General Chat

Perhaps if an intelligence test was included in the driving test this would take a whole shoal of drivers off the roads, including many so-called "professional" drivers which, of course, includes the well-publicised white-van-man.

Oh and sometimes I am the 'old codger' holding the traffic up on A-roads. We show several old vehicles and you can't expect something 60 years old to go like a modern car top speed is 50 something downhill with the wind behind me but i tend to stick to about 45.
And i love to smile and wave as motorists of all ages and genders speed past me mouthing off especially when they realise I'm a younger female. My advice to them and to everyone really is slow down and smell the coffee, patience is a virtue impatience can kill.

I've long had this theory (and I speak as a 25 year old) that the driving test and theory test now are structured so that you have a set of goals to achieve and (if you get sufficient ticks in the boxes, so to speak) you are deemed to be roadworthy. Yet just because you know how to reverse into a parking space or around a corner etc doesn't necessarily mean you're not going to be an aggressive driver.

But personally I'm quite a nervous driver and I am sure that, when I am at a busy junction trying to judge a gap in a constant stream of traffic that I can get into, a lot of the time the person who decides I am taking too long to move on and blasts their horn is likely to be older than me.

I have to admit that, having known two male college friends who passed at eighteen, I didn't think either of them were particularly safe - one liked to show off and the other flipped between showing off and paranoia. I'm not saying that all young male drivers have that attitude because I'm sure there are some sensible ones - but the ones who drive around in cars with tinted windows that vibrate because of the speakers in the back and seem to think they're going to come across a camera crew who will film them and make a music video to go on MTV make me wonder . . .

Just reading the above post before mine, I think mini tests would be a great idea. If you wear glasses you get invited for eye tests periodically to check that you've got the right prescription - maybe they could do mini driving assessments? And if people were like me and got a bit nervous on the road, maybe those drivers would feel able to say "I think I need a refresher course - I'm not as confident as I would like to be" - as far as I can tell, the only times you can be compelled to do further training is if you get done for dangerous driving, speeding etc.

Personally I would like to see random mini tests for all drivers regardless of age to see how good they really are. Far too many drivers are so focussed on themselves that they forget about other road users and pedestrians and little things like indicating. I seem to remember a survey where pretty much everyone asked reckoned they were a good driver and that it was everyone else that wasn't.

Although in my 30s I passed my driving test just over two years ago and can honestly say that since then every near miss I have had as involved older drivers and by older I would say above 60. This dispite the fact that the area where I live and mostly drive has a good percentage of younger drivers because of the presence of two colleges.

There are far to many bad drivers of all ages on the roads and it is wrong to tar everyone with the same brush because of age, sex, etc. How about instead of concentrating on catching people going five miles over the speed limit there is a push to get bad drivers off the roads?

I agree with desperatelyseeking about the driving test. I took it in 1962 and it certainly wasn't 15 mins.I agree we didn't have a written test but had to remember it.I am almost 75 and could knock some of these young ones into touch with their tailgating,flashing lights,as they race to get ahead.
I have driven for part of my job,sometimes 1000 miles a week,been caught in snowdrifts etc,and the car becomes an extension of your arms and legs so you unconsciously know how to react in an emergency.
I agree that some elderly people should not be allowed to drive if they have a severe disability or dementia,but it is not age...but your state of health surely!

Brenda x

Totally agree on the eyesight issue: what's the first thing the guilty party says? "Sorry mate, I didn't see you".

That may be literally true, you read a numberplate when you take your test and can be driving 50 years later literally half blind.

But treat statistics with caution: it may be that older drivers have a lower accident rate because they do a lower mileage on familiar roads. A fairer comparison is the number of accidents related to the number of miles driven.

For example, if I have an accident every five years when doing 20,000 miles a year am I less safe than someone who has an accident every ten years but only drives to the local shop once a week in daylight and if the weather is good?

Hmm, Howard, I passed my test in 1970, it was 1 hours driving, and a verbal highway code test.

But I agree with some of you, bad drivers can be any age, I see so many young drivers taking risks, including my own son! You see lots of younger drivers round here driving too fast, too close and often on the phone. I've driven thousands of miles round Europe, and certainly the French do drive fast and close.

i must be honest and say i have driven since i was 18 im now 46,
and i used to love driving anywhere, would drive anything too,
but now im more nervous
i dread having to go anywhere and if i can persuade other half to drive instead(which sometimes is a miracle, he rather stay home, lazy g man)

this week monday had to run our son to uni in cardiff,
i hated it, so nervous, where to come off motorway,
traffic cues, roadworks, ice roads,
then built up traffic and pedestrians thru the town near uni,
my worst ngtmare,

a car is only as safe as the nut holding the steering wheel......regardles of age........

Bob

pmsl Maggie,

Maggie, I love it! pmsl

Buggs, it's not the older driver being unsafe, it's the impatient driver. It's better to arrive late than not at all! Some drivers have no patience at all and think they own the roads!

Lizx

LOL -NIna - you've reminded me of the time , stopped at a roundabout, when a car full of teenagers failed to stop in time behing my friend.
They drove into the back of us - not enough to damage the car, so friend just put his hand up in recognition of what they'd done.
The youths didn't get out of their car.
We drove off - forgetting there was a caravan hitch (we never used a caravan) on the back of the car - and we took their front bumper off!!!


We didn't stop!! LOL

Another fault of a lot of drivers, is not indicating for padestrians. We also need to know where you are going.

Personally, when I am tootling along at 40mph, the thing that really puts the wind up me, is a car full of teenage boys, the driver always seems to be trying to prove what a clever,fast driver he is.

As a pedestrian, I often wonder if 'new' drivers are actually taught the highway code!
The fact that, turning off a major road onto a minor road means the pedestrian has the right of way seems beyond the conception of an awful lot of younger drivers!!
They seem to think they've turned off the road, they're on the road therefore any pedestrian who started crossing the road before they appeared is in the wrong!!
Pedestrians, (contrary to popular belief)aren't psychic - and are entitled to cross roads!!.

Most motorists, have, at one time or another, cursed an "old codger" after finding one at the head of a long, choking queue of traffic on a fast sweeping A-road – or snarling up the supermarket car park. But who hasn't also flinched at a near miss caused by the erratic actions of a teenager – usually male – behind the wheel?
The Institute of Advanced Motorists tried to close the age debate last week with new research revealing that, contrary to popular belief, drivers aged over 70 are no more likely to cause accidents than anyone else.
In fact the safety organisation concluded that older drivers were "considerably safer" than younger motorists and rejected calls for them to face compulsory retests.
The IAM – motto "driving road safety" – said that the eight per cent of UK drivers aged over 70 were involved in just four per cent of all injury accidents. Of the 15 per cent of drivers in their teens and 20s, however, 34 per cent
were involved...
More damning yet – for those who don't know their double-declutch from a starting handle – was research proving that older drivers are less likely to get into trouble because they adopt a "more careful and restrained driving style".
With research indicating that the number of male drivers over 70 will double during the next 20 years – while female driver numbers treble – the age debate has become something of a pressing issue.
Drivers over 70 are safer on bends (and at overtaking) than 50-year-olds, according to the IAM research, but more at risk at junctions, slip roads and roundabouts.