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Re:British drivers over 70 to face eye tests every three years by graemep on Saturday February 07, 2026 @11:15AM (#46924965)
> Most over-70s are significantly worse than the average driver and some are so dangerous they shouldn't be on the road at all.

Evidence? I thought over-70s were on average safer than young drivers

Re:British drivers over 70 to face eye tests every three years by GJR on Saturday February 07, 2026 @11:29AM (#46925072)
UK statistics here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/reported-road-casua... The issue is that the rate of accidents rapidly increases after 70 and the easiest detectable indicator is deteriorating eyesight.
Re:British drivers over 70 to face eye tests every three years by joeig on Saturday February 07, 2026 @11:39AM (#46925172)
I think the report is about the wrong group. Here are the statistics about older drivers: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/reported-road-casua...
Re:British drivers over 70 to face eye tests every three years by notahacker on Saturday February 07, 2026 @11:41AM (#46925196)
Yep. In practice, you've probably got a group of over 70s who are much safer drivers than the average 17-24 year old and some with declining eyesight who are worse. The test proposes to distinguish between the two
Re:British drivers over 70 to face eye tests every three years by graemep on Saturday February 07, 2026 @12:44PM (#46925791)
I am not objecting to the test. I am disagreeing with the sweeping statement.

I think testing eyesight is important. In fact you need to make a declaration about your eyesight when you first get a license and when you renew after 70. There is no real enforcement of the former either (they just ask you to read a number plate at a distance IIRC).

Re:British drivers over 70 to face eye tests every three years by pwg on Saturday February 07, 2026 @01:00PM (#46925957)
The issue is that the "over 70s" group, while on the whole averages out to moderate safety, includes a number of individuals that are very dangerous drivers (to themselves, and to others). If one looks at the overall statistics, the group as a whole looks ok, but those dangerous outliers are the ones that get the "press coverage" on the nightly news when they do cause an incident, skewing peoples view of "over 70s drivers".
Re:British drivers over 70 to face eye tests every three years by jl6 on Saturday February 07, 2026 @11:30AM (#46925092)
https://www.racfoundation.org/media-centre/study-sheds-light...

I imagine there’s something of a bathtub curve where young (under 25) drivers have higher accident rates due to some combination of inexperience and immaturity, while older drivers (over 70) have higher accident rates due to disability creeping up on them without them noticing.

Re:British drivers over 70 to face eye tests every three years by steveBK123 on Saturday February 07, 2026 @11:42AM (#46925206)
Agreed over 70s are safer than younger drivers, but consider young drivers in most jurisdictions face restrictions while elderly drivers do not.

Further I’d say anecdotally that past a certain point, certainly by 80s, elderly drivers are not accident free. It’s that they have an increasing number of small accidents until someone takes away the keys. If they do not have someone in their life to do that it’s probably reasonable that the government make that determination.

At some point the reduced vision and reflex speed makes them too hazardous on the road to others, even if they are driving slowly and carefully. Parking lot accidents, hitting kids, slamming the gas instead of the brakes, etc.

Re:British drivers over 70 to face eye tests every three years by cucumber3732842 on Saturday February 07, 2026 @12:36PM (#46925713)
Teenagers have obligations. Retirees don't or if they do they're far more flexible. Grandma can just not drive at night or in bad weather. Somme teenager typically can't.

So the inherent risk of the situations in which they drive does tend to favor seniors generally

Re:British drivers over 70 to face eye tests every three years by graemep on Saturday February 07, 2026 @12:48PM (#46925834)
The people with the most obligations are us middle aged who have to do stuff at times set by kids requirements, or elderly parents, or work.
Re:British drivers over 70 to face eye tests every three years by cucumber3732842 on Saturday February 07, 2026 @07:17PM (#46929852)
Both groups are way more likely to have early/late/all weather obligations than seniors. I suspect likelihood of having an early/late obligation peaks in one's 20s.
Re:British drivers over 70 to face eye tests every three years by graemep on Saturday February 07, 2026 @12:45PM (#46925805)
> Agreed over 70s are safer than younger drivers, but consider young drivers in most jurisdictions face restrictions while elderly drivers do not.

What jurisdictions? The one that is proposing the eye tests?

Re:British drivers over 70 to face eye tests every three years by recursivecaveat on Saturday February 07, 2026 @11:31AM (#46925105)
Seems that is true, at least for the ones currently on the road https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/motor-vehicle/overview/age-of-dr...
Re:British drivers over 70 to face eye tests every three years by recursivecaveat on Saturday February 07, 2026 @08:52PM (#46930554)
After think about this a little: since these charts are per-driver, rather than per-mile, they're probably not as favorable as they seem. I would guess that retirees drive much less on average than working individuals.