Older drivers make mistakes too.

[STEALTHY™]

i can be honest, i have made a few (3 or 4 i guess) mistakes in the years i have been driving but nothing that has caused any crashes.

So, not what you asked me? Thats amazing (just as it was when i said i hadn't caused any crashes either)

A mistake is something like missing a gear etc. Nothing like pulling out in front of a motorbike and killing the rider.

 

[Ozzyjim]

EVERYONE makes mistakes, Luckily the bigest one and hopefully the only one I have had behind the wheel was when on my L's putting my folks car back under the carport - I was too far left and slightly made contact with one of the brick pillars holding it up... crunch but luckily no damage to the bricks and only a small mark on the front bumper (they had a TP magna)... No drama's tho - it already had front end damage that was getting replaced about a week later at a crash shop as my mum had sneezed while travelling behind another car approaching a round-a-bout... in that case she was only about 10km/h caused just under 3k worth of damage to her car and 0 damage to the car infront (a 4WD with tow-bar)... AFAIK she has had no other accident history.. just a slight sneeze just as cars infront pulled up, that was it...

The Police precision SP? driving team for SAPOL had a accident where several cars were damaged at the Royal Adelaide Show several years ago in wet conditions.. Another mistake..

I just hate when the media make a big deal about p-platers causing havok on the road and all the accidents when the sa government actually publish information proving otherwise...

But everyone can have a mistake or be a victim of some-one else's mistake at anytime especially when on the roads.. I have seen many accidents and fatalities due to this so please everyone - stay safe, ignore your phones, keep an eye out on others around you..

Ozzy

 

[Darren_L]

I openly admit that I've made mistakes on the road.
Just last weekend, I was on the highway in my ute. Had the pushbikes on the back of the ute so my rear view was a bit obscured. I wanted to change lanes to pass a slow car. I switched on the indicator, checked the rear mirror, my drivers side mirror, shoulder checked and was about to change lanes when a car beside me in my blindspot hit the horn. I quickly swerved back into my lane to avoid a collision. That was a mistake that could have lead to an accident.

So yeah I think it's a fairly big call for anyone here to claim they have never made a mistake that may have lead to an accident at some stage throughout their driving history. Maybe some people just don't realise they have..... I know I've been cut off plenty of times where the driver seemingly is seemingly non the wiser.

 

[STEALTHY™]

EVERYONE makes mistakes, Luckily the bigest one and hopefully the only one I have had behind the wheel was when on my L's putting my folks car back under the carport - I was too far left and slightly made contact with one of the brick pillars holding it up... crunch but luckily no damage to the bricks and only a small mark on the front bumper (they had a TP magna)... No drama's tho - it already had front end damage that was getting replaced about a week later at a crash shop as my mum had sneezed while travelling behind another car approaching a round-a-bout... in that case she was only about 10km/h caused just under 3k worth of damage to her car and 0 damage to the car infront (a 4WD with tow-bar)... AFAIK she has had no other accident history.. just a slight sneeze just as cars infront pulled up, that was it...

The Police precision SP? driving team for SAPOL had a accident where several cars were damaged at the Royal Adelaide Show several years ago in wet conditions.. Another mistake..

I just hate when the media make a big deal about p-platers causing havok on the road and all the accidents when the sa government actually publish information proving otherwise...

But everyone can have a mistake or be a victim of some-one else's mistake at anytime especially when on the roads.. I have seen many accidents and fatalities due to this so please everyone - stay safe, ignore your phones, keep an eye out on others around you..

Ozzy

I have hayfever, yet i've never rear ended someone at a roundabout?

 

[Calaber]

I went down the highway yesterday afternoon and got stuck behind some oldies in a Peugeot 406. Its a 30km stretch of winding road downhill, with no passing opportunities at all. 90K zone, they sat on 70 the entire way.

A little town halfway, 60K zone with a 40K zone active school crossing (3pm).. their speed remained at 70 the whole way through the town and past the school.

Past the town, limit rises to 100. Their speed remains 70.

Its not their skills that are in question in this case, its their attitude. Many (not all) older people feel that their age gives them license to do any bloody thing they want. Screw you, I'm old, give way to me.

I think this attitude also contributes to a lot of problems personally, its not just the physical issues they may have.

I agree Daks. That attitude, plus the fact that they maintain their "right" to their mobility, regardless of the consequences.

We are both in an age category where the question of fitness to continue driving will arise much sooner than many on this forum, so you might expect us to be defensive of older (old) drivers. I'm certainly not. I live in an area where P platers and the elderly both inhabit the streets in significant numbers. Both groups have their ignorant and selfish representatives. I'm not singling out this old woman or any other specific person, but after watching my father in law continue to drive years after he should have hung up his driving gloves, AND being aware of my own limitations, I suspect that many older drivers completely fail to recognose or acknowledge their inadequacies or unfitness to drive and continue to do so because they have a right to do so. Full stop.

 

[Ozzyjim]

I have hayfever, yet i've never rear ended someone at a roundabout?

lol - yeah I have hayfever too mate.. was just one of those unfortunate times... What made it worse was my nan wasn't in the best health and we needed the car.. just lucky I guess she didnt hit the go pedal at the same time... the look on the face of the police officer when she went to report it was priceless... Hi I want to report a car accident..... but it was all my fault - I sneezed.... The officer was so shocked, she said we NEVER get anyone saying they were at fault..

I know the crash shop did a speedy job on it as we needed the car, but they left brackets bent - bodgied upwires for the lower indicator that got sheered by sheetmetal... pretty bad job if u ask me - didnt even need paint.. from memory it was front bumper the grill, pass side headlight (+ bracket behind was bent) and the pass side lower indicator had wire cut thru by sheetmetal behind bumper..

