Old people will, for the most part not have photocards, so the 10 year expiry thing is irrelevant. The licences do expire at 70 and I'm fairly sure there's a medical you have to do to get it renewed, though it's pretty simple.
Agree with the posts that there are bad drivers of all ages. I've often said that the difference between an old driver and a teenager driving is that both will pull out in front of you without looking, but the teenager will be going twice as fast and then floor it out of your way wheras the old person will continue to wind you up as they plod along at 40mph.
The problem is that the young driver will get better over the years as they build up experience and calm down a bit, the old driver (who has reached that state) is only going to get progressively worse, and that simple fact is why it's worth looking at targeting old drivers.
The reason old drivers pay less insurance is the same reason that women pay less insurance, it's not because they are necessarily safer, it's because statistically they do less miles and cost less money when they have an accident.
Personally I'd favour a test where they just give you a set destination (or even a choice of destinations) and follow you on a motorbike or in a car, if you can get to where you're going without doing anything obviously stupid or illegal then you pass. No need for examiners to ride with you or anything intrusive like that.
The beauty of this kind of test is that something very similar could be administered at any time by an unmarked copper who could then pull you over if they thought you were dangerous. If only we had some real police on the roads then there wouldn't be any need for compulsory re-tests of old people.
Oh yeah, obligatory old person anecdote:
Heading down the A5 many years back, it's a dual carriageway section that goes downhill, then uphill again, and at the bottom there is a minor road joins from the left. Stupid codger not only pulls in front of us without looking, he's turning right, so waits across both lanes for a gap in the heavy flow of traffic that's coming the other way. Had to go around the back of him using the mouth of the major road to avoid a crash.
I was at South Mimms services over the weekend waiting in the car whilst Mrs Skidd had a wee. Saw this old lady reversing out of a parking space - she stalled it no less than 9 times - getting more and more desperate as the traffic built up.
