should you be made to retake your driving test when you reach a certain age?

Question

Should you be made when you get older to retake your driving test.?.
At the moment you just need a medical to make sure you are fairly healthy but your reactions slow down as you get older.
At what age should this be done? I think when you reach 50 you have a retest
What do you think ?

I wasn't saying that all people that are over a certain age are bad drivers, but over the years the traffic has quadrupled and new laws have been added.

To all those who think than I must be young..I take that as a compliment ...I'm in my mid 40's

Answer 1

everyone is different. I know a person who is 90 and still drives. Unfotunately they won't pull a license until something bad happens.

Answer 2

The trouble with a driving test, especially for the more mature person, is that deep down they are usually acceptably good drivers. Some though tend to get sloppy as they get older. Use of signals is bad, forgotten what the handbrake is for, insufficient use of the mirror, cutting corners when turning right, hogging the centre lane on the motorway, and so on. Wait a minute, I see a lot of younger drivers doing the same sloppy things. When a test is taken the older and wiser drivers will do all things correctly and be deemed a competent driver, even though their day to day driving is poor. What is needed is a wake up call for all drivers that get into bad habits. With older drivers and 50 is not old, a straight forward observation and reaction test would be a good start. As you quite rightly say, the reaction time begins to slow down as age creeps on. As an aside, I know of a lady who is 80 and she has a tremor of the head which makes her look away from the road without warning and she also has to drive with her head turned slightly to one side. She had a special test from a dept of transport examiner and she passed and is still driving.

Answer 3

I do think that some form of course or test should be done, even if it's not necessarily 50, it could be 60? Again, not saying that older people are bad drivers (I'm also sick of the young boy/girl racers on the road who cut me up!!), but driving for x amount of years is bound to mean that you pick up LOADS of bad habits that could ultimately interfere with the safety and efficiency of your driving. One thing I think is excellent is the Institute of Advanced Motorists, of which I also am a member. Although I'm 29 and have been driving for about 11 years, I did the IAM course and passed my test a couple of years ago with them. It really showed up the bad habits I had, and helped me to correct them. It makes you a MUCH better driver all-round (as long as you follow the advice), and has even helped me to control my road-rage. You can keep in touch with the group, and they even organise days out (I did some skid-pan training at a race track which was fantastic). The course is the same as the police drivers take, and the examiner I had was an off-duty police officer, so you know you're getting good advice!

Answer 4

No. However, there is definitly a case to be made for carrying out a proper and thorough medical examination of drivers who reach the age of 70.

I am now 65 and have been driving since 1960. I am an experienced driver but no better than anyone else. Bad driving habits die hard, as they say.

When I reach my 70th birthday, all I will be required to do is sign a form which says I am okay.

Actually I am okay but saying so is simply not good enough. What about those old fogies who, poor darlings, are going slightly dotty as they grow older and forget things, as can happen. Like for instance, what am I doing at the top of the stairs and why did I come up here? Nuts or not, this often goes with getting old.

Imagine if this happens in a person's own home then transfer the same 'mistake' to a busy driving situation and 'wham' we're talking serious death on the road possibilities.

Of course the argument about re-testing already experienced drivers will not wash, because drivers such as myself will simply skive out of it. There is nothing worse for any country than to drive honest citizens 'under ground'. This will happen. It will just add to an already bad situation with drivers who are uninsured or who have not even taken a test.

They're out there, beware. If one of them crashes into you, you cannot claim a penny, they don't have insurance and they don't care.

So let's just stop talking about us older and more experienced drivers, we're really not the problem.

If a driver does not know what's waiting around that hairpin bend, then he/she should not be behind the wheel.

What is waiting around that hairpin bend? A jack-knifed truck, a herd of sheep, a group of school children. Your worst case nightmare. BEWARE!!

Answer 5

Not as such. I feel all drivers should go on a refresher course periodically depending on points gained. The course should have a theory test first,(same as normal theory test - but no hazard perception) which must be passed before going on a 2 hour practical. The examiner of this course MUST have the power to revoke a license instantly if the driver is a danger, and a full extended test must subsequently be booked and passed.

It should be along the lines of:

0 to 3 points every 5 years

4 to 6 points date of endorsement and then after 3 years

7 to 11 points date of endorsement and yearly for 3 years

12 points automatic disqualification for 2 years. Once test repassed a yearly assesment for 5 years.

The rule for new drivers should be scrapped and a yearly assesment should be had for first 2 years

The cost would be about £250 but for those who obey the rules of the road and don't gain any points it would be free.
This should encourage safer driving!

