What on the roads has annoyed you today?

[Parafox]

24 minutes ago, String fellow said:

Hmmm.... clearly you're not anywhere near the age of 70. If you were, would you want a re-test? There are vast numbers of perfectly good drivers in that age group, and I like to think that that includes me - with 50 years of driving experience and an unblemished record on the roads (not including parking tickets). And because I don't like to generalise, I'll avoid slagging off the age group whom I think are the biggest menace on the roads today!

 

I'm 69 in November. And I'd happily take a retest and fully expect to pass based mainly on my multiple re-examinations by the ambulance service and my class 1 driving experience.

 

Granted, most regular drivers don't have this and I agree with you that there are plenty of capable competent drivers would pass a re-test with no problems.

 

The thing is, there are also plenty who are not safe to be on the road. Re-test at 70 then every 2 years after. Funded by the driver themselves. 

[String fellow]

37 minutes ago, The Bear said:

I agree and disagree. My mum is now 70, and I was in the car with her as she drove me to and from the hospital the other day.. The amount of times she was hesitant and unobservant was far too much. Not enough to cause accidents or drive dangerously, but stuff like hitting obvious potholes, pressing the brake too hard when stopping so that you jerk to a stop, and taking too much time to react to things. 

 

The problem is, a lot of these elderly people rely on their car to get about and without it would be even more isolated. My mum goes shopping, sees family, and generally only goes out in the car as she can't walk very far. I doubt she could take the anxiety and stress of re-passing a test and it'd likely kill her to lose the car and her only ability to see other people. 

I strongly agree with your sentiments in the second paragraph. I recently turned 70, and had to declare my eye condition to the DVLA, because eyedrops are needed every night to maintain normal ocular pressure. They now insist that I have a field-of-vision test at Specsavers, even though my own optician gave me one only 3 months ago, which I passed easily. The sheer stress of taking that vision test again, knowing the consequences of failing it (through nervousness, not through visual impairment) are already giving me nightmares. If my licence were to be revoked for that reason, I'd be totally devastated.

They expect you to be honest about declaring any eye condition, then assume you're lying when you tell them that your vision is absolutely fine! They also tell you take your driving licence to Specsavers, despite it having to be sent back to the DVLA when the application is first made! 

[UniFox21]

2 hours ago, Parafox said:

 

This. And those that flick the indicator on for one flash, then nothing further. One flash is not enough, especially at motorway speeds.

 

I know I keep mentioning it, but, I was taught by the police driving instructors that indicators should be kept on until the manoeuvre has been completed.

 

In fact, in some countries abroad, when overtaking, by law, indicators have be kept on during the overtake until you're about to move back into your lane.

 

I wish we had that in this country.

Had one earlier, a driver confused on the lane to be in at the M69/M1 roundabout. They've started in the middle lane, before cutting across me in the first lane and coming to an almost standstill at the chevrons by the filter lane onto the M1. 

 

[grobyfox1990]

3 hours ago, String fellow said:

Hmmm.... clearly you're not anywhere near the age of 70. If you were, would you want a re-test? There are vast numbers of perfectly good drivers in that age group, and I like to think that that includes me - with 50 years of driving experience and an unblemished record on the roads (not including parking tickets). And because I don't like to generalise, I'll avoid slagging off the age group whom I think are the biggest menace on the roads today!

Then you’ve got nothing to worry about. If you’re so competent at driving, retest, pass with flying colours, and continue driving. Retesting at 70 is a perfectly reasonable suggestion.

[Parafox]

3 hours ago, String fellow said:

The problem is, a lot of these elderly people rely on their car to get about and without it would be even more isolated. My mum goes shopping, sees family, and generally only goes out in the car as she can't walk very far. I doubt she could take the anxiety and stress of re-passing a test and it'd likely kill her to lose the car and her only ability to see other people. 

 

I get what your saying and if I were to lose my licence I would be devastated.

 

Question is, would I be more devastated if I was the one to cause injury or potentially death, to another due to my incompetence through frailty and poor judgement? 

 

Yes.

 

There has to come a time in everyone's driving life when one has to admit they are no longer safe. It takes courage and humility to reach that conclusion but better that than being in court for a serious driving offence.

 

There's nothing wrong with taking a re-test at 70, then every 2 years thereafter, if it keeps unsafe drivers off the road, even if re-testing is stressful and it obviously will be because so many are reliant on their car for so many things.

 

However, I would imagine driving when you feel indecisive and anxious about dealing with all the tricky situations that driving today can involve, would be more stressful than being aware enough to admit that enough is enough and getting a taxi or a family member to take you to wherever you need to go.

