To old to drive?

[Margaret Pilkington]

Originally Posted by BLACKBURN RAVER

RATES quite right he did, and i also said that there are companies that specialise in giving rates (although i didnt mention the word i must admit) to drivers in other age/gender categories too, he gave his example i gave mine, if he is over 50 and went to a company that specialised in drivers of 21 or less im sure the same rule would apply to him regarding rates..so no i did not ignore his post, your post however did, by saying that rates were discounted when infact nowhere in any post above had this been mentioned...



DITTO ....

I will continue to read what you post for two reasons
1) because it my prerogative to read any post that I choose.
2) because you are such an arbiter of standards, and I need to be aware
when you consider that I am posting 'drivel' as you put it.

Now back to the thread......The mention of discount for older drivers was the natural progression of the discussion.
I brought the subject of discount/cheaper policies for the older driver, to make the point(which you obviously failed to see), that a company specialised in the business(and businesses are formed to make a profit) of insuring older drivers at reduced rates.
This must mean that some actuary has worked out that older drivers are safer, and a better bet than younger ones, as they make fewer claims.
Fewer claims are good when you are in the insurance business, as they mean that more of the money coming into the business is profit.

I am not sure if the rates for older drivers go up when you get past 70.....as I'm not quite there yet.

I hope I have made the point clearer for you...and I will not insult your intelligence by putting smilies on the post....they mean nothing.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Originally Posted by firefighter753

Yes but young drivers aren't the issue here are they?

I wonder if you would have posted this thread had the driver been 49.
Or if the driver had been young and high on recreational drugs...but still dead.

[Ossywarrior]

interesting topic... im a manager for a very large haulage company and we are having this very same problem. HGV drivers have to have a medical every 5 years which say they are fit to drive. now we have had an incident where a 74 yr old driver has crased and killed a family. now what has come out of this is that a 74 yr old cant do the work of a 35 yr old, he fatigues earlier and his reaction times are a lot slower but he is legally allowed to drive the vehicle and age discrimination laws say we can't make him redundant on the grounds of age. we also have to treat him the same as everyone else as we cant discriminate against the other drivers because there older than him...so what can we do?

i do feel that driving over 70 should be banned but then how many pensioners will lose there freedom and be left at the mercy of public transport.

[Margaret Pilkington]

You make a valid point when you ask if drivers over 70 were banned then they would be at the mercy of public transport. Of course the answer is Yes, they would.....and you may say that that is Ok then as they have the free bus pass.....but this isn't always the best means of getting about.....it often means that journey times are longer and that waiting around in cold bus shelters is what you want the older person to be subjected to.
Public transport in some areas is good, but then there are areas where public transport is run purely for a profit.....does not run at certain times of the day, does not run on Bank Holidays.......so yes these older people would be isolated, or could only travel the distance that they could walk.......this would suit some people, who it appears from this thread, want older folk to sit at home and do nothing more strenous than watch daytime TV.
I think it is very harsh to judge all older drivers by age alone....not everyone is the same.

[Ossywarrior]

i didnt mean it that way i meant it as a drawback. many older people need there cars as the public transport just isn't good enough and like you said not all old drivers are bad drivers. there is nothing to state that this 89 yr old driver wasn't a good driver and he had a heart attack or stroke in the same way that any person could suddenly be struck by something. its a very difficult thing to judge and should be done on a case by case basis. this is just a terrible accident that couldn't of been avoided.

[marg.]

i agree with margaret, not all the older drivers are the same, for example, my husband turned 70 two months ago,and works part time doing a school contract for lancashire united , drives a double decker bus carrying at times round about 80 children, which you might say he should be retired by now,but he enjoys doing it. he has very strict medical every 12 months and when i say strict it really is.

[shillelagh]

when you have a medical it only checks your health at that time .. 11 months down the line .. it could be something different.

[Tina22]

I think that a re test at a certain age, too today's standards would solve a lot of problems , to include the theory test .
How many times have you been behind a elderly person sat in the middle lane on the motorway doing 50 mph ?Me personally a few times .
It was only 2 weeks ago that i was behind a elderly lady travelling down the slip road at junction 5 joining the 65 and she was doing 25 mph , luckily the motorway was not busy God knows what the out come would have been in other circumstances.
I have always maintained that there should be something set in place to measure capability on the road at a certain age , because i know for sure I would rather know if i was a risk to myself and others , because thinking you are capable and actually being capable are two different things .

[mallard]

well this is a hard thing to realy talk a bout my self,because i dont drive but but i think they should get told off there doctours if they are a certain age the man what lives next door but one to me gave up driveing in is late 70s-or beginning of is 80s but i still think they should take a re test at the ages like this.

[Margaret Pilkington]

To Ossywarrior - yes I understood what you were getting at and was agreeing with you.

To Tina - that has been your experience, but that does not mean that all drivers who are elderly are like that.

My husband is nowhere near seventy, he has 45 years of driving experience, on two wheels and on four wheels, he has a clean licence, drives safely and competently.if it were any different I would be telling him that it was time to hang up the car keys. Surely I am not the only one on this planet who would do the decent, safe thing.

Many of the elderly drivers you comment on, will have been driving for something in the region of 50 years......they will have adapted to the changes in traffic and also in more complicated vehicles.
It is wrong to single out drivers purely on grounds of their age.

[Neil]

Originally Posted by Tina22

How many times have you been behind a elderly person sat in the middle lane on the motorway doing 50 mph ?Me personally a few times .

Not as often as I see people of all ages sat in the middle lane doing 70mph. The speed is not important, they are still causing an obstruction.

[Neil]

Originally Posted by mallard

..i think they should get told off there doctours if they are a certain age ....

What can a Doctor do to test someone driving ability except a poor eyetest?

They can't measure reaction times or check someone is still sufficiently mobile to operate a car safely.

[accyman]

Originally Posted by Neil

What can a Doctor do to test someone driving ability except a poor eyetest?

They can't measure reaction times or check someone is still sufficiently mobile to operate a car safely.

they send people with parkinsons for tests to test those very things so why not do at least an anual test the same for people over 70

as for heart attacks there are plenty of people out there driving after suffering a few which i think is risky to say the least.If someone has a heart attack i think they have to wait a while to drive again but after 2 or 3 heart attacks isnt it really about time to take the licence away?

[firefighter753]

Surely they shouldn't be excluded from a thread that wants to make roads safer?

Or was the point of the thread just to blacken the name of a man involved in a tragic accident, the results and reasons for which we can only speculate as no official statement has yet been announced?

Its not about blackening peoples names, it wasn't his fault this tragedy took place (and I am not speculating). And I am not saying the elderly should have to stop driving, what I am saying is that when you get to a certain age some sort of annual testing including medical should be carried out. Its about getting something done so its not my son next time crushed up against a wall. Young/bad drivers are another issue which needs addressing.

I wonder if you would have posted this thread had the driver been 49.
Or if the driver had been young and high on recreational drugs...but still dead.

Yes I would but probably under a different heading.

[steeljack]

sorry for slight wander ....is it possible in the UK to attend "traffic school" to get points removed for moving violations (speeding) and stop the insurance company jacking up your rate
LET'S GO TO CALIFORNIA TRAFFIC SCHOOL