Doctors and Very Old Drivers

[Tassie f100]

A group of people I associate with are all “old”,ages vary from mid 60s to mid 70s. whilst I don’t suggest we are excellent drivers I consider we are all still quite competent,with 1 minor crash within the group of 10 in the last 10 years.

[MercuryT]

Geez I've been flamed here!

In my experience older drivers are more dangerous than younger. Just my experience once again.

And as for parents I'd have no issue taking their licences off them if I thought a danger to others- just as I would a youngster if dangerous.

As for the "chasing down" comments, poor choice of wording. I didn't speed rather followed him and I didn't abuse him at all so that is simply inaccurate.

I wanted to advise him of his very dangerous driving. And yes I reported him to the Police who said would follow up.

[MercuryT]

Originally Posted by 71cop

Madness is chasing people and pulling them over, it's normally only police that do that or did you have something else planned ? the type of incident you describe is not uncommon when it comes to roundabout use in Australia, but to do what you did is something else imo.

Completely wrong on every front.

Something else planned? Wow.

Plus I've driven that same road a million times and never seen a car do it as it's blatantly illegal and dangerous so it's hardly "common"- utter bull****.

Looks pretty bloody straightforward to me............

[Cav]

Originally Posted by Tassie f100

A group of people I associate with are all “old”,ages vary from mid 60s to mid 70s. whilst I don’t suggest we are excellent drivers I consider we are all still quite competent,with 1 minor crash within the group of 10 in the last 10 years.

That used to be old once, but when you get to that stage you realise ya not old.

But then again I am just a delusional GOOD LOOKIN" old fart.

[tbro4123]

One of our business is based in one of "Gods waiting rooms"

So being here we get to see some rather bizarre driving and some of it is by older drivers.

Sure we have seen so funny stuff but as the island becomes more populated you tend to notice the slower & more careful drivers who usually are elderly. the majority seem to know the road rules better than the young ones mainly at roundabouts.

The ones who worry me are the older drivers who just seem to drive in a haze and don't seem to be aware of what's happening around them, but our local boys and girls in blue keep an eye on them and do license blitz every so often.

We've had one serious accident that involved an elderly driver who hit a school bus head on after an episode while at the wheel, unfortunately for him his license had been cancelled due to a medical condition.


Thankfully our driver saw him weaving across the road and decided to stop the bus in the middle of the road where the accident occurred, so no kids were injured.






So if someone is medically fit why would you say they shouldn't drive?

BTW did you know that the majority of school bus drivers are retired and drive to make extra money and get out of the house?


Terry aka Tbro

[MercuryT]

Originally Posted by LG17

Take the blinkers off..

Luckily I saw the 80yo decide to turn right with no indicator from the wrong lane otherwise I'd have crashed.

My blinkers being off saved the accident yet he didn't even understand what he did. I'll look forward to Police call after their assessment on driver.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by MercuryT

Completely wrong on every front.

Something else planned? Wow.

Plus I've driven that same road a million times and never seen a car do it as it's blatantly illegal and dangerous so it's hardly "common"- utter bull****.

Looks pretty bloody straightforward to me............

image

Ah yes the mighty roundabout - check out Melbourne's Haymarket Roundabout

https://www.theage.com.au/national/v...16-gxxtbj.html

4 points of entry and 3 tram stops within the roundabout, now it has traffic lights though so there's no more Russian roulette roundabout shenanigans

The most terrifying roundabout I've come across is Adelaide has this weird roundabout feeding into another roundabout thing going on somewhere when coming in from its South side.

[MercuryT]

I think the Arc de Triumph roundabout has us covered Franko!

But yes. Complicated examples make it much more difficult.....

Ours here is simple as. The driver was a complete idiot and should not be driving yet somehow Ford people turn it on me........amazing.

[Itsme]

Originally Posted by MercuryT

Geez I've been flamed here!

In my experience older drivers are more dangerous than younger. Just my experience once again.

And as for parents I'd have no issue taking their licences off them if I thought a danger to others- just as I would a youngster if dangerous.

As for the "chasing down" comments, poor choice of wording. I didn't speed rather followed him and I didn't abuse him at all so that is simply inaccurate.

