The Daily Telegraph

Coroner calls for clampdown on older drivers

- By Olivia Rudgard SOCIAL AFFAIRS CORRESPOND­ENT

A CORONER has called for a change in the law on how driving licences are reviewed for older people after the nephew of an 84-year-old motorist in a fatal crash said elderly drivers are given “a massive amount of respect that they should not be afforded”.

Geoffrey Taylor, a retired music teacher, attempted an illegal U-turn on a busy 60mph stretch of the A30 in Cornwall. He was killed when he drove out of a lay-by and swung his hire car at right angles to the road and a van ploughed into him.

Mr Taylor’s nephew, Philip Taylor, said: “He was a lovely man but I believe he was an appalling driver.

“I believe the stringency with which driving licences are given needs to be reviewed. Some older people are unfit to drive but because they are older people, they are treated with a massive amount of respect that they should not be afforded.” A Truro inquest heard from witnesses to the incident on the A30 Hayle bypass last August.

The victim, a member of the Blackburn Music Society for 40 years, had flown to Cornwall for a concert at Truro Cathedral, and had hired a car from Newquay airport. Police believe he may have been lost and was “attempting to turn around”.

Dr Emma Carlyon, the Cornwall coroner, recorded Mr Taylor died in a road traffic collision. She said details of the case would be sent to the DVLA and Department of Transport seeking changes in the way older drivers are vetted.

There is no upper age limit for driving in the UK. Licences expire at age 70 and must be renewed every three years, but this can be done without any test of the driver’s ability.

Campaigner­s have raised concerns over the safety of older drivers. However, a government briefing published in January stated “the risk of an older driver over 70 killing a pedestrian is less than that of middle-age drivers and half that of drivers aged up to age 25”.

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