How Old Is Too Old To Drive?

Research by Australia's Monash University's Accident Research Centre has found that older drivers go slower on the roads but apply their brakes more slowly than middle-aged and younger drivers.

How slow are they?  Drivers over 70 take, on average, almost half a second longer to brake to avoid a pedestrian than middle-aged drivers.

Since 1974 UK motorists have been allowed to continue driving until they reach 70, after which they simply fill out a form every three years to declare they are fit to drive and are free of ailments such as epilepsy, diabetes and heart conditions.

Last year the European Commission announced the EU Directive on Driving Licences which has already been approved and gives member states the option of imposing tests every two years for motorists aged 60 plus and annually for those 76 and over.  However the EC decided that 'the Directive does not set out any obligation for EU member states to have additional measures for elderly people'. That means it's an option, not a requirement.

Now the Westminster Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) has decided there are too many over 70s - six million if the statistics are to be believed - on the roads and what's needed is a 'national strategy for an ageing car-driver population'.

Statistics show that older drivers cause fewer accidents than their younger counterparts but maybe this is because they already 'self-regulate'. Department of Transport statistics show that 8% of the country's drivers are over 70, yet they are involved in only 4% of crashes resulting in injury. 15% of the country's drivers are in their teens or twenties and are involved in 34% of crashes where injuries occur.

But these statistics won't stop Westminster doing their best to prevent older people from driving. Now that the issue has arisen in the MSM, I foresee the cost of driving rising for me; be it a new test or some other way to glean money from my pension.

I admit I don't particularly like night driving these days but I never did. Causes of visual ageing are studied here and I've no doubt the research is fairly accurate. I don't see in the dark nearly as well as I did 10 years ago and therefore I avoid driving in the dark as much as possible. That doesn't mean to say I'm a bad driver. I adjust my speed to accommodate my declining vision and no longer nip along at 60mph in failing light.

Do we older driver need a course accreditation system or an information pack?  Of course not. The majority of us drive safely. I do agree with David Williams, the chief executive of the Guild of Experienced Motorists though.  He suggests, when drivers renew their photo ID form of licence every 10 years, there should be an added requirement for them to get a stamp on their application from an optician, confirming that their eyesight has been tested and is all right.

What about those who didn't opt for photo ID licences though? It won't be long before the system catches up with us and insists we buy a plastic licence with a photo of an old, digitally aged person on it. That's why I never applied for one.

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Safer Roads

In this part of the world more and more often I read of court cases in which eastern Europeans are involved. Drink driving, driving without insurance and/or road tax and careless driving are all convictions I've read in the past few months.

Often I've wondered why so many eastern Europeans are involved in breaking the rules of the road, but now I know.

It is to be hoped that the transport minister Mike Penning takes urgent action to ensure that no more driving tests, either theory or physical, are taken involving interpreters.

Surely vital to road safety is the ability to read road signs where necessary and be able to understand the basic language involved with using the roads.  Back in the 70s I sat a driving test in Germany and had to undergo a written test and road test without an interpreter. Prior to both tests I chose to undergo a German language course which specialised in vocabulary associated with all aspects of driving and vehicle ownership.  There was no mention of an interpreter being available and the choice was simple; learn the language and then you will be able to sit the relevant driving tests.

Fortunately my new language skills made it easy for me to pass the Swiss driving tests some years later and I can't recall any mention of an interpreter then either.

Visitors to these islands have a difficult enough time coping with driving on the left hand side and many, prior to visiting, make themselves acquaint with the laws of the road.  They may have language difficulties if they become involved in some incident and that's acceptable, but those who decide to live permanently must be able to understand enough English in order to help keep our roads safe.

If English classes, which teach language associated with owning and driving a vehicle, have to be introduced then surely that would be money well spent instead of the millions paid out in interpreters.

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New Speed Limits

Some of you may only have seen the above on various German autobahns although France have a limit of 81mph and in Ireland, Spain and Portugal it's 75pmh. 

Back in the 70s and 80s in Germany you had - and still have - to watch your speed because limits vary on certain autobahns, yet that country insists their speed limits are relevant to the specific road environment.  Some autobahns have no limits whatsoever.

