
ENSURE ELDERLY DRIVERS ARE SAFE TO DRIVE
STATUS:
IN PROGRESS
The driver who killed Louis was an elderly woman in her 70s who wasn't medically fit to drive. Elderly drivers are more likely to kill a vulnerable road user than any other age group.
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All drivers must be safe to drive to hold a licence. We can't rely on self certification.
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We need annual testing and medical certification to ensure sight, perception, reaction time and hearing.​
Medical Tests
Ensure drivers are safe to drive by instigating medical checks every 3 years after 70.
Improve Enforcement
We are not good at judging our own performance as our abilities deteriorate, medical professionals should independantly judge our ability, not ourselves or family members
Stay Safe
We should all be safe on the road and ensuring that our loved ones, children, mothers, father, grandmothers and grandfathers are safe is crucial to having safe communities
LOUIS' LAW
Age Affects All Drivers Ability
RETEST ALL DRIVERS AT 70
Ensure Drivers are safe to drive by instigating a:
Retest at 70 and then every 3 years
Annual eye test from 70
Annual hearing test
Annual Perception test
Annual reaction time test
The driver who caused Louis’s death was an elderly woman in her 70s who shouldn't have been driving.
SPEED LIMITS
Speed limits need to be reduced to give pedestrians especially children a real chance of survival.
Pedestrian survivability
At 20 mph 95% of pedestrians survive
At 30 mph 55% survive
At 40 mph 5% survive
At 50mph and above all die.
Louis would have stood a good chance of surviving if the speed limit had been 30mph.
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Many countries around the world mandate that drivers must sit a driving retest as they get older however in the UK under current law, licences must be renewed at the age of 70 and every three years after that. The onus is on the driver to self-certify as being fit to drive. No retest is conducted.
THIS IS RIDICULOUS
As we get older factors such as decreased vision, impaired hearing, slower motor reflexes, worsening health conditions, reduction of strength, coordination, and flexibility can impact a persons ability to safely control a car.
For example:
Neck pain or stiffness can make it harder to look over your shoulder.
Leg pain can make it difficult to move your foot from the accelerator to the brake pedal.
Diminished arm strength can make it hard to turn the steering wheel quickly and effectively.
Your reaction times slow down with age.
You can lose the ability to effectively divide your attention between multiple activities.
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A UK National poll in 2017 found most people want drivers to be examined on reaching 72, then retake the test every five years and face losing their licence if they fail.
We want to go further and make it mandatory that every driver is retested at the age of 70 and then every 3 years there after. In addition all over 70’s must have an eye and hearing test every year conducted by an approved medical practitioner.