Reminds me of the accident in Stratford upon Avon a few years ago, when a car crashed into Costa. Nobody killed there thankfully, but several people were seriously injured, and they wanted to let the driver off (he was a magistrate...)
Car crashes into a costa coffee in Westerham, Kent
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I guess his point was that on average young drivers are some of the most dangerous around with regard to accidents and fatalities but you don't hear people calling for a blanket ban on them driving.
Frightening to think that one minute you're having a coffee or whatever and then next you're dead due to an out of control vehicle. A little boy near where I live was mowed down the other year and they still haven't caught the driver. I pass the place where he died most days and there's still flowers and photo's of him placed there. Very sad. Life is fickle.
Caporegime
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I heard a thud when his head hit the door frame, all three sides at the same time
Oh I thought that was the forums average IQ plummeting on his return.
I agree that more testing, be it medical or competency based, needs to occur once drivers reach a certain age.
Problem is you could have a perfectly competent older driver who then has a sudden medical 'event' when driving (e.g. heart attack, stroke etc), which may have been what happened here. Not easy to test for that.
Everyone has to start somewhere, you become a good driver after lots and lots of practise. You cant ban young drivers, but you can test them and hope for the best. I think the same should apply to 70+ drivers. A test, inc eyesight and then permaban if they fail.
Man of Honour
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Terrible. I remember looking at the road accident stats when living in Exeter - most of the fatalities on the 30 roads were old people dying of heart attacks (and occasionally taking out other people with them).
Do we know what happened with the bus that crashed yet? People are all in such a hurry on Christmas Eve, I wonder how many other accidents there were on the roads.
Do we know what happened with the bus that crashed yet? People are all in such a hurry on Christmas Eve, I wonder how many other accidents there were on the roads.
he's apparently 88 years old... it is very unlikely indeed he's perfectly competent, I'd be skeptical that he'd be able to pass the emergency stop part of a driving test for example
driving a powerful car when your reactions, your eyesight and your general health will have inevitably deteriorated is dangerous... just as driving after a few beers is dangerous
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that is a separate issue though, just because some other group is accident prone doesn't negate the issue with the group being discussed
the big issue with young drivers isn't so much down to lack of ability to react etc.. but that some sub groups are quite deliberately reckless - boy racers etc...
bringing in further rules like not driving at night with other young people, not being allowed on motorways for the first year or even a second advanced test a year after passing the first covering motorway driving etc.. could be introduced there.
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Man of Honour
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My neighbour used to drive his smart car aged 95. Only about 20 meters down the road and probably more slowly than walking speed. Crazy that there is no cut off age. It is a complex issue though. Plenty of younger people shouldn't be on the road either.
My Granddad had his license taken at age 86 after reversing into a car with an elderly woman inside. He managed to reverse up and on top of the car leaving the woman terrified. She was fine though and we all had a chortle at his expense but needless to say I think licenses should be revoked at 80.
I wasn't specifically referring to this driver, just older drivers in general. But I do agree older drivers need retesting one way or another to make sure they are competent.
We don't know yet whether in this case it was the older drivers competence, a sudden medical issue or something else entirely.
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Seems a bit random
. Why 5? Would put a massive strain on the system testing everyone every 5 years. The way it is now works. Accidents will always happen. Forcing people to retest won't stop that.
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My drink addled mind suggests that common sense would dictate that at a certain "age" (whatever that may be) individuals are retested more frequently. Faculties’ are lost seemingly from 50 onwards unfortunately 
(I'm less than 10 years out myself.)
(I'm less than 10 years out myself.)100% agreed something needs to be done about this its awful.
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Physical sure, but the hubris and cockiness of a lot of young people thinking they're indestructible and better at things is surprisingly high.
Even at that age I saw it was apparent with people around me but most grow out of it. (anecdotally)
Obviously it goes without saying for most of us but all age groups have their issues.