BentMikey
Rider of Seolferwulf
- Location
- South London
I voted for educate, but I wonder whether both educate and prosecute might not be the right solution?
middleagedcyclist says they were elderly.
It could be that prosecuting them ends their driving career. Whether that's a good or a bad thing who is to say. Something to consider.
Unfortunately, I think many are blissfully UNaware.I voted for prosecute
Every ( legal ) road user is aware of how dangerous their vehicles can be but many choose to take unnecessary risks. Teaching people things they already knew but ignored is hardly any punishment, just a soft option.
middleagedcyclist says they were elderly.
It could be that prosecuting them ends their driving career.
I am still of the opinion that 'the elderly' should have to re-sit their test or complete a compuslory driving course at a certain age OR after driving for a certain amount of time. The majority are a nuisance on the road IMHO.
Tough.
That's why the totting up system exists, to allow licence holders a fair number of minor offences (or fewer serious offences) before they are deemed unfit to hold one for some determined period.
I have no sympathy for someone who finds himself in that position.
GC
If they are such a bad driver, then maybe ending their driving career is a boon rather than a burden.
A single incident doesn't demonstrate whether they are a bad driver or not. They could be doing the same error on every single junction for all we know or it was an occasional lapse. In a sense gaz is right because the system cannot really take any of this stuff into account (although policemen or people related to the person might exercise their judgement - it just depends whether your trust them or not). People react in different ways. Some people listen, some people don't.
We've all been through this with elderly relatives and friends, surely there isn't a need for me to write more?
The latest incarnation of this in my family is my estranged granny who has more or less given up driving apart from occasionally to the local supermarket 2 times a week to a couple of times a week. Instant panic sets in in relatives whenever she starts talking about driving outside the local area where shall we say without getting into incredibly nasty jokes that the driving culture is somewhere 'different'.
The best argument for prosecution is either gaz's or simply that in cycling terms it is so very, very rare.
Prosecution + education at least means it isn't an isolated thing. One theoretically reinforces the other for those that don't react to either.
If the incident was of such a level that the driver can be prosecuted, then they should be.
You don't just get banned for one single driving infraction though, let's be fair.
Who said I was talking about banning? I wasn't.
Often elderly people pack it in after/some time after an accident/points/some other incident. They haven't been banned and sometimes it is for minor things. The incident causes people/relatives to re-assess things and a decision is made. Surely I don't have to be writing out reams and reams about all this for people (although I probably do for glasgowcyclist).
Yes, thank you for that incredibly uneducated contribution. Of course I was completely unaware of all of this.