THE case of Joan Keegan raises interesting questions about elderly divers.
Keegan, now aged 78, has been banned from driving after mowing down a pedestrian on a crossing in Great Moor Street, seriously injuring the victim.
The driver said she hit the accelerator instead of the brake, sending the car speeding across the road, missing other pedestrians and colliding with traffic lights.
She is lucky she did not kill the woman crossing the road, or seriously injure herself.
Everyone makes mistakes, especially at the wheel, but it is the consequences and the potential consequences that must be taken into account.
Had she not struck a pedestrian, the court would have been well within its rights to ban her anyway because of the seriousness of what happened.
Until drivers reach the age of 70, it is up to them to ensure they are still fit to drive. At 70, they must renew their licences every three years and they must confirm their eyesight is good enough to continue driving.
Irrespective of a person’s fitness to drive, the roads and volume of traffic will have changed dramatically during the course of their driving career, especially for those who use their cars less.
Introducing a retest at 70 would help improve standards and get people off the road who would otherwise continue driving even if they were not 100 per cent fit to do so.
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