I wanted to advise him of his very dangerous driving. And yes I reported him to the Police who said would follow up.

Well I hope you chase down every other person who ****s up going through roundabouts because through my experience I see this daily from dimwits young to old..... and you wonder why you were flamed!

[MercuryT]

Originally Posted by Officemanager

Well I hope you chase down every other person who ****s up going through roundabouts because through my experience I see this daily from dimwits young to old..... and you wonder why you were flamed!

Settle down.

Maybe you are old too but it's unacceptable to road risk safety "as old" so it's ok to cause an accident so special rules apply.

I await the Police reply.

I'd hope his license immediately removed.

[MercuryT]

Originally Posted by Officemanager

Well I hope you chase down every other person who ****s up going through roundabouts because through my experience I see this daily from dimwits young to old..... and you wonder why you were flamed!

Daily hey? Really?

You must live in a completely **** area then. Cabramatta suits.

Not surprised.

[Itsme]

Originally Posted by MercuryT

Daily hey? Really?

You must live in a completely **** area then. Cabramatta suits.

Not surprised.

All I can say live on the mainland then you might understand some of the posts that get posted here.

[LG17]

Originally Posted by MercuryT

Settle down.

Maybe you are old too but it's unacceptable to road risk safety "as old" so it's ok to cause an accident so special rules apply.

I await the Police reply.

I'd hope his license immediately removed.

Drivers all over Australia break road rules every day. I'm sure turning right from the wrong lane isn't one of the offences that warrants immediate licence suspension...


I also hope you have never been fined for an infringement.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by MercuryT

I think the Arc de Triumph roundabout has us covered Franko!

But yes. Complicated examples make it much more difficult.....

Ours here is simple as. The driver was a complete idiot and should not be driving yet somehow Ford people turn it on me........amazing.

Oldies, police and Thailand Specials are protected species here

[Fed]

Don't be fooled by the way old drivers act, we do it on purpose to keep yas scared.
I only found out recently that you only have to give way to people already on a roundabout where I've been treating them more like an intersection. I reckon I can get plenty of road rage by enforcing my new found roundabout power.

[Tassie f100]

Originally Posted by Fed

Don't be fooled by the way old drivers act, we do it on purpose to keep yas scared.
I only found out recently that you only have to give way to people already on a roundabout where I've been treating them more like an intersection. I reckon I can get plenty of road rage by enforcing my new found roundabout power.

Yeah I reckon a big percentage of drivers think that the give way to the right is the rule, whereas it states in all the road rules that you must give way to any vehicle already in the roundabout

[MercuryT]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

Oldies, police and Thailand Specials are protected species here

Apparently so!

How people can misinterpret and/or twist facts completely is quite astonishing......

[MercuryT]

Originally Posted by LG17

Drivers all over Australia break road rules every day. I'm sure turning right from the wrong lane isn't one of the offences that warrants immediate licence suspension...


I also hope you have never been fined for an infringement.

No. I'm perfect.

Yes I hope his license is removed. No sympathy from me if risking the lives of others on the road due to incapacity.

If he kills a young family in future due to not knowing basic road rules I wonder if people would also be so sympathetic.

[pottery beige]

Originally Posted by MercuryT

I think the Arc de Triumph roundabout has us covered Franko!

But yes. Complicated examples make it much more difficult.....

Ours here is simple as. The driver was a complete idiot and should not be driving yet somehow Ford people turn it on me........amazing.

huh..?

nice victim card

victim card mcboofhead

[MercuryT]

Originally Posted by pottery beige

huh..?

nice victim card

victim card mcboofhead

Sorry what?

[pottery beige]

Originally Posted by MercuryT

Sorry what?

make it your sig

have you heard back from the police yet m8??

[MercuryT]

Originally Posted by pottery beige

make it your sig

have you heard back from the police yet m8??

No thanks.

Not yet. Probably far too busy dealing with types like you.

I'm sure will hear soon.

[M&Ms]

Oldies out in force today.

Old lady in a brown AU Falcon cruising the right lane at 50 in a 60, dabbing the brakes every 2 seconds.

