Older drivers may breathe sighs of relief that the Government’s proposed new road safety regulations have turned out to be less draconian than at first feared. There is no sign of the absurd suggestion that all over 70s should be required to take new driving tests. And while Tony Watts notes in his Later Life Agenda, 70 seems an arbitrary (and arguably ageist) point at which drivers should be obliged to take eye tests every three years, given that your eyesight starts to deteriorate much earlier, most of us do so more frequently than that already. All these details are subject to consultation, which will also cover the more ominous question whether cognative checks might be introduced. How on earth would that work? But as argued in an earlier post, this news editor believes accident statistics relating to older drivers and accidents are unreliable and dangerous tailgating by younger drivers too little constrained. It is to be hoped that both weaknesses are addressed.
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