How old is too old to drive?

**Motu** · 16th June 2009, 23:31

Originally Posted by Jantar

based on reaction times and current ability.

Current muffins don't stand a chance when I'm around.Huh! Bring on the test,I'm done with practising - lay those current buns out and watch em go!

**Ixion** · 16th June 2009, 23:35

Originally Posted by TOTO

smart solution, yea thats right. women should stay home and be slaves. dont know why we bodder with all that equality thingy ... but seriously, arent we supposed to be of equal skill behind the wheel ?

No. Younger drivers (< 25) are less skilled than older ones. Cos their brains are still in nappies. Insurance statistics bear this out. They crash all the time

So, since young drivers are no good, they should not be allowed to have licences until they have sufficient experience to be less crash prone. 'Cept of course, they can't get experience, cos of not having a licence , cos of being inexperienced. Sucks to be youff.

**EJK** · 17th June 2009, 00:09

Is there an age limit for be-tazered too?

**Beemer** · 17th June 2009, 10:06

Originally Posted by Ixion

Meh. i know of a chick who did exactly the same thing, and she was under 30.

It's not cos they're old, it's cos they're women.

Solution is to ban automatic gearboxes, invention of the devil, and forbid women to drive. Shariah law FTW.

Guy in his 30s in Palmerston North did the same thing and the elderly woman he hit ended up losing both legs below the knee - and died not long after. Her husband was seriously injured too - so it's not just old people and women who do stupid things.

The sad thing is that many people don't realise they are no longer capable of driving safely. And when they do stop, they lose their independence so they are not keen to do so until their hand is forced.

**Lissa** · 17th June 2009, 10:21

Not sure if age or sex has anything to do with being a bad driver but I do know that two older (over 60) men have backed into my car in the past

My nana is 90 and is still driving, but she knows her limits and only drives around town to get her groceries and go to her clubs, I know that if she lost her licence it would be devastating to lose her independence and have to rely on other people would not sit well with her. As long as she keeps passing her tests and stays healthy in mind and body I dont see why she cant still be driving for years to come.

**Robbo** · 17th June 2009, 10:29

It's all to do with a persons ability to drive safely and correctly regardless of their actual age. There are far more younger drivers out there who make horrendous mistakes with far worse consequences.
Maybe introduce compulsary driver training and competancy courses every five years up untill a certain age and then yearly after that as a part of keeping your licence valid.
It just may help to improve the standard of driving on our roads and give better overall results than concentrating on the speeding issue.

**magicfairy** · 17th June 2009, 10:53

AFAIK, people over 80 used to have to do a driving test every couple of years. But that was scrapped due to age discrimination. This was changed in December 2006, now they only need to get medical certificates every few years.

I wonder if there are any figures on increased accidents caused by the eldery since this changed, they do seem to be over represented in these sorts of accidents.

**allycatz** · 17th June 2009, 11:57

Many of the elderly are ticking time bombs not because of skills but heart attacks/strokes waiting to happen. They swallow pills and use sprays for angina etc then get in their car....I used to shudder at some of people I did home visits for. If you are epileptic you can't drive till meds stabilised but these old farts don't listen. My 90 year old uncle drove, couldn't get his licence back and argued he had every right cos he fought for the country.

**xwhatsit** · 17th June 2009, 11:58

Surely this has something to do with the strange car-driving mantra of `one foot at a time.' Brake and clutch with left foot, accelerator with right. Then you don't get into trouble.

**Ixion** · 17th June 2009, 13:16

Ban automatics. Problem solved. They won't lurch forward if a foot is accidentally placed on the accelerator (at worst a bunny hop and stall).

Nobody needs an automatic transmission. And anyone who can't manage a manual gearbox shouldn't be driving anyway. And automatics are the spawn of the devil. So banning them would be God's work.

Applies to scrotahs too.

See. Easy

Fo0r my next project. ban synchromesh from gearboxs. That will really sort out the drivers form the wheel wagglers. Motorbikes don't need it, why should cars. Crash boxes FTW.