Sir Stirling Moss acknowledges over-70s should be retested

When politicians or even police chiefs put forward their views on ways to make the nation's roads safer, many motorists are all too quick to dismiss them as 'health and safety gone mad' zealots who don't know what they are talking about.

However, it would be hard to level such a charge at Sir Stirling Moss, who has joined the calls for the over-70s to be made to re-sit their driving tests, regardless of how capable they believe themselves to be when it comes to being behind the wheel.

The 79-year-old, who certainly knows a thing or two about handling a car, having finished as a runner-up in the Formula One World Championships on four separate occasions back in the 1950s, has revealed that he agrees with the view that older drivers often lack the reaction speeds necessary to keep both themselves and other road users safe.

What's more, the racing legend believes that the ways of the road are not as they once were, with many older drivers still stuck in the past when it comes to rules, regulations and even manners.

"I do think older drivers should be re-evaluated because first of all, a lot of the road signs are changing and the road ethics are changing and the way the roads are formed," Sir Stirling told the BBC Wales show 'Week In Week Out'.

"There are many things one has to keep up with. I think it would be a good idea to have a new evaluation when we reach 70, then 75, 80," he added.

Of course, there may be those who disagree, arguing that drivers are already required to declare their medical condition to the DVLA upon reaching 70, with the powers in place to take their licence off them should they be deemed unfit to drive.

Additionally, just as with speed cameras, some of the more libertarian British motorists are likely to claim that, rather than being safety-driven, such a policy would help first and foremost the Treasury, with tens of thousands of drivers forking out to re-sit their tests each
year.

While such an argument can be easily dismissed, critics of such re-testing plans may well have a point were they to argue that, far from being older drivers who pose the greatest threat, it is younger – and particularly male - motorists who are the biggest danger, so why not concentrate what limited resources there are on making sure that they are up-to-scratch?

For now, it looks like the current system will stay in place for some time yet, with pensioners given the right to decide when they should apply for their bus pass and give up their car keys and medical professionals there to advise them when to say enough is enough.