Old couple in a silver Corolla cut across 2 lanes to go straight through a roundabout, but they indicated left while coming out the other end, they must be well versed with some of the road rules at least.

2 separate occasions, same stories, again oldies, driving the left lane. I was behind but in the right lane to turn off up ahead, keeping distance to allow them to come across my lane... Parked cars 150m up the road, they drive on and on and on, and coming to a complete stop just behind the parked cars, THEN indicate, then move across and carry on. Must be focused on that dam speedometer, forget about keeping the flow!

This was all in about 20km of driving!!!

[MercuryT]

Surprised took 20KMs......

[Rallye Sport]

Noticed the youngens' out today aswell.
First one had a crazed look in his eye, going way too fast, crossed the white line into my lane on a roundabout. Boy I was rattled, could have killed me.
Another with his hat on backwards sneered at me whilst waiting at a traffic light then proceeded to rev his engine, rolling forward at the same time scaring me even more. What if he'd crossed the white line aswell?

Give the oldies a break. Some of the commentary in this thread is pretty amusing. Thanks for the laugh guys

[MercuryT]

Originally Posted by M&Ms

Old couple in a silver Corolla cut across 2 lanes to go straight through a roundabout, but they indicated left while coming out the other end, they must be well versed with some of the road rules at least.

Be careful discussing roundabouts.

Touchy subject.

Been there, surely it was your fault........

[Express]

I've just turned 60 and off to the doctors I went to have a medical check up and it was the first time I'd seen a doctor for any reason in more than 20 years and he said, 'better late than never'.

I have always felt healthy but the tests showed I have type 2 Diabetes which meant off for a series of tests to check for the many health issues that are closely related to Diabetes and I was surprised at the results and how good a condition my body was in and in particular my eyes and the blood flow to them and that the blood speed through my veins to my feet is similar to that of an 18 year old.

My point, not all people age the same and apart from the Diabetes I'm luckier than many. Because of my age I know many people that fall into the 60 to 80 range and of those that no longer drive most of them have made their own decision to cease, it wasn't forced on them.

A close family friend who recently turned 80 decided to handed in his licence because he felt his eyesight at times was a bit too blurry even though he'd passed the eyesight test. Up until handing it in he was still driving on 600 to 700 kilometre trips with his wife. I asked him why not stop driving but still keep your licence in case you need it in an emergency and he simply said if he kept it it may be a temptation and he'd rather make a clean break. Fair enough, not a decision I'd make but fair enough.

I do believe a lot of older people are not completely selfish and do assess themselves honestly when it comes to their driving ability and most of the ones I know that still drive are doing a good job at it with a few exceptions. One I know who shouldn't be on the road has been a poor driver when it comes to judging distance and coordination since he starting driving as a teenager and has never gotten any better at it.

I've been involved in 4 car accidents since I started driving at 17 and two have been in more recent years when a 21 year old female rear ended me while I was stopped at a traffic light and a 32 year old male rear ended me in a school zone while I was stopped in traffic, both were texting on their phones at the time. The other 2 accidents were completely my fault where I left the road due to high speed and both occurred while I was still in my teens.

The way I see it when you target an age group as being a poor driving demographic you are drawing a line in the sand because of what we think we see or want to see or because a particular statistic is worse for one age than another but none of it really touches on or solves the overall problem of poor drivers on the road.

Not everyone should be tarred with the same brush just because they fall into a particular age group.

A better solution with age related driving issues is to provide improved testing procedures whether it be for medical conditions and cognitive skills affecting older drivers or even young driver's who after 5 or 10 years still haven't been able to prove they have the skill nor the maturity to be allowed on the roads.

What do I think of my driving ability now I'm 60, I know I don't have the reflexes I had at 20, I fatigue quicker on long journeys and need more toilet breaks, I stopped feeling indestructible years ago and drive with more caution because of it, I leave bigger gaps between myself and vehicles in front, I'm less prone to being annoyed with other drivers, I still enjoy some intense acceleration when away from traffic, I still love to feel the turn-in of a nicely tuned suspension in a tight bend but I don't push as hard as I once did, I'm very aware of the safety of my passengers and anyone with half a brain who has had children should understand the importance of that and drive to keep them safe, I've seen enough bad and discourteous drivers to know something can happen that is out of my control and to be prepared, I'm aware if I am the reason for disrupting traffic flow it's a good idea to pull over and let the faster drivers go by, if I'm not trying to win the race I'm not stupid enough that I can't understand to keep left on a multilane highway and I just don't want to kill or maim anyone or myself as I now know life is much shorter and time travels much quicker than I realised at 30.




