Proposal for over 65's to retake driving tests

I wouldn’t lose too much sleep over this if I was you. The whole petitions triggering a debate in Parliament thing was just a gimmick by the Cameron government.

4m people signed one requesting a 2nd referendum. Parliament debated it and the government decided to leave without a 2nd referendum anyway.

I think I’m right in saying that none of the top 20 petitions have resulted in any changes in policy or new legislation from the government of the day.
 
Forcing retests is stupid and would probably result in a lot of older people leaving the workforce as they have decades of ingrained bad habits which are not necessarily unsafe but would lead to a test fail. It would undoubtedly leave the roads a little safer but most people who are too old to drive safely tend to know their limitations and take appropriate actions. My stepdad for example is a pensioner. He won’t drive at night and is more cautious than he used to be during the day. I feel safer with him driving now than I do in a lot of taxis.
 
Wiseman_Vaughn said:
Pure ageism!!!
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Not really at all. my wife had to report my dad in his early 70s to the dvla when he was driving and not fit they sent him on a retest course which he failed. Plenty of cases like that where conditions like dementia effects spatial awareness and reaction times. The pertinent point is many of these older drivers perceive they don't have a problem so wont give up their licenses, a mandatory retest would take the responsibility away from drivers and their family to surrender their licence
 
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Norfolkred1 said:
Or a less than powerful car for 2 years, tops 1.3 Ltr.
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Not a bad idea, although as Norman says, you'd probably want to go even lower. Surprised many of them can afford insurance for anything bigger anyway!

(suppose most go on mum and dads insurance in reality).
 
Glover_elbow said:
Not really at all. my wife had to report my dad in his early 70s to the dvla when he was driving and not fit they sent him on a retest course which he failed. Plenty of cases like that where conditions like dementia effects spatial awareness and reaction times. The pertinent point is many of these older drivers perceive they don't have a problem so wont give up their licenses, a mandatory retest would take the responsibility away from drivers and their family to surrender their licence
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It's a massive generalisation! If there is a problem - then maybe a re-test might be appropriate - but then maybe that rule should apply to all age groups - not to a specific one. As mentioned earlier, The highest risk group are young new drivers.
 
kuepper said:
The system couldn't cope with up to 11 million extra ppl suddenly having to take driving tests but ppl should lose their licence at 70 so as to free the roads up and reduce pollution etc
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You could use the same argument to justify removing licences for under 70s
 
Wiseman_Vaughn said:
It's a massive generalisation! If there is a problem - then maybe a re-test might be appropriate - but then maybe that rule should apply to all age groups - not to a specific one. As mentioned earlier, The highest risk group are young new drivers.
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I dont think its a massive generalisation to assume at 70 years a significant number of people have physical or cognitive impairments to driving many undisclosed or undiagnosed
 
I’m cautiously in favour. Nobody is saying all older drivers are a liability, but there are plenty of older drivers who shouldn’t be on the road.

Seems ridiculous when you think about it that you can fail your test 20 times, maybe get lucky on test 21 or have a good day, then you can drive unmonitored for the next 70 years.

I’m not saying younger boy racers or school run parents aren’t as big of a problem, that’s a separate issue though.
 
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