GRANNYS!

[energy]

You know, after reading just a few posts I find some peoples attitude reather disgusting... Everyone has the right to use the road, Old people may have slower reactions but its the fact that they deserve to get around as much as us, as someone like 9761 who is a learner driver, for someone whos only been behind the wheel a matter of weeks, you need to learn a bit more patience mate.

Remember they have passed their test, so they are allowed to drive m8

The difference with a learner driver is that he or she wil improve over time (hopefuly)

Old people have deteriorated and will likely continue to do so...

The way I see it, I'm not allowed to slosh down a couple of pints and get behind the wheel, even though the result is slow reaction times (were talking about a couple of pints, not drinking enough to be drunk or for the effects to be noticeable to the drinker). Neither am I allowed to have a spoon of Ponstan cough syrup. So why should other circumstances such as lack of awareness or be different, regardless of what causes them?

I might get flamed for this but the worst driving I've seen was by a heavily disabled driver. I remember it was the first time I had bought a car, drove it straight to the petrol station to fill up. As I'm about to pay, I hear this moaning/whining noise so I look around to the car nearby to see the driver gesticulating and trying to speak - he looked like he was mentally handicapped.

Eventually I figured out he wanted me to put £20 of diesel into his Astra and so I did, went in, paid for it, handed him the change. All along I was thinking to myself if someone so heavily disabled that couldn't speak or get out of his car easily, and whose facial expressions and hand movements showed a severe disorder should be driving. Sure enough, there were hand controls on the wheel and a large disabled badge on the tailgate as he drove off onto the North Circular into the path of a Sprinter van who braked so hard to avoid him that the rear wheels were virtually in the air!

Now the fact that he was heavily disabled may be completely unrelated to what he did but he did seem just a bit too disabled to be driving IMO.

 

[Morba]

The old lady across from me was recently widowed, she passed her test 30+ years ago.
She never had to drive while her husband was alive, so her driving skills were naturally very low.
She bought a car (micra auto i think) and booked lessons because she felt it was the correct thing to be doing.

I say well done to her.

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In a job, you have to progress or show signs of a consistent standad of work. If this standard drops, it would be noticed quickly and either sorted or you would be out of a job.
The same should apply to driving, standards should never drop, but if they do then it should be picked up on and dealt with. If your standard is too low then you shouldnt have a license until you can show that you drive to the correct standard.
Unfortunately the current testing system shows that you can drive to a simple standard over a pre thoughtout course in a single period of less than an hour.
1 hour to give you a license to drive for the rest of your life (disablity and law breaking aside).