[Samurai]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

I think the medical fitness which is required should do.

Yup, that alone will do in most cases. My mom's cousin won't pass medical test or just eye test.

[gostel]

Here it goes once again. The RTOs already have medical tests and driving skill tests for new and renewal licences for different ages. For the elderly the tests are held more frequent. One may argue that the frequency must be more for those above say 70. Although it is generally accepted that alertness is reduced at an older age there can be cases of people who are very alert at 60+ years. I have myself remained on the road with breaks for temple visit (but awake all the time) for 18 hours at a stretch on NH4 and Pune xpressway. No bid deal. I have not yet reached 70 so cannot tell what happens at that age. Someone on TBHP at that age should care to tell us first person. I cruise at 70 to 90; slow down at intersections; give turn indications; and follow all those safe driving procedures all throughout without any problems. If there is frontal glare, older people take longer to adapt do to slower eye muscles. Rapid blinking helps adapt faster. Night driving is better after getting rid of sun films.

[Grr7]

Testing elderly's for their driving skills should be least of the concern.
An elderly driving without the requisite skills or with diminished skills is at most threat to him/herself. I am yet to see an 80ys old grandpa driving rashly or like a racerboy. At the very most, he is just a nuisance with his snail pace driving while the backlog of car drivers behind him keeps honking, shrugs their shoulder seeing the oldie at wheel and move on.

There are much much more important points to be deeply looked into before pondering about the skills/abilities of the oldies. Besides, what I have observed is that oldies with diminished skills themselves are so cautious/afraid to drive themselves, because if anything our elderly people have is wisdom, finely cooked over their entire life time.

Sharing my personal experience, my maternal grandfather is very fond of driving, of late he is suffering from disabled voluntary moment in right arm. Still, mr.grandpa being mr.grandpa (esp a retired police official) wont budge and wishes to drive his impeccably maintained 1995 model Maruti Suzuki 800 (run genuine 36000km uptil now!). My mom and maternal grandma are very concerned and against the old man's will. So, the amicable solution I reached is that I have removed a few fuses of his beloved car without letting him know of it. Thus, it doesnt start (battery getting dead because of car standing for long periods helps too!). Now the old man gets a boast of his ego when he cleans his prized possession. And whenever he wishes to go anywhere, I am there at his service with my gleaming ride (yet lesser gleaming that his ride). This solves the issue of him driving and posing threat (more for himself), I get to spend time with my grandpa and other family members have peace of mind since there is someone always accompanying him.

[narendra.vw]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

Remember most 70+ motorists do not do high mileages, and often just drive to the market and back.

Very important valuable point you made. Sir

[faustus77]

Originally Posted by gostel

Here it goes once again. The RTOs already have medical tests and driving skill tests for new and renewal licences for different ages. For the elderly the tests are held more frequent. One may argue that the frequency must be more for those above say 70. Although it is generally accepted that alertness is reduced at an older age there can be cases of people who are very alert at 60+ years. I have myself remained on the road with breaks for temple visit (but awake all the time) for 18 hours at a stretch on NH4 and Pune xpressway. No bid deal. I have not yet reached 70 so cannot tell what happens at that age. Someone on TBHP at that age should care to tell us first person. I cruise at 70 to 90; slow down at intersections; give turn indications; and follow all those safe driving procedures all throughout without any problems. If there is frontal glare, older people take longer to adapt do to slower eye muscles. Rapid blinking helps adapt faster. Night driving is better after getting rid of sun films.

Gostel
Hi.
I am 69 years 8 months and some days.( Born June 1944 )
At the age of 67 yrs 3 months I drove Bombay Leh and back to Bombay alone. This was in August/September 2011.
In April 2012 I did a driving trip to north west Gujarat. In March 2013 drove Bombay Delhi and back. From Delhi I was to drive to Assam and Nagaland but chickened out, due to early sunset and lack of staying options, and took a train.
All solo trips and all in a petrol Beat.
I cruise between 90 and 100 kmph, sometimes more.
My only problem is driving after dark and starting early( don't start driving until 11 am in the morning).
Other than these 2 problems I am OK. So age is not the limiting factor.
So as long as you are fit,confident you are OK. You are mature enough not to take unnecessary risks and that makes up for your slow reflexes. Just drive safe.
Regards.
PS: Received some very bad news 2 days back. Doctor advised me not to go for long solo drives. Whether to heed his advise,well, I don't know.

[gostel]

Originally Posted by faustus77

Gostel
Hi.
I am 69 years 8 months and some days.( Born June 1944 )

Hi @faustus77, nice meeting you on this forum. I am from Jan 1951 and ready to complete 63 next month. Great reading about your drives, and they inspire me to go on for the next several years! I lived in Mumbai all these years and shifted to Navi Mumbai only after retirement. Hope to meet you in person some day. Cheers.

