Should drivers over 70 hand in their keys ?

[buggerlugs]

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/o...=1409976688698
My old man is 83 and I have to admit his driving is not the greatest....

[lucas2]

Older drivers should be assessed and re-assessed on a case by case basis. There are probably plenty of competent older drivers out there, but I have also seen plenty of older (younger too) drivers that should not be on the road.

[marty351]

Only when eyesight and reaction time deterioates.
My old man is 73 and still drives better than most people half his age.
Medication/s are probably the best way to determine if anyone should hand over the keys. Often worse than drink/drug drivers.

[LG17]

Should drivers over 70 hand in their keys? Should drivers over 17 who can't bloody drive or follow the rules hand in their keys? Should drivers who have 15 DUI convictions hand in their keys? There's plenty more questions...

[99AUXR]

If I ever had to hand in the keys I would be pretty down about life.... Or own a private race track

[tut0r]

There needs to be resits every couple of years IMO, I know a lot disagree with this but I am only 26 and can probably say they have brought in more rules since I got my license than I know of.

One test for life just seems idiotic, things change over the years and most of us will be driving for 4 decades at least. In that time, we get advancements in technology which means faster cars, better handling cars, different road rules, different grades of roads and the list goes on and on.

I was surrounded by 6 p platers a few nights ago, it felt odd. None of them obviously knew each other but here I am in my car in the middle of them all just waiting for something stupid to happen....Guess what? It didn't.... to my surprise! Old people are just as bad, you hear more young people wrapping themselves around a pole for reckless driving but at least fortnightly some old bloke backs his Camry into a shop.

Young and old would have to be the two most troublesome I see on the roads, with exceptions for some of you middle agers! Regardless better road rules, better driver education and training, its one thing to know the road rules and learn the basics of driving its another to know what happens when a roo jumps out in front of you doing 100km or your car understeers/oversteers in the wet.

[b0son]

The main observation I have of older drivers is their ability to take in whats going on around them diminishes, even if technically they can still steer/brake/park the car. Driving is more than just getting the car from point A to point B, its about being aware of and anticipating what other road users are doing. Too many older drivers are blissfully unaware of whats going on around them.

[herbicide]

Too many people in general have nfi what's going on around them period.

[blackf6]

No point just handing in your keys. Have to hand your licence in. Stuffed if I will be handing in my keys. They stay in the ignition.

[Whitey-AMG]

Compulsory driver license theory and on road assessment every 5 years......for everyone.
You pass , you drive. You fail....take the bus.
End of story.

[jcxr]

Well Im 65 in a couple of weeks, and still have reaction times to beat plenty of young blokes. Im still off roading a fair bit, enjoying 600ks every Saturday to go up to NSW to watch the young bloke play footy. I really cant see myself going that far downhill in 10 years.
Theres plenty of oldies and youngies who can claim they have never had a bingle in X amount of years, but how many crashes have they caused?
I just hope my kids point out my problems when they start to happen.

[Kingsley]

The only real problem I have with elderly drivers is the insistence on driving 15-20k under the speed limit!!!

We had an elderly driver take out the local Chinese restaurant in Thornton NSW a couple of months ago. Hit the accelerator in the car park, flattened two bollards and landed in the restaurant. Luckily no-one was in the restaurant or happened to be walking past.

[GCRXR6]

Originally Posted by herbicide

Too many people in general have nfi what's going on around them period.

Yep....old, young, middle age, male, female and others.

[GCRXR6]

Originally Posted by BluFGXR6

The only real problem I have with elderly drivers is the insistence on driving 15-20k under the speed limit!!!

We had an elderly driver take out the local Chinese restaurant in Thornton NSW a couple of months ago. Hit the accelerator in the car park, flattened two bollards and landed in the restaurant. Luckily no-one was in the restaurant or happened to be walking past.

They insist in driving 15-20 k under the speed limit? Your source of information is?

Hitting the accelerator and landing in a spot not meant for a vehicle is not unique to elderly drivers. Younger drivers figure in these incidents also.

[ms700]

Originally Posted by BluFGXR6

We had an elderly driver take out the local Chinese restaurant in Thornton NSW a couple of months ago. Hit the accelerator in the car park, flattened two bollards and landed in the restaurant. Luckily no-one was in the restaurant or happened to be walking past.

You really would be suprised how often elderly drivers either a) get their foot jammed between accelerator and brake or b) mistake the accelerator for brake and hit the accelerator harder in a effort to try and stop.

[Itsme]

Should drivers over 70 hand in their keys ?

Only if proved to be incompetent, I believe all drivers should hand in their keys if proven incompetent in driving cars.
I'm more worried about the drunks & druggies driving before I worry about an oldie.

[buggerlugs]

Yeah, Druggies are a huge concern to. You want to be on a job site when there is on the spot drug tests..........Scary how many have it in their system.......

[Giant Cranium]

I think in nsw every 2 years or something like that you have to have a driving test. My grandfather passes every time but he knows his limits and only goes to the local shops. He is 88 though

[red_hotxr6]

Agree, pick a reasonable age and have their eyes and reaction times checked, then go from there. Do it every year then on..

[LoudPipes]

I’m 75.

My so called weekend drive is an XY with a 351 Cleveland, top loader and no power steering.

I’d like to see a young driver not used to one of these old girls jump in and drive it.

My daily is a 2012 C Class C280 MB.

I’m an Aussie who moved back to Australia to retire in 2012 having left in 1979 to work overseas.

I lived in Japan for 7 years and then the United States for 26 and travelled much of the world in that time.

I take notice of the oldies on the road cause I am one and yes some do need to be reassessed as their physical and or mental skills have declined to the point of making them no longer capable.

