Indicators - what are they for ????

[jay-ell71]

I just wonder, if, when some of these "younger" drivers reach the age of 70, they will see themselves as too old to drive. I very much doubt it.

[GillD46]

Probably not at 70 no, but at 90?

[jay-ell71]

Hi Gill, Agreed, 90 is probably too late to drive, but the majority of this discussion is about those in their 70s. Since it looks as if in the not too future, many people will still be working when they are 70+, I think they will be driving too, if only to get to their place of employment.

[GillD46]

I agree 70 is fine. I do think by 80 or 85 a further reflex test should be mandatory.

[Stephen]

I agree 70 is fine. I do think by 80 or 85 a further reflex test should be mandatory.

.....with electric probes

[Dancing Queen]

So ... knowing the danger why didn't you park on the other side of the main road, thus enabling you to alight safely on the footpath

Fair point Moby but then I would still have had to cross a busy main road to get to where I wanted to be and the 'idiots' still wouldn't have had their lights on

Of course had push come to shove I could always have climbed over into the passenger side but being a 'bit of an oldie' decided that might not be a good move

[Dancing Queen]

I just wonder, if, when some of these "younger" drivers reach the age of 70, they will see themselves as too old to drive. I very much doubt it.

You have said exactly what I have been thinking Jay

[Delboy]

DK you may be interested in the following, issued by the Institute Of Advanced Motorists (IAM)

Lower injury rates
The IAM also analysed the rates of death and serious injury in road accidents according to age group.

In 2010 – the most recent year for which statistics are available – the average rate of drivers killed or seriously injured (KSI) on the roads across all age groups was 0.18 for every 1,000 licence holders.

The highest risk group was drivers aged between 17 and 19 with a KSI rate of 0.98 per 1,000.

Motorists aged between 20 and 24 had a rate of 0.45 per thousand, while the KSI rate for the over 80s was 0.33 per thousand.

The safest age group was drivers in their sixties, who had a typical KSI rate of 0.09 per 1,000 licence holders.

Insurance costs by age
It is no surprise that these differences are reflected very clearly in car insurance premiums paid by drivers in different age groups.

The risk of a customer being involved in a collision is one of the most important factors considered by insurers when they come to set prices.

And because there are such clear differences in accident rates between age groups, age – as well as gender – has a huge bearing on the cost of cover.

The national average cost of a comprehensive policy rose by just under 5 per cent last year to reach £844, according to the latest Confused.com car insurance price index.

Young drivers, higher premiums
But for young drivers aged between 17 and 20, the average policy costs more than three times as much at £2,590.

Those between 21 and 25 now pay a typical £1,474 a year. But over-50s car insurance is much less costly.

For motorists aged 71 or above, the average annual cost of car insurance is £451 - the cheapest rate of any age group.

Drivers aged between 66 and 70 also pay £451 a year, while those aged 61 to 65 pay slightly more at £460 a year.

[Delboy]

They also found

The IAM – motto "driving road safety" – said that the eight per cent of UK drivers aged over 70 were involved in just four per cent of all injury accidents. Of the 15 per cent of drivers in their teens and 20s, however, 34 per cent were involved...

More damning yet – for those who don't know their double-declutch from a starting handle – was research proving that older drivers are less likely to get into trouble because they adopt a "more careful and restrained driving style".

With research indicating that the number of male drivers over 70 will double during the next 20 years – while female driver numbers treble – the age debate has become something of a pressing issue.
Drivers over 70 are safer on bends (and at overtaking) than 50-year-olds, according to the IAM research, but more at risk at junctions, slip roads and roundabouts.

And while 70-year-olds might seem safe enough now, what happens as the inevitable effects of age quickly begin to catch up? Drivers over 85 were found to be four times likelier to have caused a crash than to have been an innocent victim, with accidents in which older women are to blame peaking five years earlier than those for older men.

[Andrea S]

At a certain age it isn't the Birthday number that counts but how "old" that person is.

My OH is 74 and has spent much of working life a as a HGV1 / PSV driver plus 30 years as a taxi driver. In all the mileage he has done he has had no points on his license and never had to make any insurance claims. The only accident he ever had was a head on collision on a one way system with someone driving the wrong way who was being followed by the police.

It can be murder sitting next to him ranting on about bad drivers but it is all the things that people have mentioned that wind him up.

Bad signalling, people on the phone, people who don't realise that bus lanes are for certain times of the day and don't use them but expect to just push in front of you at a junction, driving with no lights on , cars parked facing on coming traffic with headlights on, people driving 20mph in a 30 plus zone but mostly the idiots that fly by when you are in a 20mph zone.

He knew when he had done enough driving for a living but now the same idiots annoy him in his day to day driving.

As a taxi driver he had annual medicals which I do think should be a must for people over a certain age. Eyesight being a primary case.

[Not so ancient mariner]

Insurance premiums are calculated using not only the probability of having an accident, but also the likely cost to the insurers resulting from any such event.

