired from teaching for 17 years. Forget all about the conspiracy theories about 'she only passed because she was wearing a short skirt etc.,' This simply does not happen!!. Passing a driving test, like flying competency tests etc., is about knowing what you are doing, but, most importantly, it boils down to PERFORMANCE ON THE DAY!!!. Nothing more, nothing less. All experienced instructors have had what they might call 'certain passes' who haven't performed well enough on the test, and the opposite also applies where unexpected passes can occur. I note the remark about bad instructors, and there used to be programmes about Driving Schools etc. on T.V. On the occasions that I sometimes saw them, I would remark to my wife that 'one day they will film one of these programmes with a driving instructor who actually knows what he is doing!!!!' There also can be bad examiners. One case of mine comes to mind, where an examiner [an ex-instructor of no note whatsoever] failed my pupil for taking the right-hand lane to go straight across a particular small roundabout, explaining that he should have been in the left hand lane. I complained to the chief examiner about this, pointing out to her that the left-hand lane on this roundabout was plainly marked 'CYCLISTS ONLY'. She said she would have a word with said examiner, but she couldn't overturn the result, because that could only be done in a magistrate's court!!!!!!. Sadly, our job in the end was not to teach people to drive per se, but simply to teach them to pass the Driving Test. Such is life!. 39 years of sitting next to seriously pretty young women most of the time. Sad life, but, alas, someone had to do it, and it was me!!

[two1938]

Sorry I am elderly but cannot beleive the incompetence of some younger people so they should be retested not us

[two1938]

Sorry forgot to add bad driving is not an age thing but a mindset

[Thunder]

Sorry two1938, but have to disagree with your last post. While I agree that there are plenty of clueless younger drivers out there, age does contribute to bad driving. With someone who we’ll say is 78 yrs old, they didn’t learn or pass their test with roundabouts/multi roundabouts, box junctions, stacking lanes, slip roads, puffin/pelican crossings, average speed cameras, school zones, dual carriageway/motorway driving, bus lanes, drink drive limits and so on.

Whether you agree or not it’s fact that as we get older our reactions and attention span deteriorate, however we are now driving more responsive and powerful cars, all stacked with cruise control, adaptive braking, park assist, rest assist, sat nav, Bluetooth, the list goes on.... If these systems haven’t been set up correctly or in some cases not even known about, then these so called assistance aids have the complete opposite effect and cause confusion and panic when alarms start sounding around the car and warning lights start flashing all over the dash.

By re testing every 10 yrs it’s a start to better educate drivers that have had no follow up training since passing their test, in some cases 60 yrs +. No industry or profession would allow an individual to work without keeping updated on relevant training, so why should driving which probably forms a large part of people’s employment be ignored, especially since more people are killed or injured through driving than all industrial accidents added together?

[Mike]

I wasn't talking about young drivers when I started this thread, we were all young once and did stupid things when we got behind the wheel all those years ago. The idiot element of the young population are all usually caught by the police, they then calm down eventually and grow up a little (that's if they haven't already wiped-out themselves and their four mates wrapped around a tree).

We all have to renew our UK driving licence every 10 years and have to pay for the privilege, why don't we all have re-sit our driving tests to actually prove that we can still be safe & careful drivers at the same time? I'm sure that this would paralyse the UK completely and that is why it will never happen as so many 'professional' drivers would be out of a job, don't the DVLA just love taking money off us?

[Freeman Lowell]

Driverless cars - that's the future. That and garlic bread, of course!
Freeman

[Pune]

I wasn't talking about young drivers when I started this thread, we were all young once and did stupid things when we got behind the wheel all those years ago. The idiot element of the young population are all usually caught by the police, they then calm down eventually and grow up a little (that's if they haven't already wiped-out themselves and their four mates wrapped around a tree).

We all have to renew our UK driving licence every 10 years and have to pay for the privilege, why don't we all have re-sit our driving tests to actually prove that we can still be safe & careful drivers at the same time? I'm sure that this would paralyse the UK completely and that is why it will never happen as so many 'professional' drivers would be out of a job, don't the DVLA just love taking money off us?

Interesting thoughts Mike, as a firefighter of 25 years (retired now) I saw the results of bad driving quite often and the drivers ages varied considerably, however now I would say some of the very worst drivers on the road are the 25 yo to middle aged men who think because they drive a big car (I could mention BMW, Merc, Audi, VW but I won't) they are a good if not fantastic driver, they are not, they think they own the road and drive appallingly.
Taking a test every 10 years would probably weed out a few, but as with most tests is only as good as the day it is taken, (as in the point above about the very bad lady driver), I don't have an answer but it should be looked at I feel.
A few years ago we had an elderly (90+) gent drive through our neighbours front wall, we live in a 1860 terrace, he then reversed at high speed hitting two parked cars which were written off, I managed to stop him driving away, even though his car was trashed spewing oil and water everywhere he was on his way, when I asked him what he thought he was doing he just said "I'm taking my car for an Mot", he hadn't a clue what had just happened, he is no longer driving thankfully, so the points are not lost on me.
A very interesting thread you started, enjoyed reading through..

[welshandy]

Sounds like a good idea.

Perhaps drivers on phones should be summarily shot; lorry drivers taught not to take several miles trying to overtake similar vehicles travelling in convoy.

And on and on...why pick on old people? Share your anger on the whole population of poor drivers.

Just had a bulk Gas delivery driver go past Bungalow,chatting away on his Phone!!

[big john]

I think everyone, regardless of age should be made to re-sit the theory test at least every 5 years, just to remind them how to drive safely. After all how many people have read the highway code since they passed their test?
Although I don't think re-taking a test will make any difference, as the irresponsible/problem drivers who fail will just keep driving with no licence.

[Blackcat1]

A lot of drivers who passed their test years ago would probably fail the theory these days .