 

[Cheap6]

No, i have not. Because i dont drive outside my limits, or my cars limits

I find that hard to believe. Very, few errors? Yes. Being able to compensate for errors by leaving a margin? Yes. No errors? No. With any task when human beings are the actors, no matter how practiced or skilled, there are going to be errors.

Probably the most objective measurement of the average competency of drivers, of any age, is the insurance rates. If you are young, inexperienced and stuck with the overconfidence of youth, your rate is high. If you're old, and suffering the infirmity of age, your rate is high. If you're somewhere in the middle, your rate is lower.

Mandatory, maybe expensive, retesting every few years or maybe after a crash or incurring a fine might encourage a more focused attitude to driving. Simply propelling a vehicle along a road is a fairly simple task once mastered. It's the other, unexpected, stuff that will get you.

Defensive driver training must help, particularly in the early few years of driving but any skill must be practiced so that it is not lost. That requires the correct attitude. Too few people have it. I suspect that more people contributing to this forum do have it than in the wider community; those who care about driving and want to do it well vs those who just want to get where they are going.

I have seen a very similar incident to the one Calaber described. A middle aged woman got her feet tangled up - wearing very high heels; that's an attitude problem - and wiped out 4 (including her own) cars in a parking lot. Fortunately, no one was injured. People of all ages can do stupid things.

One of the Australian paralympians was a young woman whose leg was amputated when she was hit by a car while putting the rubbish into the waste bin at her place of work.

Actually, even as a pedestrian you can walk "defensively" near traffic. eg. I try to stand away from the traffic side of telegraph poles and sign posts while waiting at lights just in case.

 

[STEALTHY™]

I find that hard to believe. Very, few errors? Yes. Being able to compensate for errors by leaving a margin? Yes. No errors? No. With any task when human beings are the actors, no matter how practiced or skilled, there are going to be errors.

He never asked me if i have made driving errors. He asked me if i had done things which caused a crash or near miss, which the answer is no.

Either read what i've posted (and answerred to) or dont bother quoting me

 

[DAKSTER]

I agree Daks. That attitude, plus the fact that they maintain their "right" to their mobility, regardless of the consequences.

We are both in an age category where the question of fitness to continue driving will arise much sooner than many on this forum, so you might expect us to be defensive of older (old) drivers. I'm certainly not. I live in an area where P platers and the elderly both inhabit the streets in significant numbers. Both groups have their ignorant and selfish representatives. I'm not singling out this old woman or any other specific person, but after watching my father in law continue to drive years after he should have hung up his driving gloves, AND being aware of my own limitations, I suspect that many older drivers completely fail to recognose or acknowledge their inadequacies or unfitness to drive and continue to do so because they have a right to do so. Full stop.

Yeah mate I have a number of cars, most of them manual, but I rarely drive the manuals. I'm not confident my left leg will work when I need it to. If the right leg was as bad, I could probably still drive.. but I wouldn't, because I couldn't be sure of that leg working and that would be catastrophic at the wrong time. When the right leg gives up, I have to convert my car to hand controls, which will happen in time. Then I will have to consider carefully every time I get into a car whether I am confident my arms will work properly. When I reach the point where I cant honestly say they will, I'm off the road permanently.

I just hope I have enough brains and balls to admit it to myself when the time comes.

He never asked me if i have made driving errors. He asked me if i had done things which caused a crash or near miss, which the answer is no.

Either read what i've posted (and answerred to) or dont bother quoting me

I've read your posts thoroughly. You come across as though you are completely perfect and no-one else knows how to drive safely. Self confidence is a good thing, but not tempering it with a bit of humility will get you or someone else killed.

Everyone makes mistakes. If you have ever taken your eye off the road to look at a GPS, or change a CD, you are risking your own and others lives. If you have ever answered a phone call, even on bluetooth, you have been distracted from the road and are risking peoples lives. If you drive with your stereo at a volume where you wont be able to hear a car horn near by, you are risking lives.

Chatting with a passenger at traffic lights is potentially dangerous too. Ever nearly hit someone because the light changed but the car in front didn't move when you expected it to?

Missing a gear can be a potentially fatal mistake too incidentally, if your timing and circumstances are wrong.

 

[STEALTHY™]

I've read your posts thoroughly. You come across as though you are completely perfect and no-one else knows how to drive safely. Self confidence is a good thing, but not tempering it with a bit of humility will get you or someone else killed.

Everyone makes mistakes. If you have ever taken your eye off the road to look at a GPS, or change a CD, you are risking your own and others lives. If you have ever answered a phone call, even on bluetooth, you have been distracted from the road and are risking peoples lives. If you drive with your stereo at a volume where you wont be able to hear a car horn near by, you are risking lives.

Chatting with a passenger at traffic lights is potentially dangerous too. Ever nearly hit someone because the light changed but the car in front didn't move when you expected it to?

Missing a gear can be a potentially fatal mistake too incidentally, if your timing and circumstances are wrong.

Have you been on the roads lately? Most people DONT know how to drive safely (and thats how things like this thread happen). I dont think i'm the best driver. Either i am, or everyone else is just too lazy to drive properly (which is what i think is more accurate)...

The stuff you've listed isn't going to get someone killed. Unless someone is watching the GPS for a kilometre or something.
Ever nearly hit someone at the lights? Nope, never. I drive a manual, and the car is ready to move the second the lights change. If the car in front doesn't mve, my hand does, to the horn.