Statistics show that young drivers -largely due to inexperience - are not only more likely to have accidents, but (especially male ones) also tend to drive faster, so the accidents they have are likely to be more serious, and therefore cost more in repair/medical/compensation bills etc.

Of course there also those (of any age) that just drive around seemingly oblivious of all other road users, and leaving chaos in their wake. We've all encountered them: - The ones who have never had an accident - but have seen plenty (usually in their rear view mirror)!

[Silver_Shiney]

So ... knowing the danger why didn't you park on the other side of the main road, thus enabling you to alight safely on the footpath

I got my first parking ticket for doing that - you are required to park with the near-side to the pavement.

[Frank Manning]

Huh! We were over (under) taken by a taxi in a bus lane last night. I was already doing spot on 30mph, and he went past me on the inside, like a bat out of hell! One law for us, and another for taxis.

[colwill]

Huh! We were over (under) taken by a taxi in a bus lane last night. I was already doing spot on 30mph, and he went past me on the inside, like a bat out of hell! One law for us, and another for taxis.

Where I live, taxis are permitted in bus lanes; it's also legal to "undertake". However, I don't condone going like a bat out of hell.

[Manoverboard]

So ... knowing the danger why didn't you park on the other side of the main road, thus enabling you to alight safely on the footpath

I got my first parking ticket for doing that - you are required to park with the near-side to the pavement.

Not in Darzet you b'aint

But in reality that isn't enforced anymore bar ' red zones ' and such like ... is it ?

[Quizzical Bob]

I got my first parking ticket for doing that - you are required to park with the near-side to the pavement.

In New Zealand, perhaps, but not in the UK. After lighting-up time you should use parking lights if parked on the 'wrong' side but this is rarely enforced.

[Silver_Shiney]

I got my first parking ticket for doing that - you are required to park with the near-side to the pavement.

In New Zealand, perhaps, but not in the UK. After lighting-up time you should use parking lights if parked on the 'wrong' side but this is rarely enforced.

This was in 1978 at Leighton Buzzard. I suppose it's too late to go back to Her Majesty's finest to ask for a refund?

[Frank Manning]

Was it my step father in law SS? He was an Inspector in the 'specials' in Leighton Buzzard.

[Silver_Shiney]

Was it my step father in law SS? He was an Inspector in the 'specials' in Leighton Buzzard.

Doubt it, Frank, the RAF Police told me it was two plods out on patrol.

[Stephen]

OK, hands up who went out in their car today. Now put you hands up if you had your headlights on.

The weather here today was and still is dreadful (pi**ing down) but it still amazes me how many drivers were still out and about without any lights on at all, let alone head lights. And when you flash them to jog their half a brain cell, 'Forrest Gump' still doesn't grasp the reason why. Don't they realise they are in control of what is effectively a weapon that can kill in an instant. As responsible drivers they should be making themselves as visible as possible in conditions such as todays, but it is obviously too much of an effort to move that switch. Either that or they're trying to eek out the life of the bulbs. Try using that excuse when you've got someone's death on your conscience for the rest of your life!

[jay-ell71]

In answer to your question Stephen.... Yes and Yes. My lights come on automatically when the light level is (not very) low. My car tells me if I am too close to the car in front. It reminds me to take my phone, which is in my handbag. It tells me to check it is safe to move. It beeps at me when I am parking. (My friend's car parks itself. ) I barely have to think at all!!! Soon we will not have to "drive" our cars and then it won't matter how old we are.

[GillD46]

The Highway code says you MUST NOT park facing the opposite way to traffic at night, unless in a designated parking space, and parking lights must be lit, if the road speed limit exceeds 30mph. We got fined for parking the wrong way at night and without lights a few yeas ago.

[Frank Manning]

My car parks itself. Only once; at the dealer's demo. I haven't trusted it since. It has what seems a common problem with indicators in that they sometimes cancel themselves early.. can be a pain.

[Delboy]

Lewis Hamilton, driver of the day, as shown on his timeline phones.

[Dark Knight]

Dellboy
I looked at you posts, thanks
I found the same research as well
the point being that we all know yoofs drive like muppets and the statistics bear that out
but a person who is 70 plus could have took their test 50 years ago and they still believe that they are as good now as then
which to anyone with a brain cell is preposterous, as with any debate that has an ageist slant ,the regular oldies come out and defend their position based on nothing more than the fact they cannot accept they are old and their faculties have diminished over time
so we hear more and more outlandish reasoning to defend the indefensible
so to me ,testing of people over 70 should be a requirement every 5 years or so, as should eye tests as well
now I know many on here will go off on one again and try to prove they are immortal but the reality is I bet quite a few of these people wouldn't pass the theory test today, let alone the rest
so whilst I can accept some people such as Frank, can and do regularly check their skills, the vast majority don't and refuse to accept that their skills are not what they once were

and to answer the others, yes ,when I am no longer fit to drive, I will have the good sense and honesty to stop driving, I bet the same cannot be said for you, as proven by some of the answers here