Which is the opposite of some youths that haven’t yet learned to either think or drive.

Funny enough most driver related deficiencies in the elderly are picked up by Doctors during routine medical checks and from concerned relatives.

The same can’t be said for wild youthful tendencies.

From my international driving experience by far the two biggest problems I see in Australia is the failure to properly teach new driver’s car control and the most important one of all, driver courtesy and patience.

The State Governments are overly preoccupied with speed related road violations where instead they should channel more effort and issue infringements for discourteous driving such as right hand lane hogs, poor merge and roundabout skills and the like.

It would take time but to put resources into better training of new drivers and re-educating the old will have a positive and lasting effect for all future road users.

The elderly are only a small part of the danger equation on Aussie roads.

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by Bluey-GT

Compulsory driver license theory and on road assessment every 5 years......for everyone.
You pass , you drive. You fail....take the bus.
End of story.

Spot on, get back to this notion that having a drivers licence is not a right, it is a privilege. Too many morons and lousy drivers think that they have some sort of god given right to have a licence - that is until the Police or the courts take it away from them.

The idea that you can get your licence at 17 and your driving doesn't have to undergo any scrutiny at all until you're 85 (which has now been abolished in WA) is ridiculous. I'm not talking about having to sit a test, just completing a questionnaire or similar when you submit your licence renewal.

[hawlass]

^^This guy knows^^
Courtesy, patience and car control. Instill them in new licencees and watch the toll drop.
Im teaching my 18 yo daughter to drive (god help me), and its scary how little sense of speed and spatial awarness she has.

I also have a 83 yo step dad who scares the **** outta me with his driving, i dont allow my wife or daughter to ride with him.
No idea wtf is going on as he enters intersections, sails through red lights etc. I have spoken to his doc who seems to think hes ok, "ride with him" i say. No response.
The ol fulla said "ill drive even if they take my licence off me " WTF!!

[Olbucko]

No, but I think every driver over 70 should have an annual standardised medical check carried out by their own doctor which includes a simple computer hazard perception test and reaction test at their own cost, except in special circumstances. This would cost the Govt. very little.

I am 67 and occasionally drive vintage trams at a public museum. Every year I have to have a full medical check-up which includes a long questionnaire about drinking, smoking, and sleeping habits, and other personal lifestyle questions, if I fail I immediately lose my accreditation. I don't object to this, it one day could save a life.

I would not object to a test like this in two years time to see that I was fit to keep my licence.

[buickman]

Originally Posted by ms700

You really would be suprised how often elderly drivers either a) get their foot jammed between accelerator and brake or b) mistake the accelerator for brake and hit the accelerator harder in a effort to try and stop.

I bet if you check their medical history most that get involved in these type of accidents have had hip or knee replacements on top of a slower reaction time and a bit of dementia . Then add a larger aging population that's living longer and not in the workforce are out driving around so accidents will happen that shows up in this age group.

[nstg8a]

We have a truck driver that comes into work all the time, he's 70 and sharper than a lot of drivers half his age.

He was even inducted into some drivers hall of fame recently, and has zero plans to retire lol.

A blanket ban based on age won't work, and isn't fair. Regular licensing checks are, and should work well if planned well.

But I also think drivers of any age who repeatedly get infringements should have to resit their test regularly until they prove they've learnt how to drive within the laws.

[castellan]

I would think it's all about being fair and just.

Old people need to get around, they may be only as good as me if I was drunk as a skunk.

If they keep left and bumble about it's ok with me.

A mate of mine was hopeless at 17 as he could not see distance clearly or the speed the car was doing just like an old dude.

But that is how our road rules are made for mainly hopeless idiots or the lowest denominator I am sure of it.

So when a top driver in a great car is doing 130km in a 110km and gets punished it's a joke, he is not driving a crappy car or truck or towing a van and the road is not wet, this is an injustice !

But the powers that be push that every k over is a killer, this can be true but not a fact. fact is it's only the lowest denominator blanket tossed out again and the lowest denominator swallow it hook line and sinker.

In town one should not go over the limit but on the open highway it's not that much of a problem one slows down for cross roads and such all is ok, but wombats speed in town and bugger around in a daydream on the highways and it's people like so who carry on with such a big fuss about someone going past at 130km but the fact is the dude doing 130 could be much more alert and focused on the task at hand then the bumbling dill just poncing about thinking he is doing the right thing when it's him who is the foolish idiot and a total clown on the road.
Clowns like so, only look at the car in front of them or a bit down the road and if something happens there reactions are hopelessly lacking by far, that it's just a sad joke.

[Silver Ghia]

Originally Posted by ms700

You really would be suprised how often elderly drivers either a) get their foot jammed between accelerator and brake or b) mistake the accelerator for brake and hit the accelerator harder in a effort to try and stop.

Happens also to some under 70 drivers.

Automatic transmissions make it too easy for the driver to drive and for this to happen. Its been happening since the early '60's when automatics started becoming more common. Mainly because the right foot does all the braking and accelerating, it can get confused, while the left foot does nothing. Maybe left foot emergency braking should be taught more instead of only using the right foot. Which reminds me of a thread some years ago. Oh wait, here it is. But read the last page of that thread, not just the first page.

This problem doesn't happen with manual cars, maybe all drivers over 70 should be driving only manual cars, which would also sort them out.

[351buzz]

make 'em stick to B-double routes.
That'll keep 'em on their toes.

[Windsor220]

Over 80 maybe. A lot of 70 year olds still work and are completely normal.

[Falcman0o7]

Originally Posted by Windsor220

Over 80 maybe. A lot of 70 year olds still work and are completely normal.

70 is not old like it once seemed.