Older drivers

[bayandme]

Hi what does everyone think of elderly drivers. My father in law had an accident on the way to our place a while ago and his fault he hit a car full of kids ( thankfully no one was hurt ). I'm so angry that his daughters my sister in laws won't take him of the road or at least tell VIC roads to get him to have a driving test. His daughters said" that wouldn't be fair". I bet they would change their minds if it was there kids who got hurt. He 's 78 yo I think he should be of the road but I don't want to be the nasty one to dob him in. What do you think??? Does anyone think I should be the one to tell VIC Roads????

[OceBel]

i dont trust old drivers at all. i think they can be just as dangerous as hoons.:no:

[jessgray]

i thought in vic it was compulsory once you turn 55 maybe its older that you get a review on your liscence then every 2 years after thats what my MIL told me. coz she recently turned 50 and i asked her if she had to go get her liscence reviewed and thats waht she was told by the geelong vicroads :confused: i dunno confused lol

i personally think everyone should be forced to get their liscence reviewed once they turn 50.if you are a good driver you have nothing to worry about:D

[whatwasithinking]

My pop is 86yrs old and he can't see very well. I can't believe they still let him drive - apparently though he is not allowed to drive at night.

He can't see 2feet in front of him when he is walking let alone driving.

There should be very strict tests for older drivers as well as some young "hoons" - oh god I sound like my mother!!!!!!!

[Issey]

My FIL is 75, he is in SA and they do an eye test I think at the doctors once they are 70, he passes fine, HOWEVER, his driving is quite scary both I and DH agree and we haven't even been in the car with him for at least 2 years as we are now interstate.

When he is driving he turns his head to talk to his wife taking his eyes off the road :eek: and generally lacks the concentration needed to drive safely. Worse still his daughter gets him to drive over 1 hour away through thick traffic to their place, he is an accident waiting to happen. Once he loses his licence all their independance will be gone and it will be quite hard on them, although I sympathsise on anyone having their independance taken away he should not be driving. I think a proper on road driving test should have to be done for elderly people for others safety. I think the law needs changing, as there is nothing we can do to stop him driving and if we said anything he would definately have something to say about it and it wouldn't be nice!!:thumbsdown:

We are scared for his safety and others.

[diamonds22]

I think this is an issue that needs to be addressed and standardise...why are laws so bloody different from state to state?!!!

Just recently an elderly lady around 80 rammed into my FIL parked car in a parking lot!!?? she was trying to park next to him and did quite a lot of damage to the rear and side of his car!...she was very gracious about it and left a note ect...but it makes me wonder if she should still be on the road?:eek: ...I think elderly people should at least have to undergo some type of regular 6mthly testing..to ensure there health is as competent as they believe it to be and to help minimise the safety risk to themselves and others.

[bayandme]

i thought in vic it was compulsory once you turn 55 maybe its older that you get a review on your liscence then every 2 years after thats what my MIL told me. coz she recently turned 50 and i asked her if she had to go get her liscence reviewed and thats waht she was told by the geelong vicroads :confused: i dunno confused lol

i personally think everyone should be forced to get their liscence reviewed once they turn 50.if you are a good driver you have nothing to worry about:D


apparenltly not then I wouldn't have to worry if this was the case.maybe you are right but there was a thing on a current affair the other week and the way I understood it Vic and I think one other state don't have anything like that yet. Hopefully soon when our stupid goverment gets round to it I guess

[bronny-jane]

i dont think it has anything to with age.......some people are just bad drivers, i know im hopeless at parking, so i always park right up the back of the carpark.:D

[Pippi Longstocking]

A few years ago, there was an incident in a car park that made me think about this issue. An old lady (she looked quite old 75-80ish) had been trying to park but had hit the car next to her. She asked me to reverse her car out and park it for her as she couldn't do it. She looked so frightened and sad - I really felt for her. It must be awful to lose the ability to do things most of us take for granted.:(
So while I can empathise with elderly people losing their independance, I do believe that compulsory retesting very year would be a good idea. That lady needed to accept that she could no longer drive. But I guess lots of them haven't much choice - who has time to drive their elderly relatives to where ever they need to go? It's just another problem with our society - elderly people are not valued.

[kymmy]

My grandfather was forced to stop driving
and it was a good thing too.
His eyes aren't so good, especially because of his diabetes.

[Cinta]

As sad as it would be for some of the elderly to lose their licence and therefore lose a lot of independance, i really think something needs to be done.

Why is it only compulsory for an eye test? Other factors should be considered as well - their concentration, how alert they are etc.

Some elderly people (and i know their are others that are bad drivers who are not in the elderly category but thats a whole other topic!) are very dangerous. Take for instance using something as simple as a roundabout. Sooo many times they have nearly crashed into me because they dont know the rules of the roundabout - give way to your right, and indicating at the right time.
If i see an elderly person approaching the roundabout i basically have to crawl along because i know they are going to pull out in front. Pretty scary for when i have kids in the car and also scary considering im pregnant.

Also, not too long ago...This is a little off topic..but we were in DF's car, turned left at a roundabout and an elderly guy just walked straight in front of us, we had to severly brake and then he was yelling abuse at us coz it was apparently our fault! :eek: DF indicated, he walked out in front when their was a car coming! Now who's fault is that!! But apparently it would be our fault in the eyes of the law coz he's a pedestrian :rolleyes:

Ummm another example...Was at a 21st recently. Nearly time to leave. DF is outside and a lady reversed and hit another car, was gonna drive off! :eek: DF said something to her about it, saying that she did it and she said 'oh no i didnt do that' when it was VERY clear that she did do it. DF heard the noise and saw exactly what happened and the dent in the other car matched it. I cant remember what happened.

Yes it is sad for them but if elderly drivers are a danger to themselves and others on the road then simple...they shouldnt be on the road.

Just my opinion and sorry for dribbling sh!t! ;)

[mum33]

at 24 and could be classified as one of those hoon drivers, because i'm on my green p's and typically people like to put us all in one catagory of being "hoons"

well if u mean, gettin impatient with other people on the the road that cannot seem to drive and leave me wondering did they get their licence from the back of a cereal boz, well then call me a hoon!

but it seems every encounter with a bad driver i've had on the road, and almost being roadkill due the result of their poor driving, almost everytime its an older driver.

old people have bad eyesight, slow reaction times and are afraid of doing anything over 30km/hr...

that makes them bad drivers. there is nothing worse than a nervous driver...

they all need to have tests every 2 years after they turn 60 or something and if they arent up to scratch, then they need to have their licence revoked. people shouldnt have to be injured or die so they can keep their independance.

and like jacinta above, i hate pedestrians who think they can just walk out onto the road and think because they are a pedstrian they automatically have right of way. some people dont realise what they do and some people dont care. i dont know which is worse.

[3boyzmum]

I don't know if i'm qualified to post in this thread as I don't and have never held a driving licence. I walk my two elder boys to school and kinder we have to cross a main road with crossing lights and two other roads without, At the roads with lights my eldest and I like to play the 'how many cars run the red light game' (The average is 8) most of the drivers who do run the light seem to be elderly drivers. At the roads without lights when you have to wait for drivers to slow down before you can cross the only drivers who don't slow down seem to be elderly drivers. Ithink that there should be compulsory eye and driving tests for people over a certain age and I know thats it's horrible for people to lose their independence but I would rather that than one of my boys being hit by a car on their way to school