Should Senior Drivers Be Labelled?

Do you think it should be the case that a driver should somehow alert you if they are elderly? It’s not as silly of a question as it may seem, AA conducted a survey which found that almost half the drivers that took part if they were made aware that a driver was elderly they would leave more space in front and avoid tailgating. Senior drivers have been the subject of controversy for quite a while now, there has been a few times I have seen an elderly driver going far too slow for the flow of traffic even to the point it become dangerous.

The fact people say they would be willing to accommodate elderly drivers in such a way is great, the trouble is identifying them when you are in the vehicle behind or ahead, it’s not all that easy. This is where the idea stems from, many drivers have stickers that display “Baby on Board” “New Driver” “Learner Driver” etc. It’s a medical fact that as you get older your reactions are slower which of course can be extremely dangerous, similar traits to that of a drink driver who are the biggest danger on the road, that may be a bit of an exaggeration but it’s not far from the truth.

Older drivers have experience and knowledge of the road so that works in their favour, and of course not all of them have slow reactions so it’s a similar controversy to that of young drivers. Young drivers however have to pay massive insurance premiums to accommodate their stereotype so senior drivers having to display a sticker is a very good compromise and could potentially be the answer to the controversy. Despite that it can only really have a positive effect, anything that can help accident rates decrease is a good thing.