 

Fortunately I'm not at that point yet, but I'd like to think that I would recognise when I am no longer fully competent to drive.

 

The elderly driver that nearly caused the collision I posted about earlier, could have hit me and caused who knows what damage or injury to me, her and any other road users in the vicinity. The fact that she was clearly oblivious to the situation and continued to drive on, is concerning.

 

 

Edited yesterday at 00:35 by Parafox

[String fellow]

This morning, there was a large flood on Station Road in Thurnby, a fairly narrow road in a 30 limit. So I slowed right down before driving through it. The car behind me decided to overtake through this flood, causing a massive amount of spray and driving like a complete idiot. Was he/she over 70 years old? Somehow I doubt it - it was the sort of brainless driving that's typical of someone aged between 18 and 25. Most drivers along that stretch of road veer towards the centre, where the water is much less deep. Had I done so, god knows what would have happened. Presumably, I'd have got the blame... 70 year old driver, didn't use his mirror etc. etc.    

[Raj]

18 minutes ago, String fellow said:

This morning, there was a large flood on Station Road in Thurnby, a fairly narrow road in a 30 limit. So I slowed right down before driving through it. The car behind me decided to overtake through this flood, causing a massive amount of spray and driving like a complete idiot. Was he/she over 70 years old? Somehow I doubt it - it was the sort of brainless driving that's typical of someone aged between 18 and 25. Most drivers along that stretch of road veer towards the centre, where the water is much less deep. Had I done so, god knows what would have happened. Presumably, I'd have got the blame... 70 year old driver, didn't use his mirror etc. etc.    

I live around there and it's always been an issue but loads better now.

After the game yesterday we drove down Downing Drice and the drains were blocked so the rainwater was about a foot near the dove.

I slowed down to about 5mph but some c0ck behind just carried on at 30 until he was up my arse . I proceeded at 5mph until the Uppingham  Rd junction just to feck him up. Hope it was the same tw@t

[CUJimmy]

12 hours ago, Parafox said:

 

I get what your saying and if I were to lose my licence I would be devastated.

 

Question is, would I be more devastated if I was the one to cause injury or potentially death, to another due to my incompetence through frailty and poor judgement? 

 

Yes.

 

There has to come a time in everyone's driving life when one has to admit they are no longer safe. It takes courage and humility to reach that conclusion but better that than being in court for a serious driving offence.

 

There's nothing wrong with taking a re-test at 70, then every 2 years thereafter, if it keeps unsafe drivers off the road, even if re-testing is stressful and it obviously will be because so many are reliant on their car for so many things.

 

However, I would imagine driving when you feel indecisive and anxious about dealing with all the tricky situations that driving today can involve, would be more stressful than being aware enough to admit that enough is enough and getting a taxi or a family member to take you to wherever you need to go.

 

Fortunately I'm not at that point yet, but I'd like to think that I would recognise when I am no longer fully competent to drive.

 

The elderly driver that nearly caused the collision I posted about earlier, could have hit me and caused who knows what damage or injury to me, her and any other road users in the vicinity. The fact that she was clearly oblivious to the situation and continued to drive on, is concerning.

 

 

I am 60 soon and would have no qualms about taking a retest.  What about something like:

 

First fail - OK, anyone can have a bad day.  Retest in a month (or whatever)

 

Second fail - P plates and same restrictions as new drivers.

 

Third fail - Back to L plates etc or admit that you aren’t safe to be on the road any more.

 

[CUJimmy]

2 hours ago, String fellow said:

This morning, there was a large flood on Station Road in Thurnby, a fairly narrow road in a 30 limit. So I slowed right down before driving through it. The car behind me decided to overtake through this flood, causing a massive amount of spray and driving like a complete idiot. Was he/she over 70 years old? Somehow I doubt it - it was the sort of brainless driving that's typical of someone aged between 18 and 25. Most drivers along that stretch of road veer towards the centre, where the water is much less deep. Had I done so, god knows what would have happened. Presumably, I'd have got the blame... 70 year old driver, didn't use his mirror etc. etc.    

Driving home up the A46 in the storm last night after the match.  One idiot doing 30 mph with hazard warning lights on.  Not only making it much harder to see the road but giving the impression that traffic is moving more slowly than it actually is so potentially causing over-breaking.  Hazards are for when you are stationary or near stationary.

[Daggers]

On 19/09/2024 at 20:41, SpacedX said:

No offence taken. 

 

So basically a motorcyclist passed you on a roundabout to the left in slow-moving virtually stationary traffic, (because he could), got in front, the red mist came down and you chased him down and tailgated him because it made you feel better. 

