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My nanna drove until 80. My Nana shouldn’t have driven until 80. He hit something once a week
typical boomer privilege - oh wait, now I’m old? no don’t test me…
Should be every 2 years past age 60 if you want to keep your license.
Sorry, for every 20 year old doing 90, there’s ten seniors wobbling between 2 lanes in a giant SUV intentionally purchased to protect them from the accidents their diminished capacity will cause, about to do a double lane change in the opposite direction of their blinker that’s been on since they left their driveway.
Ive always found it bonkers that young drivers with the sharpest reflexes are punished to the maximum from insurance to rental car rates, as they should, while no one dares punitive action against people who literally lack the faculties to drive safely if they wanted to and incur the wrath of AARP and the like. But those necrotic seniors make the rules, sadly. They can cause accidents with abandon, but some thing’s gotta be done about those young maniacs on the road driving 10 over the speed Limit as you drive 30 under it with white, arthritic knuckles on the steering wheel for dear life, calling your impromptu roadblock “safe.”
This is your regular reminder that it’s generally not older people who are high-risk drivers: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/628ce5c7e90e071f68b19dfa/02-image-2.svg
Drivers get safer until about 70, and only get less safe than your average young driver when over 86.
There is a perception that older drivers are an absolute liability on the roads, which I can only assume stems from impatient people who get frustrated when stuck behind an older driver going more slowly than they’d like.
Not every 70 YO is the same health. Some can barely see at that age, or at night. There are also plenty of health issues or medications taken at this age which could affect reactions or alertness. Not saying it can’t happen to the young, but it’s far more prevalent.
That’s from the UK? I don’t think you can extrapolate UK driving data to the US. Roads and car use don’t compare at all.
In the absence of forthcoming data (hint hint), what factors do you think differ between the UK and USA which affect the ability of very old/very young drivers?
Car dependency mainly. A 65yo in the UK that dosen’t feel physically capable of driving can still have an independent live, using public transit or walking. In the US you depend on cars for everything.
That doesn’t affect the ability of older drivers, only the number of them.
In fact, since one reason very old drivers might get more accident prone is because they stop driving as much and lose some of the skills, you would expect that, if older Americans really persist in driving more as they get older (you haven’t provided any evidence that they do) they would retain those skills and be less accident prone, not more, so would be safer, and less at need of re-tests, than their UK counterparts.
Focusing on the driving safety of the elderly is a classic example of Saliency Bias. A 20-year old kid wrecking his car is nothing unusual so you don’t remember it when thinking about safety. An 80 year old who can’t even remember which way to turn the wheel getting in a wreck is unusual and extreme, so it’s more salient. Getting stuck behind an elderly driver gives you the impression that they’re a bad and hence unsafe driver, which contributes to this.
It’s self select the drivers that have the ability to drive. A nearly blind old person on the UK can have a fulfilling live walking and using public transit, the same nearly blind old person in the US have no choice but to keep driving.
personally i think everyone should be required to retake a driving test every 10 years it’s absurd you only take it once at 16ish
I think driving tests should be abolished, 30h of driving lessons will not teach you how to drive, it will at best teach you how to pass the test. You only actually learn how to drive properly after passing the test by driving by yourself, so the driving test proves nothing, it only gives you a false impression of your own abilities.
And to the people who disagree; how many idiots with licenses are on the road? How many idiots with suspended licenses are on the road? How many idiots without licenses are on the road? Did the law stop them? No. Because it’s a classic example of a law that only affects the people who didn’t need to be told to behave in the first place; and all of those who it should apply to the most will just ignore it. As it stands this law only further disenfranchises low income families by adding extra cost to their children’s path to adulthood and provides minimal to negative safety benefit.
Not surprised some crypto bro wants less regulations. Can’t spam your scam sites enough, huh? Want to advertise game account resellers, gambling sites, scam phone number sellers too much?
so the driving test proves nothing
The driving test proves you can competently drive to a safe standard. I agree that you learn more through experience, but first you need to be able to drive to a particular standard before being allowed to drive on your own.
What’s the alternative if there’s no test? You just allow anyone who reaches the driving age to get in a car and drive on their own?
Yes, the smart ones will start by learning the rules and training with friends/family in an empty parking lot, then once they grasp the basics they’ll move on to driving short distances to home/school/work under the guidance of an experienced driver. Once they memorize the road they’ll be able to drive by themselves until they feel comfortable enough to try a different route… Basically do the same things they would to train for the test, just without the cost and the time limit.
The dumb ones will do dumb shit no matter how many guardrails you put in front of them, especially if they’re legal and not physical. If someone won’t think twice before getting into a 2 ton bullet they have no idea how to safely operate because the prospect of pulling out in front of a semi or ending up in a ditch or wrapped around a tree don’t scare them then tickets, jail or other legal trouble certainly won’t either.
Hmm
Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias alongside AARP Illinois
Guess the old regulations might have been eating into profits
Still out of 55,000 administered tests only 97 failed. Imho they should keep the restriction because it did remove 97 unsafe drivers.
However, This also creates a path for immediate family members to report unsafe elderly family members. There was no way to report anyone before this was created.
So is it midlyinfurating? I suppose in that it may allow unsafe drivers to stay on the roads but with immediate family reporting it could also be a wash. I very much doubt these changes will pull more unsafe drivers than the regulations from before since family members will probably be hesitant to report elderly family members
Maybe it’ll save money. Illinois is broke and we’re one of the last good states
