Older drivers are better

IN RESPONSE to Kaylie Hassan’s letter last week (Cyprus Today, January 27) castigating driving abilities — in particular the skills of, in her words, “elderly drivers” — I wonder where she has researched her statistics.

Or is she basing her discrimination on her incident in the narrow street that she wrote about? I wonder also how she judges people to be elderly . . . ?

Who is to say the incident she described might not have been 50 per cent or wholly her fault?

Interestingly, the serious road traffic accidents reported on page seven of Cyprus Today last week all involved young men of 30, or below, years of age.

Might I suggest that a lot of older drivers here passed a UK driving test and are more qualified on the roads than these young people we often read about who “lose control” of their vehicles, and who may have passed their driving test here.

The high death rates on the roads here are unacceptable but are due to several factors.

Something does need to be done, but like it or not, Ms Hassan, blame frequently cannot be put on older, more experienced drivers, who tend to look ahead and read road conditions and other factors. I myself have learned here to expect the unexpected and react accordingly.

Speed and the refusal to wear seatbelts; the reluctance to restrain young children in car seats; and people driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs seem to me more relevant than blaming “elderly drivers”.

No doubt some older drivers should not be driving — but then again, it would seem, neither should some younger drivers.