Now it appears the UK may be introducing changes in motorway limits with ministers hoping to get the 80mph measure through Westminster before MPs break up for their holidays in July.  They are still considering whether it should be 80mph on all motorways or just the 'quieter' ones.  That would mean that the M25 and other motorways to northern cities such as Manchester and Liverpool would stay at 70.

MPs are also considering if the new limit would apply at night, when traffic is lighter, or in good weather.

How do we define 'night'.  Would drivers be expected to take note of lighting-up times prior to a motorway journey?

Of course the greenies will be puce with anger because it seems driving at 80mph consumes 20% more fuel than a speed of 70mph. If they were paying for my diesel I may be courteous and listen, but they aren't, so I will drive as fast as the law allows if I so desire.

Another protest comes from the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Transport Safety who oppose the move claiming it would increase motorway casualties by between 5 and 10%.  Their voices have been stilled by the official figures, which detail only 132 of the 2,200 road deaths were on motorways in 2009, making them the safest roads on which to drive. 

It's about time a higher limit was introduced on motorways and I'm all for it. There's no mention of upping limits on other roads; they will remain unchanged and quite rightly.

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Pensioners See Too Much

There is an increasing number of older drivers on the roads.  My generation will be the first to have owned a car for their entire adult lives and we are even less likely to give up driving than our parents' generation, because we view our cars as an essential part of our independence.

When younger I always said when I stopped enjoying driving I'd stop driving. Some years ago now I stopped enjoying driving, although when I returned to live in Scotland I found some enjoyment return, possibly because there was much less traffic and I didn't spend so much time in traffic jams.

To put it simply I need my car.  There is no suitable public transport and to travel by taxi would be out of the question.

However, in recent years I haven't had the need to drive so much and I slowly realised I wasn't as comfortable driving at night as I once was.  Nothing serious I was assured, it's because few older people have the need to drive regularly in the dark so don't do it. It's all down to 'practice makes perfect' my sympathetic optician said.

Last year one friend suddenly stated she was giving up her car. We were shocked because she was the one who always offered lifts to others when we had our regular outings. One of her regular passengers tentatively asked if it was the cost of maintaining a car that had brought about this decision. No, it was because she nearly hit a 4 x 4 in Morrison's car park.  Discussion followed about how driving has changed in 40 years; the power of modern cars and being older does tend to make you feel slightly less able.  We all agreed that it must be something to do with eyesight, even though all of us could read a numberplate at the required distance.

Last night I sent a copy of this to my friend (I know her car is still in her garage and she uses it occasionally).  She'll be surprised it's nothing to do with failing eyesight whatsoever, but that we see too much. We're too aware of background rather than reduced vision.  It makes sense.

I wonder when the perceptual learning classes will begin in the UK?  Must drop an email to Professor Duje Tadin at the University of Rochester and ask him to send a copy of his study to Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's go-ahead Health Secretary.

A word of warning to those who are irritated by older drivers - we see you.  It's now a proven scientific fact.

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Are You a Flasher? Be Warned

It wasn't my intention to post about this, but having watched a video I'm incensed.

I've done it - too many times to count.  Most drivers do it on a regular basis.  I'm not speaking about washing our cars but flashing our headlights to warn oncoming drivers of a hazard ahead.  As well as warning them of speed cameras, I've flashed my lights because of an accident ahead, black ice, road flooding and obstacles in the road - to name but a few reasons. It's not illegal to do so, but I did read some time ago that 'flashing' wasn't a 'code' but a friendly warning of problems ahead.

 If someone flashes their lights to me I usually slow down and become more aware of my surroundings and also check out my own car at the earliest opportunity if nothing was visible on the road within a few miles.

Have you behaved in what I consider a courtesy to fellow drivers?  Very possibly.

The photograph is of Michael Thompson.  He flashed his lights to warn fellow motorists to obey the speed limit because there was a speed camera ahead.  The policewoman who stopped him said he was to be charged. He now has a criminal record and his case has occupied the courts for the best part of a day - when courts are bulging at the seams we're told and staff can't cope with the amount of cases.

Mr Thompson states on the video in the above link that the police didn't tell the truth in court and he firmly believes he didn't break the law.

