British drivers over 70 to face eye tests every three years

Posted by bookofjoe 8 hours ago

British drivers over 70 to face eye tests every three years(www.bbc.com)

190 points | 200 commentspage 3

bobowzki 6 hours ago|

How about testing people in a driving simulator?

kazinator 6 hours ago||

Let's examine this:

> Nearly one in four car drivers killed in 2024 were aged 70 or older, according to government figures.

So, somewhat less than 25%. Let's guess 23% or whatever.

What are the age demographics? According to 2024 stats, 19.7% of the UK was aged 65 or older. 17% in the 0-14 age range.

Thus 65-year-olds and older make up 23.7% of the population older than 14.

It seems, roughly, as if the proportion of 70-year-olds and older might be more or less in line with their representation in the driving age population.

It's not the statistics we need, but close enough to defeat the alarmist idea of OMG, a whopping quarter (almost) fatalities are 70+; get the old buggers off the roads!

matsemann 6 hours ago|

That's not a good counter. I think you need to look at how many of that demographic actually drives, not how big the demographic is. Or maybe kilometers driven per accident.

kazinator 5 hours ago||

That onus is on the article: convince me that almost a quarter of the facilities being 70+ means something (s not explained by statistics but follows age).

phendrenad2 6 hours ago||

Well I guess this is one good thing about the UK nanny state. Although it's telling that they had to practice their authoritarian muscles by arresting people for tweets for several years before they dared inconvenience the baby boomer generation.

ptribble 7 hours ago|

Why pick on the over-70s though? Most drivers in the UK either can't see or don't bother looking, so we should be demanding higher standards of all drivers.

II2II 7 hours ago|

They won't test everyone on a regular basis due to the cost and because it would be politically unpopular. Heck, I saw someone in their 30's go ballistic about losing their license after having two seizures while driving (both of which resulted in collisions).

Enforcement is another issue. I don't even bother reporting being hit by cars anymore because the police refuse to do anything about it. That is after an incident and with a plate number. Enforcement of people driving without a license would be next to impossible unless there is an incident.

As for "don't bother looking", well, you cannot really test for that since it is usually the result of some form of distracted driving or carelessness. Both of which are unlikely to show up when someone knows they are being assessed.