Do older motorists need refresher tests?

TWO elderly drivers (Mail) have had an impact on the lives of my sister and myself. When our father was in his late 70s, he had a couple of minor accidents in which, fortunately, no one was hurt. We told him to stop driving. Then he developed vascular dementia, and one day called the RAC because he couldn’t start the car: it turned out that he had forgotten how to start it. The RAC reported him to the DVLA and his licence was taken away. Dad died in 2010 at 87. Mum had looked after him for the final two years of his life, and after he died, she had her life back again. She was always very independent and continued living alone. In June 2011, she walked to her local shop, five minutes from her home and was standing on a pedestrian traffic island waiting for the signal to cross the road when there was a collision between two vehicles. A car driven by an 87-year-old man mounted the island and ran mum over, killing her. The police officer who visited me the next day said ‘had that driver been 27 and not 87, he would probably have reacted differently. His reflexes would have been quicker, and he would have avoided her.’ It was very sad as mum and the car driver knew each other. The inquest verdict was ‘death due to an accident’, and no charges were brought. The car driver said to me a few days after the accident: ‘This will be with me until my dying day.’ He continued driving until a few weeks before he passed away in 2014. Mum had been looking forward to her 90th birthday which, sadly, she never made.

MARGARET LAWRENCE, Braintree, Essex. DEsPItE his grief, it’s unfair of Benjamin Brooks-Dutton (Mail) to lump all elderly drivers together. Many need a car because of lack of public transport, or, as in my husband’s case, driving a disabled wife around. Most accidents are caused by younger people trying to keep in front of everyone else. stop criticising elderly drivers — you’ll be one yourself one day, but maybe you’ll be able to afford taxis. try living on a basic state pension. If tests for older drivers become law, who will pay for them?

P.A. DILLON, Basingstoke, Hants.