Short sighted driver kills cyclist

[guerney]

Driver "Couldn't read number plates 3 metres away"

Driver, 82, who couldn't read number plates three metres away killed cyclist

'Reckless' and 'arrogant' Peter Gardner was jailed for six months.

metro.co.uk

The idea of nearly blind drivers scares the gubbins out of me... Guess which grandfather he is.

Six months isn't enough! The only good news is, he'll never find dropped soap in prison showers.

 

[Nealh]

Eye sight retest should be a compulsory factor with any licence renewal every 10 years not just as one reaches retirement age.

 

[guerney]

I don't think every 10 years is often enough. Eyesight can degrade more rapidly than that - diabetic glaucoma for example. Cops should carry micrometers to measure lens thickness. That criminal's lenses are so thick, they'd burn holes in his face in very bright sunlight. Looks like he had them on his head at some point.

 

[StuartsProjects]

I don't think every 10 years is often enough.

On average I used to have my eyesight tested 4-5 times per week at the DVLA.

But no longer since I retired.

 

[guerney]

On average I used to have my eyesight tested 4-5 times per week at the DVLA.

??? Is that a typo? Any particular reason? Even I'd say that's a mite excessive.

 

[StuartsProjects]

??? Is that a typo? Any particular reason? Even I'd say that's a mite excessive.

No.

 

[Nealh]

4 -5 times aweek is OCD.

 

[StuartsProjects]

Not OCD.

I worked at the DVLA.

At the entrance, and for use by the public, is a large sign 'Can you read the number plate' and there is a standard number plate placed at the required distance.

So every day when I left work I would use the DVLAs setup to test my eyesight .......

 

[guerney]

At the entrance, and for use by the public, is a large sign 'Can you read the number plate' and there is a standard number plate placed at the required distance.

So every day when I left work I would use the DVLAs setup to test my eyesight .......

Did they make the sign progressively smaller? If the optician was very attractive, I'd certainly do the same or more frequently...

 

[guerney]

Ill fatties and ill geriatrics shouldn't be allowed to be drive. There should be annual screenings and a minimum health requirement. This driver in his 70s with a heart condition, was lucky to not have killed himself and/or others.

Leeds: M62 motorist brings sick driver's car safely to a stop

John Barlow used his car to ease the Audi to a halt on the M62 after seeing its driver was unwell.

www.bbc.co.uk

Revoking licenses from the very ill ones will decongest roads and make cycling safer. The average age in the UK isn't getting any lower.

 

[flecc]

Revoking licenses from the very ill ones will decongest roads and make cycling safer. The average age in the UK isn't getting any lower.

Thinly disguised attack on the elderly.

It's the young who are by far the most dangerous on the roads, causing a wholly disprorportionate number of the accidents.

The mature and elderly are the safest age groups, their main risk being suffering this kind of attack that the media so often indulge in.

The insurance companies know the truth and charge accordingly, it's not the elderly who have to pay thousands to get insured to drive.
.

 

[guerney]

He's only been banned from driving for "Over three years". Is his eyesight expected to improve in prison? Maybe they serve a lot of carrots? Any reasonable person wouldn't have continued driving. In my experience at least, age calcifies brains and it's harder to change one's ways and points of view. Often it's not worth the effort trying.

Ill fat people, ill elderly people and those with very bad eyesight should have their licenses revoked.

Elderly motorist unable to see 10ft away killed cyclist

Peter Gardner, 82, is sentenced to six months in prison and is disqualified from driving for more than three years after the fatal crash

www.telegraph.co.uk

 

[Chainmale]

There are so many medical conditions that are notifiable to DVLA, the problem is that the system requires drivers to self report - never really going to work is it.
When I took my driving test way back in 1971 the only thing I was nervous about was reading the number plate at the start (yes I have been quite short sighted since childhood - corrected with appropriate glasses). To this day it would still be my main worry if I had to take a driving test despite having regular eye tests. I often find myself checking as I walk down the street, selecting a vehicle then counting the paving slabs to check the distance.

 

[StuartsProjects]

selecting a vehicle then counting the paving slabs to check the distance.

A tip.

Measure out a known distance of say 50m or 100m on a bit of tarmac or grass.

Then count how many double paces you do in 100m, for me its 62.

That pacecount is then very useful, particulary for navigating in the hills in the dark, white out or dense fog conditions, however;

useful also for measuring the 20m for the eye check.

 

[StuartsProjects]

I fully appeciate its fun to have a go at older drivers, after all they 'must' be decrepit, unable or just unwilling to do action packed (dangerous) manouvers etc.

But the reason why the younger masses make fun and\or are critical, is the intense jealousy that on average older drivers are much, much safer, less likely to have accidents than the younger masses and can get much cheaper insurance.

Sure there are probably a few older drivers with health conditions meaning they should not be driving, but of the younger drivers how many are on drugs, pissed, driving to fast or just rubbish drivers, quite a lot if their insurance premiums are a guide.

 

[StuartsProjects]

Thinly disguised attack on the elderly.

If the intent is to make the roads safer for cyclists, then there need to be far more rigour in the training and licensing of new drivers.

 

[AndyBike]

Not OCD.

I worked at the DVLA.

At the entrance, and for use by the public, is a large sign 'Can you read the number plate' and there is a standard number plate placed at the required distance.

So every day when I left work I would use the DVLAs setup to test my eyesight .......

So can we infer from this that you havent done this for a while ?.

 

[StuartsProjects]

So can we infer from this that you havent done this for a while ?.

Yes, not been to the DVLA for a while.

 

[guerney]

I hope he gets fatally rear-ended in prison

 

[guerney]

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