Other than our police taking up court days with non-illegal actions which are then translated into illegal actions, the disturbing aspect of this case is Mr Thompson says the police didn't tell the truth in court.  

I would hope he will contest his guilty verdict with the help of some kind lawyer who  sees justice should be done in this case but if not, I do hope he applies to pay it off his fine and court fees at 50p or £1 a month which is the 'going rate' for those who contribute nothing towards the expenses of the UK.

Be warned.  If this happens to you because you're exercising your 'civil duty' then you could be well out of pocket plus a criminal to boot.

This isn't justice.  Spending nearly a day in court at public expense, prosecuting an action which isn't currently illegal but will now be regarded as such without any Act being passed, should concern all of us.  Michael Thompson was doing the job of the traffic police insofar as he was ensuring traffic would slow down for a hazard.

PS  If the video on the BBC website isn't there, it has been removed by them.  My link is a cache which I hope works, but when I returned to the site whilst writing this, the video was missing.

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Gripping Stuff

A few decades ago I worked in Switzerland for a short time.  Although I didn't have a car - there was no need as public transport was, by British standards, superb - I was aware that all vehicle owners changed their tyres to snow tyres from early November until around March.  There was no hullaballoo about it, people accepted the policy kept them far safer than driving through winter with tyres only fit for summer weather.

In Germany it wasn't compulsory, but many businesses insisted tyres were changed and also each vehicle carried snow chains.  Fortunately I never had to apply snow chains to my vehicle, although I recall a horrendous journey from Hannover to Herford which took 7 hours, but the snow chains were there in the boot and I'm sure some gallant Herr would have offered his services if I had been unable to keep moving even with snow tyres.  I was never one of those bra-burning feminists who, I still believe, didn't do much towards equality for women. I preferred the 'feminine movement', which worked quietly in the background gradually showing that women could transfer their skills to the male world.

Luckily I had a father who was very enlightened and before I ever had my first driving lesson from him I had to learn how to change a wheel, change oil and fit spark plugs.  Nowadays it's too complicated under the bonnet and my car needs the help of a computer programme to do anything more complicated than renewing a fuse.

This early winter made me wonder if it's time Scotland made it compulsory to change to winter tyres from November to March.  Winter tyres are not snow tyres.  They're tyres specifically designed for temperatures under 7 degrees.  Snow tyres now appear to be old-fashioned and wouldn't be suitable here because we don't have five months of snow.  The past week I've spoken to two people who have invested in winter tyres for their cars and wished they had done a year ago.  The two have purchased new (in one case second hand) wheels for their winter tyres to make the change over in March simple.  I queried the cost but was told some of the expense would be recouped when the cars were sold on as the tyres would go with it.

After listening to the these stories, I'm tempted to invest in them myself.  At first I thought I thought I didn't do enough mileage to warrant them, but after having a glide to visit a friend earlier yesterday evening, I realise there's no price on personal safety.  No matter how good a driver you are, in poor conditions if everyone had tyres which could cope far better in winter, there would be fewer cars blocking roads, fewer accidents and fewer injuries.

Of course many will say 'not another piece of legislation', but if you think about it without a law saying every car should have winter tyres, which will ensure traffic moves instead of stalls, then we'll still have those who have no respect for the safety of others and thus themselves.  Plus the offenders will be easy to find.  They'll be the ones blocking roads because they're unable to keep their vehicles under control.

Viva winter tyres! Having driven a car today - quite similar to my own - I'm all for the extra grip offered.  Especially when I had to move, for those selfish drivers, into the mounds of impacted snow at the side of roads.  I perhaps shouldn't say selfish drivers but 'drivers who know they can't drive on snow/ice'.  Others will say these are an additional expense on families when we are in the middle of a recession.  Surely knowing the vehicle that transports you and yours is worth spending a couple of hundred pounds on to make safe during the winter months.

Fair enough, the tyre companies will make a fortune initially, but isn't it better to buy them before VAT rises to 20% and to know that you never again will buy a car without having a good look at its seasonal tyres?

Here in the east of Scotland I can't see those mounds of ice moving before early Spring as it is forecast we'll have temperatures around freezing or below well into the New Year.

Just a thought.

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