He surrendered his licence?

[cee-dee]

OK, so Philip has surrendered his driving licence now?

Leaving aside who he is, do you think he should have done so and why?

If a young bloke had done the exact same thing would you expect him to surrender his licence too? 

Reading the news countrywide there are umpteen cases of young drivers causing disruption, havoc, mayhem and sometimes death but there's no calls for them to "surrender" their licence? OK, they might get banned for a while but they're allowed back on the road after their ban.

Some are made to take an extended test but will that end the possibility that they might revert to type and drive like a lunatic again? On the balance of probability, they're more likely to re-offend?

Going back to Phil, I suppose someone will say "He might kill someone next time"? True, he might have done but surely the "young" driver is much more likely to do that?

So, over to you, what do you think?

[right-then-petal]

About Time, How Many More Things Have Been Coverd Up

[margaret*e]

Do we believe he gave it up voluntarily?.

i think he should, not because of his age, but because he’s obviously not a competent driver, if the press is to be believed this is one in a long line of near misses.

[cee-dee]

I said "leaving aside who he is" didn't I????

What about all the young drivers causing crashes? What's sauce for the Goose is sauce for the Gander?

[upthecreekyetagain]

Much depends on why he “surrendered” his licence.  If it was his choice because he no longer felt ‘fit’ to drive or on the advice of his doctors then it was the right decision.

If it was a ‘political’decision then that is open to debate.

Despite being 70 this year and having to apply for a renewal of my licence I do think that there ought to be some checks before this is automatically issued.  An eye test for distance and peripheral vision strikes me as an obvious requirement as it is a medical fact that vision does deteriorate as we get older.  I also think that a doctor’s recommendation should be proactive rather than reactive as it currently is.  A simple health check and the doctor’s signature on the application form would suffice.

Another function that tends to deteriorate over time is reaction time - I can’t imagine it would be that difficult nor time consuming to set up facilities, alongside the current test centres, to test reaction times of those applying for a licence renewal.

[cee-dee]

A well-measured response and all valid but no mention of young drivers?

[upthecreekyetagain]

The idea that young drivers should ‘surrender’ their licences following an accident or poor driving is, just as in the case of Prince Phillip, a matter of personal choice.

[cee-dee]

The thing is, some of the young drivers who've crashed have not long taken a test and had their eyesight "tested" to a point and they've still crashed but have not had a media campaign about them?

[theelench]

Isn't "Reaction Time" inextricably linked to vision?  

A persons vision deteriorates with age as does the time it takes the brain to process what is being seen and how to interpret what is being seen, hence slower reaction times.

My guess is that he has already been through a whole battery of tests and has been "advised" that he is no longer fit to drive on the public roads and should give up his licence before anything more serious occurs.

We can all imagine the uproar if he was involved in a fatal accident, rightly or not it would be put down to him being a menace on the road, well past the time when he should have given up and only allowed to continue because he is who he is.

[margaret*e]

I didn’t say anything about who he is.

[upthecreekyetagain]

I’m sure that if one of the young “royals” had had a similar accident to that which involved PP then the media would have been all over it.

[upthecreekyetagain]

Yes, reaction time is “linked” to vision but even with very good eyesight then the time taken to process information and react is a separate issue.

[cee-dee]

If an "unknown" young driver was involved in a similar crash, would the media have been "all over" that?

There used to be an old road safety advert about looking both ways where a driver was moving approaching a junction. To his right was a lamp post. The driver looked right and left and took another look right and a motorbike was coming. The driver hadn't seen it because his movement and that of the motorbike kept it hidden by the lamp post.

It's possible to do that. ie Not see something due to whatever's coming being hidden by something else.

In times past, Signs were often "Halt at Major Road Ahead". Now there's just "Stop" or "Give way". I think that all junctions should be aligned so that you have to stop.

As to Phil and his calamity, I've seen no mention of the speed of the other car?

[upthecreekyetagain]

The answer to your first question is another question!

If an “unknown” elderly driver was involved in a similar crash then would the media have been over that?  - the answer is “unlikely” which suggests to me that it was the “status” of the driver that determines media interest rather than the actual incident.

[cee-dee]

A bit unfair? Media frenzy whipping up unrest? Almost a howling mob baying for blood? They've got it now?

The reason for the thread was not about Phil, it was about older (OK then, elderly) drivers. One high profile old geezer causes a prang and before long all elderly drivers will be subject to criticism if not scrutiny?

Approaching junctions, I'm wary that those there might shoot out in front of me and I wonder what a bird's eye view of Phils prang would show? Did he shoot out in front of the other car or did he just drive out? How fast was the other car going? Was the driver not aware that there was a car there ready to pull out.

Sure, the prang was Phil's fault but...... were there any "contributory factors"??

[suzieseaside]

I believe he said the sun was in his eyes so he didn't see the car.

[**bustysinclaire**]

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@cee-dee wrote:

I said "leaving aside who he is" didn't I????

What about all the young drivers causing crashes? What's sauce for the Goose is sauce for the Gander?

---

Thing is you started a discussion about a particular person and that person being one of the top Royals.

What did you expect CD, the discussion will include the fact he is a royal because that is one of the issues in question.

You really do like to be in control of everyones input to your liking and don't really tolerate and respect anything else very well.

In my opinion, age and it being Prince Philip is a completely different issue to youngters being anything other than competant drivers on the road.

Creeky made a very good post about age and driving and I agree whole heartedly with that. But as it is Prince Philip, it  makes the voluntary relinquishing of his licence that much more necassary because they the Royals have to be seen to be doing the right thing, giving a good example, as well as the saftey to himself and everyone else.

With younger drivers age doesn't come into it at all, the law will deal with them if needed, and they must have the opportunity to show they can learn by their mistakes and become good competent safe drivers. That really is their right the same as anyone.

But here's one for you, sorry if it isn't liked very much but it is my opinion and very relevant, in the near future we won't have to make those decisions for ourselves or have the need because of bad and careless driving to have the decision made for us, for 2 reasons.

1. No one will be growing old and loosing their faculties and 2. If driving of vehicles is something mankind will continue to do in the righteous new world, no one will be law breakers, careless, disrespectful and selfish drivers. All that will be a thing of the past.

What a wonderful prospect.

[**bustysinclaire**]

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@suzieseaside wrote:
I believe he said the sun was in his eyes so he didn't see the car.

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And that can happen to anyone can't it

[suzieseaside]

No excuse though. He shouldn't have pulled out if he couldn't see enough to know if the road was clear or if a vehicle was coming.

[upthecreekyetagain]

I agree that in the future we won’t have to worry about making decisions on whether to drive or not!

Autonomous cars will make them irrelevant.