A new survey by digital car finance lender, Carmoola, has revealed that as many as 36% of Brits think that older drivers’ licences should be revoked due to what they called ‘old age.’ The nationally representative survey, which was conducted on 2,000 adults, also found that a fifth of Brits believe that drivers should be required to retake their driving practical and theory tests every 10 years.
A stark divide between older and younger drivers was clear in the research, with 11% of Brits thinking that licenses should be withdrawn once drivers reach 70 years old.
Interestingly, according to data from gov.uk, in 2022, around a fifth of all killed or seriously injured casualties from collisions involving cars were in collisions which involved a young car driver. Alternatively, drivers aged 50–59 were involved in 12% of reported road accidents in the UK. Aidan Rushby, founder and CEO of Carmoola, said: “Our recent survey highlights that, despite no current laws mandating it, the majority of Brits believe drivers should be required to retake their tests after a certain number of years to maintain safety on UK roads.
A stark divide between older and younger drivers was clear in the research, with 11% of Brits thinking that licenses should be withdrawn once drivers reach 70 years old.
Interestingly, according to data from gov.uk, in 2022, around a fifth of all killed or seriously injured casualties from collisions involving cars were in collisions which involved a young car driver. Alternatively, drivers aged 50–59 were involved in 12% of reported road accidents in the UK. Aidan Rushby, founder and CEO of Carmoola, said: “Our recent survey highlights that, despite no current laws mandating it, the majority of Brits believe drivers should be required to retake their tests after a certain number of years to maintain safety on UK roads.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Well, I think, I think that in general, when you age, you do, you know, you can become
00:10more susceptible to certain illnesses, things like eyesight, hearing, they may deteriorate.
00:15But of course, everybody is different. So the thing I was quite interested in from this
00:20research was that people were just so willing to write people off, as it were, just based
00:26on age, it wasn't a kind of a caveat of, well, if they get to a certain age, or they,
00:32you know, develop something that suggests they are maybe more dangerous behind the wheel
00:36or may require some amendments, adjustments to what they're doing, that didn't come out.
00:42It was all about age.
00:43Obviously, there's a clear divide between the younger and older generation here. Why
00:48do you think that is? And how do you think the over 50s would react to that?
00:52Yeah, well, so I mean, it's been interesting, the reaction we've seen some people are understandably,
00:58you know, offended by the very idea that they should have their license revoked just because
01:02they reach a certain age. I'd be inclined to agree with that viewpoint, because, you
01:07know, I think that it's not just about age, it's, are you capable rather than are you
01:11a certain age. But I do see that, you know, there's there's merit in people perhaps proving
01:20that they have the ability to drive safely a lot much longer after they pass their test.
01:25Because, you know, as we all know, you pass your test from as young as the age of 17.
01:30And you never really need to prove that you can still drive safely again, ever again in
01:35your life, as long as you know, you don't have any accidents or, you know, get speeding
01:39tickets and all that sort of stuff. So I can see it from both sides. But yeah, personally,
01:44I, I'd rather, I'd rather my driving be judged on how I drive than how I age. So that's why
01:51we have punishments for things like being on your phone or speeding, etc. Try and keep
01:57the roads as safe as we possibly can.