For help, advice and discussion about stuff not related to aviation. Play nice: no religion, no politics and no axe grinding please.
By ROG
#1886092
Appears that there are 489 drivers in the UK over 100.,but only one pilot--I believe ---over 100., and around 3 or 4 over 90.
Also reported that over 70"s will be treated kindly if they go through red lights, wander between lanes on motorways--etc.-rather like boy racers.
Personally i"m all for testing over 70"s every 3 years--could be done as a refresher.
Any elderly drivers out there -interested in your views.
By johnm
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1886096
Aged 74 I get an annual flight with an examiner to renew my IR . When I reached 70 and had to renew my driving licence I took a driving assessment.

I seem to be OK so far.
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By lobstaboy
#1886118
ROG wrote:Appears that there are 489 drivers in the UK over 100.,but only one pilot--I believe ---over 100., and around 3 or 4 over 90.


Statistically that's probably a greater proportion of the pilot population than it is the driver population...
By RobW
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1886122
My Grandad was driving well into his 90's. He had a little green fiesta but the near side was almost entirely white. When I asked he said, "its paint off my fence post" I asked him if had hit it and he said

"I hit it every day, its how I know i'm in my driveway"!

Only time I was glad he lived a long way away!
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By kanga
#1886356
ROG wrote:..
Also reported that over 70"s will be treated kindly if they go through red lights, wander between lanes on motorways--etc.-rather like boy racers.
...


Saw the headline for this story on the front page of the DT (on the BBC news website daily images of front pages; obviously, I dont buy it :wink: ). Their readership demographic just might be particularly interested .. :? Here is the full article online, but available in full only for subscribers:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/1 ... penalised/

So it's not 'will be treated kindly' but 'should be made to take fitness to drive tests and eye exams instead of being hit with points on licence, says task force'.

To try to find out more about this 'task force', I found this more accessible article:

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/u ... d-22340101

This starts 'According to a Government-funded report' and 'The Older Drivers Task Force' 'led by the Road Safety Foundation (RSF)'. It does not suggest to me that this will definitely lead to any change in the law or the 'sentencing guidelines' .

[Personally, I hope it doesn't. I gave up GA flying with the conscious thought that it was better to give up too soon than too late, recognising that in my personal postflight self-analysis (which I always did) I'd started making a few errors. None had been safety-critical, but one day one might be. I also recalled that my late mother had probably carried on driving for at least a couple of years longer than she should have, although she never had a accident nor an offence AFAIK.]
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By Rob P
#1886369
kanga wrote:I gave up GA flying with the conscious thought that it was better to give up too soon than too late, recognising that in my personal postflight self-analysis (which I always did) I'd started making a few errors.

Hmmm... I stand in awe of your earlier skygodpersonship.

I realised I had started making a few errors at around my second lesson and have maintained this standard consistently throughout a thirty-year flying career. :(

Rob P
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By Mz Hedy
#1886384
Wouldn't this assessment in lieu of prosecution be an act of age discrimination - ie. applied solely on the grounds of age? If there is evidence of incompetence or medical unfitness, eg eyesight, this should be applied regardless of the driver's age.

If they intend to do this for older drivers, they really should offer it to drivers of any age who trigger police action. After all, isn't this being unfair on younger drivers who make a careless driving error but are not given the no-prosecution option?
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By Rob P
#1886385
Oi! Leave us oldies some privileges will you! :evil:

But you make a good point. All this well-intentioned equality diversity bollovaries brings with it the inevitable unintended consequences. The militant teenage/twenties girls who demanded, fought and combusted their underwear for 'equality', seem more than a little unhappy at having to wait an equal length of time as men to reach state pension age.

Rob P
Last edited by Rob P on Fri Dec 03, 2021 12:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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By Miscellaneous
#1886388
@Mz Hedy there seems to be an assumption that it is always discriminatory to 'target' a particular group. This is not the case. Where just cause can be demonstrated it is quite legal and proper. The alternative state of deluding ourselves that everyone is equal in terms of risk, ability, skill etc is a hiding to nothing. :D
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By lobstaboy
#1886394
But is driving a 'right' or is it a 'priviledge' like flying?

Actually I think this is being spun backwards as a story. You run a red light and they say points or driving assessment. You can avoid the points, sure, but what happens when the driving assessment shows that you are totally unfit and dangerous on the road? What happens then?
I know we got MiL to be medically assessed by her GP who wrote to DVLA and pulled her driver's licence - presumably the same thing would happen. The assessor must have some recourse ,- otherwise what's the point?
Personally I think I'd prefer the points...
Last edited by lobstaboy on Fri Dec 03, 2021 1:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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By Rob P
#1886396
Frankly, these days, it's a pain in the bottom.

Rob P
In exceptionally grumpy mode today.
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By Dodo
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1886398
(note to self to read all replies before posting. I have just repeated what lobstaboy said)
Last edited by Dodo on Fri Dec 03, 2021 1:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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By lobstaboy
#1886402
Dodo wrote:(note to self to read all replies before posting. I have just repeated what lobstaboy said)


Only in hindsight. I was editing my post to include the long bit about what the assessment could mean while you were posting yours. Of course I didn't see your post until I'd finished my edit. So actually you did get there first. Can you reinstate it? is it gone for ever. Lost in the ddatasphere...
There! I've been nice to someone today. Back to usual now...