And for morons who drive around with no insurance, their license revoked never to be reissued, a mandatory 2 year jail term, £5000 fine plus cost of insurance for that year and the next year, your car crushed and if involved in an accident you should be charged with use of a deadly weapon. If caught behind the wheel again the above is doubled.

Answer 6

Yes, and I think regular retests would improve driving quality too. It would cost more, but drivers and non-drivers would benefit from better safety on the roads.

More tests following 1st passes, say after 2 years or so. Then something like every 5 to 7 years. It wouldn't necessarily mean more learners on the roads, just more testers and testing. It would be an extra tax on road users, but priced appropriately would be a good thing. Older drivers would probably benefit from more thorough screening. Some even have had licenses after taking no tests, as licences were given in the past just through having driven vehicles etc.

Often the bad drivers are people who don't always get 'caught' for this, such as when they cause people to hit them in their rear-end, after pulling out wrongly. Then the other person can get stumped for insurance costs. The bad drivers might even be able to drive off, without injury to their own vehicles or themselves, leaving other people to pickup the pieces, and costs, damaged and lost lives afterwards.

Good luck! Rob

Answer 7

I think as you get older you are more likely to be a better driver, than a worse one, i have been driving now for a good number of years,and i would willingly take my test again but i actually think that the test should be retaken one after a bad accident were someone has been killed, as sometime the nerves go, which would make for bad driving also when a person hit the age of seventy, and a bad driving offence, i personally feel that if a person is catch driving recklessly the licence should automatically be taken away and a retest done before they can drive again, it would make for less accidents on the road.

Answer 8

I believe that everyone should who drives should be made to retake their driving test at set times. i don't know how often, thats not my decision.
Why do I say this? because after driving for a while (once the test is passed and assuming a test was taken and passed) almost everyone developes faults.
Whether it is failing to indicate EVERY time they are to turn, being very pushy in traffic, skipping a red light, speeding 'because you have to go with the flow of traffic'. Using a mobile whilst driving and going into the back of me.

These are just a few among many I could name.

My ex's grandad was in his 90's, blind in one eye and had very poor vision in the remaining eye, yet he still drove despite warnings.

I unfortunately know of people who have driven with no MOT and NO licence.

This morning whilst crossing the road in Greenwich (near the old hospital site and if you know Greenwich, you know that the traffic is absolutely horrendous!) I and a work colleague waited until the lights had gone red before we started to cross.

As we reached halfway across the road an elderly looking man and what may have been his wife almost run us down. He stopped only just in time. I pointed out the red light and he just sat their opened mouth.

Was he in such a hurry that he wasn't looking at the lights? or was he simply not concentrating?

This is not a gripe against old people, though I confess its them I see making the most mistakes.
So, my answer is YES, you should be made to retake your test when you get older at least once.

Answer 9

Age and reaction times are not the main cause of accidents,as many of the answers have pointed out the majority of accidents are caused by drivers under the age of 30.
I think the minimum age for drivers should be raised to 21, and then drivers ought to show a P plate for the next 2 years.As to age well I think the present system is adequate ,it would be logistically impossible to retest all the drivers on a regular basis and after all being under the age of 50 doesn't necessarily mean you are a better driver than someone older..

Answer 10

Hi Fran,
I see your point, but.
I am now 51, and am racing a vintage Morgan around Silverstone this year.
Heck, public road driving is a doddle in comparison, so I would be somewhat miffed if asked to take another test.
I would think that having learned to drive on an old runway at the age of 13, never caused an accident, am au fait with the rules of the road, health & vision fine, it would be a demeaning insult to show that I am still better than some of the complete twits that I encounter.
My Mum is 78, and drives with care & safety, although she does not like reversing.
I suppose that if your GP or Optician has concerns, then of course a general assessment should be conducted as to driving capabilities, but to make it compulsory at a given age would be yet another symtom of a "nanny state".
I shall drive until I consider that I may be starting to make the odd wrong error of judgement.
Meanwhile, I would suggest re-testing folks in their twenties, as that seems to be the problem area.
Bob

Answer 11

I certainly think you should be retested but I don't know how you could pick an age. Unfortunately as you get older things like reflex actions become much slower and your reactions in general change. I think the longer you have been driving the more likely you are to pick up bad habits so if you failed a test after say 25 years behind the wheel that just proves you shouldn't be on the road, but then again neither should a lot of 'younger' drivers who do their utmost to annoy quiet estates in their boy racer cars! Sorry to all of you careful drivers out there.