 

Now that is weird. 

 

Bye then. 

It was obvious from the off.

 

Anyone who brags about using their car to intimidate other road users on the internet is both in the wrong and has tiny cock issues - or just full of shit and making the whole thing up for odd reasons.

[Heathrow fox]

1 hour ago, CUJimmy said:

Driving home up the A46 in the storm last night after the match.  One idiot doing 30 mph with hazard warning lights on.  Not only making it much harder to see the road but giving the impression that traffic is moving more slowly than it actually is so potentially causing over-breaking.  Hazards are for when you are stationary or near stationary.

Maybe they were in limp mode?

[CUJimmy]

35 minutes ago, Heathrow fox said:

Maybe they were in limp mode?

Still shouldn’t have hazards on at 30 mph when that is the same speed as everything else

Edited 20 hours ago by CUJimmy

[Heathrow fox]

14 minutes ago, CUJimmy said:

Still shouldn’t have hazards on at 30 mph when that is the same speed as everything else

If all the other cars were doing 30mph then fair enough.It’s a bit of a daft thing to do,but you typed one car doing 30

Anyway we move on

[CUJimmy]

5 minutes ago, Heathrow fox said:

If all the other cars were doing 30mph then fair enough.It’s a bit of a daft thing to do,but you typed one car doing 30

Anyway we move on

Sorry yes, I wasn’t clear.  There was loads of spray and water on the road, flashing hazards made it so much harder to see.

[Parafox]

3 hours ago, CUJimmy said:

I am 60 soon and would have no qualms about taking a retest.  What about something like:

 

First fail - OK, anyone can have a bad day.  Retest in a month (or whatever)

 

Second fail - P plates and same restrictions as new drivers.

 

Third fail - Back to L plates etc or admit that you aren’t safe to be on the road any more.

 

Seems reasonable. An outright loss of a licence after 50 years of unblemished driving does feel somewhat harsh.

[CUJimmy]

29 minutes ago, Parafox said:

Seems reasonable. An outright loss of a licence after 50 years of unblemished driving does feel somewhat harsh.

I guess if someone fails a retest 3 times then they probably do need more training, the roads and driving have changed a lot since they last took a test.

 

Having said all of that though, as someone who drives 2k miles a week regularly I see that the standard of driving in this country is patchy to say the least so maybe there is an argument for everyone having a short retest every time they renew their licence (every 10 years?).  The cost would probably be prohibitive though and if drivers had to pay then a good number wouldn’t bother.

 

It’s not a problem unique to this country though as anyone who has driven in France, Spain, Italy or especially the US will know.

[The Bear]

It's taking weeks and weeks for young drivers to get their tests, never mind a backlog of OAPs. And who's paying for them all? 

[Unabomber]

Not today but I drive a lot and I would say slow drivers are more dangerous than fast ones. 

[Parafox]

Raya having a great game.

 

Oops. Wrong thread and I can't delete 

Edited 17 hours ago by Parafox

[Unabomber]

2 minutes ago, Parafox said:

Raya having a great game

Don’t drive and watch football man 

[Parafox]

1 minute ago, Unabomber said:

Don’t drive and watch football man 

Embarrassing that I'm watching and texting whilst driving with a pint in my hand and a spliff hanging from my mouth

[Heathrow fox]

2 hours ago, The Bear said:

It's taking weeks and weeks for young drivers to get their tests, never mind a backlog of OAPs. And who's paying for them all? 

It’s pie in the sky stuff.We get the thousands of new driving instructors required from the same factory that makes all the extra police doctors and nurses etc etc

[Grebfromgrebland]

2 hours ago, Unabomber said:

Not today but I drive a lot and I would say slow drivers are more dangerous than fast ones. 

Not sure you're being properly objective here. Most of the time the fast drivers are more dangerous despite thinking they're the best guys on the road.

[Fox1970]

11 minutes ago, Grebfromgrebland said:

Not sure you're being properly objective here. Most of the time the fast drivers are more dangerous despite thinking they're the best guys on the road.

Fast driving in poor conditions or bad roads etc is dangerous. But it is also dangerous when some numpty decides that driving at 40 in a 60 limit road is perfectly good for him or her when the line behind clearly wish to go faster. It is utterly selfish driving.

[Parafox]

12 minutes ago, Grebfromgrebland said:

Not sure you're being properly objective here. Most of the time the fast drivers are more dangerous despite thinking they're the best guys on the road.

 

Speed kills. Particularly when combined with over confident and inexperienced drivers.