Don't mean she got shit eyesight JH she could be just a shit driver. Sorry I took so long to type this, I couldn't find my glasses.
She’s a shit driver and her eyesight is shit when she doesn’t have her glasses on. To be fair, she does drive with them on, but her driving is so bad I think she must have those blackout ones on. She’d never pass a retest and I think retests should be done for the sake of other road users.
I’m pretty sure what they’d do is submit a D751 to the DVLA asking them to revoke your licence. The DVLA would then contact you to to do so. It wouldn’t be “on the spot” and if you got an optician to confirm your eyesight the DVLA wouldn’t. I’m pretty sure there is no Police power to revoke a driving licence. They can’t for drink/drug/dangerous driving, so unless someone’s brought in new legislation, it’ll only be the court or DVLA who can. Police will just report you to the DVLA for an emergency (24-72hr) review. Equally they’d only do it in good lighting. Night/rain etc wouldn’t count. Police already do this, after a serious collision. It’s nothing new. All they’re doing is spending a month doing random checks (like they do drink driving in Summer/Christmas).
If that is the case and it has been misreported (not very unusual) then that is fair enough. The main thing is to be able to make an appointment with an optician if you think that the Police are wrong. The real issue is that there is no re-=testing for older people. My mother was driving when she was 85 and the car was bashed to f*ck. She broke her hip bone a couple of years ago that meant she can no longer drive. The family all breathed a sigh of relief. What is really required is a mandatory driving test for everybody over a certain age and then retests every so often.
I couldn’t agree more. Currently even if it’s obvious that a serious accident was caused by someone’s age/medical condition the Police can’t take the licence. Only inform DVLA. Even then, if they’re friendly family GP signs to say they’re ok, they continue to drive. I’m a huge advocate of further training. Maybe regular check drives with a driving instructor over 70? Rather than a full retest (which would put a huge strain on the system). I’m sure an instructor could make an informed decision to refer you for a full retest within 30 days if they thought you needed it.
My understanding is that under legislation introduced in 2013 in response to the death a 13 year old girl knocked down on a pedestrian crossing by an 83 year old who had previously failed a road side eye test, police have the facility to report a failed road sight eye test electronically to the DVLA who can revoke a licence within in hours. There is no appeal, only a process to reapply for your licence. Andy
As others have already said, the situation as of now appears to be in three police areas being Thames Valley, Hampshire and West Midlands. Drivers who fail to read a number plate from 20m (65ft) away when stopped by police will have their licences revoked immediately in a new crackdown. There is no mention of rain, poor light or night conditions being exempted. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-45387965 I think your ideas are much more rational. Ever thought about taking over the UK road safety board?
Depends on which news provider you read the article in. My research indicates that it is possible to revoke the licence in as little as 2 hours. Andy
The BBC say and I quote "Drivers who fail to read a number plate from 20m (65ft) away when stopped by police will have their licences revoked immediately in a new crackdown". https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-45387965
I may be in favour of retests JH, but only if their across the board, not just for older people. Don't know as a fact but I would hazard a guess that the majority of accidents in cars, especially high speed ones occur to younger drivers, male and female, hence massive premiums. So I'm not in favour on an older age only retest. How many drivers on here now, if they were dragged off the street would pass their theory test yet alone the driving test.
p.s. What's the relevance of being able to read a number plate rather than see it at 65ft, now if I couldn't see the bloody vehicle the number plate was attached to, then I would agree.
If a driver has caused an accident by their dangerous driving, they can be arrested, prosecuted, and if convicted their sentence might include disqualification. Police can properly arrest people on the spot, but the arrestee then has certain protections provided by law. Any sentence is imposed by a judge in a court, not by a police officer. The notion of a policeman having power to impose what amounts to a disqualification arbitrarily and unchecked is horrifying. The person having their license taken away might be you ... or me ... or anyone at all.
Difference being, younger people’s accidents tend to be lack of education and talent. Older people tend to have outright lost the ability to drive.
I wonder if this will be another new power that never gets used? Like the ability to prosecute middle lane hoggers which has resulted in just 135 fines in 5 years, despite 1 in 3 people admitting to doing it. Could this be another law passed whereby it's rare that we actually ever read about some near blind old duffer, who's license has been rightfully revoked ??
