Over 85’s need regular driving tests

When a vehicle stalls there's generally no warning brake light. I was in a company car, reported it as soon as I arrived at the office then , after a couple of days my boss showed me the repair estimate which included work beyond any damage I had caused. The estimate was over £300, the car an old banger, so I told the boss to offer him enough money to buy a replacement, that £150 should more than cover it. BTW it was 40 years ago; I'll bet you've never done anything wrong.

I can't see the point of a test. The problem is they are unfit to drive because of their health, so they need to tighten up the medical rules.

A GP should do a yearly medical, and then notify the DVLA if they are medically unfit to drive, rather than relying on individual giving up their license.

Relying on the self-reporting of medical conditions is just stupid, as many people cling onto their licenses for the independency it gives them.

A German friend of mine told me that when she visited her family in Germany her 85 year old grandfather who collected her from the station was doing 140 mph on the Autobahn.

"Drivers are free to go as fast as they want on de-restricted sections of the autobahns".

Whilst waiting to be seen at my hospital I overheard a woman talking about the frailties of an elderly relative who was in his late 90s. The person she was talking to said: "Does he use a wheelchair?" The woman replied: "He's got a car."  

Happy days senior, when you bought a new car it was almost a tradition to take it for a spin on the autobahn. As soon as you entered a limitless stretch it was foot down. And I'm not kidding it was a race track and no matter how fast you thought your car was, there was always some git flashing you trying to get past at 140mph, it was mad. 

At one regiment the CO would give out annual statistics before we went on Christmas leave, deaths on excercise, deaths in Northern Ireland, and deaths on the autobahn. Deaths on excercise were usually nil, sometimes 1. Deaths in Northern Ireland were usually nil, sometimes 1. Deaths on the autobahn were never nil, always at least 1 often 2. The CO did this in the hope it would slow the mad autobahn dash from Germany to Zeebrugge or Calais for Christmas leave.  

It was long known that fast cars and speed limitless autobahns were by far the biggest killer of British soldiers in Germany.

I didn't mean that at all, pillock. I am very aware there are many poor drivers on the roads, and as someone who used to do a lot of driving I know the vast majority of poor drivers are not OAP's.

In fact listen to this, you talk about modern day ffs. Mrs R and I were driving through an area of countryside that had small white 40mph speed limits posted. The car in front of me was steadfastly sticking to 40mph, so I overtook him. As I passed him he tooted his horn and was waving at me, so once passed I pulled over. I got out and asked him why he tooted me, he said, and btw he was no longer waving and ranting, that the speed limit was 40mph. I told him, and it must be said I didn't say it in a friendly manner, that he should invest in a copy of the highway fucking code. Since he didn't respond I returned to my car and we drove off, with Mrs R bending my ear.

The point being, on that road the 'advisory' limit is 40mph, the legal limit is 60mph. I know this because I'm an experienced driver who understands road signs. 

This isn't about me, although throughout this thread I have consistently said that older drivers are not the problem. A 'refresher' course will do what exactly? Christ this is the sort of crap the government come up with to create jobs. Bentley, I don't know how old you are but you have done a speed awareness course, which suggests you were caught. I've been driving for 44 years and I've never had so much as a parking ticket, that doesn't mean I'm the perfect driver, it means I've never been caught.