Over 80's

**Lou Girardin** · 13th April 2005, 08:20

It appears the Gummint is promising to do away with driver testing the elderly.
Now when they introduced this in '99, they said the elderly's fatality rate was second only to young males. Now they say that they are safe after all.
There are three possibilties in this; they lied to us in '99, they're lying to us now or, most likely, the LTNZ doesn't have a f*@kin' clue what they're doing.
Having survived a few near death experiences while testing oldies, including a very near miss with a fully laden B train, I'm far from convinced that they don't need to be tested. But hey, they have a lot of votes.

**dveus** · 13th April 2005, 08:51

Originally Posted by Lou Girardin

But hey, they have a lot of votes.

Thats exactly it. Not what is good for the country but what will keep them in charge of the purse strings.

**ajturbo** · 13th April 2005, 09:34

funny thing ..... the ONLY people i have crashed into are OLD people...ie 70+....

but as i'm a youngin (42) that is why i crash

i have crashed into 3 people.....2 have been bumper scraches.. only one write off.....

**bear** · 13th April 2005, 09:36

They use the information that best suits their needs I guess, just like anyone (don't agree though). They plan to rely on medical reports to tell when it's time to call it a day.

I have concerns about getting rid of this testing, older people may keep driving when they may be aware they shouldn't as it would be admitting degeneration and a loss of dependence.

Surely testing in the actual environment is a better gauge whether someone is capable or not, instead of relying on a doctor's report.

**GNR** · 13th April 2005, 18:51

some older people can drive fine, but others of the same age are terrible,

weve all seen it, some old granny sittin on 60km/h in a 100km/h zone, some old people are are death hazard on the road, while others are fine

**bear** · 14th April 2005, 08:16

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?...ectID=10120323

Some good feedback from doctors here, including details of what the current medical check covers.

**ManDownUnder** · 14th April 2005, 08:20

Originally Posted by dveus

Thats exactly it. Not what is good for the country but what will keep them in charge of the purse strings.

tsk tsk tsk... next you'll be saying they'll do ANYTHING to stay in power.

... I dunno - some people are so cynical. You can trust Politicians - just ask Winston!

MDU