[gostel]

Medical Tests for Drivers
This is a real-life narration to make a point about medical tests.
When returning to Mumbai on NH4, the time during Pune-bypass was evening. There are hordes of two wheelers ridden by young men and women yearning to get back home after a tiring day at work. Behind me was a young impatient driver honking in his fat SUV. I was going at 60 or a wee bit more. The rear guy wanted me to give way but I did not have the heart to plough into the two wheelers in the left lane so continued on the right. As soon as a gap occured in the left lane; and that is after much patience had expended; I blinked left and gave way. The young brash SUV overtook and then did something surprising. He tried to bully me with coming in front and braking and such nonsense. I am sure he would have tested fine in the Medical Tests, because they do not test for driver attitude and ettiquette. The kinds of medical and skill tests they dole out are passe. Any oldie can get through those in a breeze.

[Thilak29]

Just read about Mr. Robert Michael D' Souza, a 100 year old cab driver from Mangalore.
It's not age but fitness that matters.

Further reading: http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_...sp?n_id=269636

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by noopster

is bespectacled, not sure about you, SB. They are extremely useful in reducing direct glare while driving at night.

I am not bespectacled. I still enjoy 20:20 vision, thank heavens.
I just can't handle night driving on our singularly ill lit and chaotic roads.
And yes, I do get dazzled by oncoming headlamps and while I do appreciate the value of anti glare lenses etc, I drive so rarely at night that I would anyway not want to wear lenses while doing so.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by Thilak29

It's not age but fitness that matters.

More than fitness. I feel eyesight and hearing ability play an important role wrt riding and driving. My father is in his mid 70s and still occasionally rides, his fitness is alright. Whats scary is his hearing ability compared to his 60s.

[JishD]

For sure yes .... One senior backed into my car and in typical NCR manner , refused to pay for the damage - he didn't even see my car , attribute it to Parkinson's , slow response whatever.

[Vitalstatistiks]

Great topic, but I don't even know why it's up for debate. The pollster has not suggested that elderly folks ought to hang up their driving boots. Hell keep driving as much as one wants, the suggestion is to have more periodical and regular license renewal. If one is fit, the license will be renewed. Is the question misunderstood? Where is the debate on 'my 90 year old uncle can drive, so you shouldn't suggest such things' ? Seriously.

Regarding the point that debate's moot because RTOs are farce anyway, well in that case let's just all bury our collective heads in the sand and behave like ostrich. Why is there any law or any provision for enforcement? They are all farce, aren't they? Because there is no chance in hell to redeem this country and its people, just stop the farce of making laws and let everyone drift? Is that the argument here? Wow. Just wow.

[Jeroen]

It is a difficult item. Because at some point in time, when you are blessed to live to a ripe old age, you might simply not be capable of driving safely. In most western countries there are medical checks. So for instance in my home country the Netherlands, once you pass 75 you will need to pass a medical check every five year to keep your DL current.

My mother, who only learned to drive when she was 63, was still driving around at 81! Legally, because she had passed her medical. But my sisters and myself had real concern about that, because we saw how she was on a more day to day basis. She took me out I few times as a passenger and it was not a happy experience for me.

But its difficult to tell somebody they should consider stopping driving a car. My mum was highly independent, and the ability to be independent also, depended on her driving her car. So she could do her own shopping, go and see her friends etc.

Mind you, having said all of that; I don't think elderly people actually cause that many accidents. Statistically we should probably worry about some of these punk kids who get a DL and from day 1 start tearing around the country with complete disregard for all rules, regulations and their safety, let alone the safety of others.

Funnily enough I never worried about my kids after they got their DLs. Thats of course my wife and I have ideal children who would never display such bad behavior. Its probably the difference between being a parent and being someone's child. I'm fifty five now, so I wonder which of our three kids will take up the discussion with me in twenty years about having to give up driving! Damn those pesky ungrateful kids!

Jeroen

[Arjun Reddy]

Honestly more than the elderly I guess the RTO need to be concentrating on teenagers with fresh driving licences. Not sure of the stats are but I would wager on this age group having the most traffic offences and violations.
My suggestion is to probably implement a 3 year renewal for all 1st time lisences and then judging by the number of offences renew for a further period of 20 years. This will keep all the teenagers from being brash on the road and keep them honest.
Disclaimer. No offence to any of my teenage friends on Team BHP. Just going by what I see on the roads and what we have done in our teens.


Sent from my iPhone using Team-BHP

[carwatcher]

Found something relevant while doing some searches:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...tml#post771934

Its quite old but relevant.

One more link:

http://www.helpguide.org/articles/ag...afety-tips.htm