Over the
next ten years, the amount of elderly drivers on the road will be double what it
is now. Thanks to advances in medical care, people are simply living, and
driving, for longer. This will inevitably mean more accidents on our roads.As
a result of the perceived increased risk, someone aged 75 will pay 33% more than
a 50 year old with exactly the same personal details and driving history.
Drivers aged 80 are heavily penalised, it's like being 21 again! The best deals
are reserved for people in their early 50's, however they won't get long to
enjoy the price cuts.
Women get an even rougher deal. Apparently, women's
driving gets worse with age, so their premiums will rise and rise as they get
older. Elderly women drivers pay even more than the men do.
It's a fact that
as people get older, their reactions get slower and eyesight often becomes
weaker. With more cars on the road and new complicated traffic systems being
built, it's understandable that some elderly drivers can get confused. There
really isn't any room for error on our busy roads and as a result, some
insurance companies are asking elderly drivers to undertake a medical
examination before they will agree to insure them.
There's a few things you can do to help the situation - firstly, do your very
best to hang onto your no claims discount and get no claims protection too, that
will pay for itself in the long term. Even if you do have a minor bump, pay for
it yourself rather than making a claim on your policy.
There are also things
you can do to lessen your chances of having an accident. Be more careful than
you used to be - particularly in car parks where cars are parked closely
together, and other cars can appear out of nowhere. Take a bit more time at a
junction to make sure that there is definitely no one coming. You can swivel
your shoulders rather than just your head to get a really good look at the road
on both sides.
It's not all bad. Some of the insurers that make a point of
insuring elderly drivers offer special extras to make life easier (and keep your
business). Saga will enable you to carry any company car no claims discount onto
a policy with them. Even better, if you decide to give up driving but there's
another person named on your policy, they can take on your no claims history as
their own. Another offering is to have an unnamed driver automatically covered
on the insurance in case they have to take over driving in an emergency
situation. Cornhill say that if you have stop driving because the DVLA
stipulates that you must for age-related health reasons, they will pay you £250
in cash.
Because it is clear that elderly drivers are a growing risk on the
roads, the government has stepped in with some suggestions. Nothing is set in
stone yet, but there's talk of introducing compulsory health checks for elderly
drivers. Some local councils, Torbay Council for example, have introduced
measures of their own. In Torbay they are campaigning for families and Doctors
to point out to elderly drivers who they believe to be unsafe on the roads that
they should consider giving up driving. It's about asking people to take
responsibility for others. As a spokesman for the Council said: "The problem is
that the elderly can't always see themselves when it's really time to give up
driving, so those closest to them must take responsibility for that."
A survey by The Institute of Advanced Motorists revealed that the majority of
elderly drivers were all too aware that they, as a group, cause more accidents.
This was resulting a lack of confidence to add to the other factors we have
already discussed. Seven out of ten older drivers said that they felt they would
benefit from a motorway driving refresher course, and six out of ten said that
they were worried about not being able to react quickly enough at a junction,
and on dark, badly lit roads. Advanced tests at the Institute have now been
extended to elderly drivers, to enable them to gain confidence and improve their
driving skills. It will also help take some people who really are not fit to
drive off the roads.