.

[MercuryT]

Brilliant post Express. Very interesting read.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Express

I'm aware if I am the reason for disrupting traffic flow it's a good idea to pull over and let the faster drivers go by,

Too bad 99% of the people I come across the road on a daily basis don't think like this - we've got roadworks on our highway into Melbourne at the moment, which ends up bunching up a lot of traffic.

So theres maybe 15-20 of us at the light at roadworks waiting on the light to go green, it finally goes green, we eventually pass through our road works area, then it opens up into a small section with an overtaking lane thats probably about a kilometer long.

Someone will ALWAYS attempt to overtake the person in front doing 85km/h, at 92km/h and takes up the entire overtaking lane and no one else can get by while the 15-20 cars behind all get ****ed off and then overtaking starts happening in dangerous spots.

Its literally like any motorsport when the safety car comes out and the whole field bunches up, except when the safety car goes away the guy at front is doing 85km/h and the guy behind overtakes at 92km/h and takes up the whole track.

Yesterday on the way to work I got stuck behind someone who merged onto the Tullamarine Freeway at 67km/h

Yesterday on the way home from work it was a little wet so someone in a D40 Navara decided to hold us all up doing 70km/h in a 100 zone, I got stuck behind them for about 10km before I could get past as well as the people behind me.

I don't mind people taking it easy and going slow - on the condition you will be courteous and not try to block faster moving traffic behind, but there's a lack of courtesy from these drivers who want to play pretend policeman and hold everyone else up and they're going slow so everyone else has to as well because they say so.

Then they do the angry flash lights when you get around them.

Also some speed limits are too low, to the point that people are just ignoring them, case in point is the Tullamarine Freeway upgrade, its 5-6 lanes wide, yet its had its speed limit reduced to 80km/h and people are doing 100km/h+ now anyway.

I wonder why its at epidemic levels of people using their phones while driving? Probably because everyones going so damn slow everyone starts finding ways to distract themselves.

Originally Posted by Express

The way I see it when you target an age group as being a poor driving demographic you are drawing a line in the sand because of what we think we see or want to see or because a particular statistic is worse for one age than another but none of it really touches on or solves the overall problem of poor drivers on the road.

Not everyone should be tarred with the same brush just because they fall into a particular age group.

Sounds exactly like what most states do to P platers with vehicle restrictions and some states like NSW are even worse with arbitrary speed limits for them?

[lra]

Yes, interesting thoughts by @Express.
I am about to roll over 73, and I think that I am still ‘with it’ as far as driving, but not at night. That is a problem that I try to avoid as much as possible. I don’t know if it is my eyes or the headlights on current model cars, but it is a problem.
The other problem is being very aware of speed limits, and trying to be a good citizen. I have wasted too much money on speeding fines, and these days I like to spend my cash on more worthwhile activities.
My only accident that I plead guilty to was in 1968, wet road, crap tyres, off camber corner trying to emulate Norm Beechey, without the talent. Although not serious, no injuries except to confidence, it could have been really bad, and was a wake-up to how things can go wrong very quickly.
Since then, only minor scrapes as a ‘professional’ driver, with fools who do not understand what a “do not overtake turning vehicle” sign on a heavy vehicle means.
My health is good, my eyesight is checked yearly, I don’t wear glasses, and I am capable of driving 900km per day and can still walk when I get out of the car.
In 2019, I covered nearly 20Km in my 3 cars, somewhat less than usual as it is a bit hard to see the coast from Broome/ Darwin/ Cairns by car, and this year looks like being very quiet, (thanks COVID)
So, I am not looking forward to the day when I realise, or somebody insists that an Aussie V8 is not for me anymore, get a restricted licence and buy a Chinese made 2 cylinder hybrid.