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[Bionic]

The very last thing I want to do is deprive someone of their independance BUT!
After an incident yesterday in which an 80+ year old couple drove straight out of a layby on my right in front of me as I was almost level with their nearside rear. Fortunately I was  only doing 15mph into bright sunlight and within meters of home. Their car had all of its windows except the winscreen heavily misted. The indicators only came on as it moved off! It made me emergency brake hurting my already injured shoulder and resulted in my stopping only inches from them as I sounded my horn for a long time to indicate their had been a problem but they simply ignored it and drove erratically away from me. I did report this to the Police but they were not interested and so I went somewhere else and was given a from to fill in then deliver back or send to a local unit! Obviously the Police are not interested in anything until someone is either dead or seriously injured.
I have seen the driving of this old guy many times and it is a comedy act to see him try to park, either forwards or by reversing plus he is all too regularly incapable of doing so without mounting the kerb many times and the time he takes to make a decision at any road juction needs to be times in minutes! Add to that that he only ever looks to his front and I am sure you will agree that he is a potential danger to others and an accident waiting to happen.
My worry is that he will eventually cause an accident and may either seriously injure or kill someone, maybe a wage earner, parent or worse still a child before he finally realises that he should give up driving. He does have a mobility scooter and is as bad on that.......
  Not funny but my front end was wrote off by another idiot of the same vein not too long ago which explains my anger 
The BIG question is; Do I report this concern the the DVLA?
Sad case I know but there surely comes a time when any driver needs to stop driving of their own accord if they are responsible citizens for the safety of others. By the way the public transport around here is brilliant too so that is no excuse when the travel for him and his partner is free!
Be sensible with the comments please......

[dad1uk]

To be honest we are coming to the same situation with my Mum. 
She is 85 and we have had several reports from neighbours about the standard of her driving, but apart from a couple of scrapes in and out of the garage she has had no accidents.
She cannot walk very far so removing the car would basically make her housebound and cause her great distress.
With the age of people getting greater I feel there should be some sort of short driving test brought in to make sure they are still safe to drive. There is no compulsory eyetest or medical, all they have to do is fill in a form for DVLA and tick all the right boxes and then continue to drive.

[ted_one]

The elderly are only the the tip of the iceberg regarding the erosion of the driving standards in this country,you are right about the police who seem to be happy to have allowed the powers that be to reduce their involvement in traffic law enforcement and road safety.I'm sure that many forum members who use the motorways on a regular basis will surely notice the absence of a police presence on the major routes and the only time you actually see them is when there is an incident.
Is it not a coincidence that the Highways agency vehicles look strangely like police vehicles and just of late they seem to have had their numbers reduced also. So really it's looking like the roads could become virtually lawless as the authorities seem to rely on having an occasional day out and having a purge to catch a few offenders, and then for the next few months it's a free for all for the million plus uninsured drivers and the other law breakers who stick two fingers up at the rest of us who wether we like it or not stick to the rules and pay our way. So the answer to the original question is for me is,yes report him to the DVLA but make sure that there is a paper trail because this is England and a phone call will not suffice.

[cleggy]

An 80 year couple in a lay-by with steamed up windows 

In all seriousness I had to steal my uncles car to stop him from injuring himself and others, and have his licence revoked, he was 82. It was such a shame this chap never passed a test and could legally drive anything,  had served his country doing the same with honour but eventually you have to take a stand to save lives. lets be honest at least ton travelling at 30 is a lethal weapon.
Do you know any of his family to express your concerns to

[feeutfo]

Do it. My Grandads driving was awfull, although he was once a very good safe driver, nobody spoke to him about it, he drove through a red light on a narrow one way bridge in the face of oncoming traffic with the family in the car, including me. But still nobody said anything.

He later knocked a cyclist off his bike, causing serious injurys. Insurers refused to cover after a failed eye test, in the end. I'd suggest something is done before a serious incident occurs tbh. You'll get no thanks for it though.


Actually, looking back, it was probably the onset of demanture, from which he eventually died.

[waspy]

Would it be possible to video him & his driving habits?

Yes I would report him, it's one more idiot off the roads

[MrMoffat]

Found this site, but do not know if it is any good 

http://www.roaddriver.co.uk/home/

[YZ250]

Thankfully my Dad gave up driving of his own accord when he was 81. He was getting near to a stage where we were seriously thinking of suggesting that he gave up driving because he lacked the necessary observational skills due to natural old age. Because it was his choice, he gave up driving but kept his dignity.
My Mum may have had some influence in this, as when she was guiding my Dad out of a parking space, he ran over her foot. My Mum screamed in pain and my Dad went forward and ran over her foot again.  Thankfully she was OK. 
He decided to give up driving before he hurt someone.

Catch 22, you feel guilty for taking someone's independence but more guilty if they killed someone. You could look at it this way, the old couple can still get about without their car but the person they maim won't be so lucky.

[Michael2.6]

Enough bad drivers on the road today, and that not just the old! My dad was 85 when we decided to sell his car, it was for not only his own good but for everyone elses, he at the time was showing signs of demensia, didnt even know where to put the ignition keys!he would sit at home and ask why have you took my car? it was awful it was his independance, but sadly demensia really got hold and he died last november. think you have got to draw the line somewhere, and my advice would be report it, before he does hurt someone.

[albitz]

I completely agree.An old fella was advised by colchester police not to drive any more when they saw him get in a right state just trying to drive out of a petrol station.He ignored them and a few days later hit the accellerator instead of the brake in the town centre at 9am.He mounted the footpath and ran over a 16 year old girl. She died later that day on hospital.
My Dad is 82 and still swears blind he can drive better than most of the idiots on the roads. He can hardly see or walk and his reaction times could be measured in minutes.He would be absolutely lethal,but driving was his great love in life and he just cant accept he will never drive again. Its heartbreaking to see him like that,but if I ever heard he attempted to get behind the wheel of a car I would do whatever it took to put a stop to it.

[PhilRich]

Been there, had the wrecked bumper! so I fully sympathise and am pleased you avoided anything bad. 
You hurt your shoulder avoiding an accident, so the Police must take this seriously. I posted here in January after an 85 year old reversed into me at some considerable speed & then buggered off without stopping! Luckily, he was stopped by other traffic exiting the carpark in front of him or I would never have caught him. Both he & his wife insisted they had felt no impact, & when invited to view the damage he had caused he could not see it, even when I asked him to put on the glasses hanging around his neck and have another look!
I went to the Police after asking advice here first and insisted they take action and informed the DVLA. It is frightening to think that apart from the usual culprats (not a spelling mistake!) who eat, drink, text, read, pick their toe nails etc whilst driving, there are a large number of elderly drivers out there who are no longer safe to drive but who don't realise the fact or refuse to acknowledge it!

[redelitev6]

  been through this with my 85 yr old dad , driving was his last bit of independance, luckily he gave it up when his eyesight became too bad, he did have a couple of (very) close shaves on the road , and in hindsight(no pun intended) we should have stopped him sooner 

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

I think more older drivers should drive an automatic.

How many elderly drivers have you seen trying to pull away from a standstill in third, fourth and even fifth gear?.

Smell that burning clutch, man.

[Terbs]

I agree Opti....however, as I reported in a thread months ago, some old girl hit seven cars in a Waitrose car park where swmbo worked. Wrote 2 or 3 off. Unfortunately, I think it was the shock, but she sat in a chair 3 hours later and sadly just passed away
She admitted at the time she hit the throttle instead of the brake, but I suppose that could happen in any car

[feeutfo]

I'd day it's easier to select the wrong gear in an auto tbh.