Just a quick Monday moan about medicals. Well a question really.
How come if you’re in your 80s you can drive an un-MOT’d early 60s classic around like Mr Magoo down a road full of potholes at 60mph on a mountainside in the rain, hail and snow with your dog in the back wearing a Mexican hat , shorts and Hawaiian shirt (you not the dog) with no seat belt on your radio on full blast, arm out the window and little kids only feet away on the pavement and cats running across the road in the middle of the night on ice in a force 8 gale overtaking horse riders BUT if you hit 60 years of age and you drive around on nice smooth circuits wearing a full safety harness, fireproofs, crash helmet in a fully caged scrutineered car with an extinguisher system, no passengers, no pets, no pedestrians on a smooth track surrounded by safety barriers, gravel traps, marshals and medics on a nice sunny day you’ll need a doctors medical report before you can do so?
Pete, this is all good practice for you in preperation as to when you become a 70 year old ..Then the DVLA take away from you any right that you had to drive any-vehicle over 3.5t .. to get those ( Lost Catagorys ) back onto your Driving Licence that is easy go get a Doctors Medical & Eyesight Test + Form D4 filled in, then no problem DVLA ( maybe ) will give you the ability to drive what was already on your GB Driving Licence .. BUT that is for just the next 12 months & then that Medical + D4 application to the DVLA all starts over again at 71 years of age & again each & every year onwards .. that is until you give up the GB driving licence for any vehicle over 3.5t or maybe its just better to Kick the Bucket
Should any 70 year old Forum Member be in this situation my best advice is contact a company called D4 ( they are nationwide) and they can sort the medical bits & fill in this D4 Form and apply to the DVLA on your behalf .. this is the cheapest way to sort this issue.
Polarsilver wrote: ↑Mon Apr 28, 2025 6:06 pm
Should any 70 year old Forum Member be in this situation my best advice is contact a company called D4 ( they are nationwide) and they can sort the medical bits & fill in this D4 Form and apply to the DVLA on your behalf .. this is the cheapest way to sort this issue.
I used D4 a few years ago after my Surgery cancelled my appointment to renew my licence on the day! Unfortunately my blood pressure readings were not good enough so the examiner could not issue a certificate which I needed as I was a volunteer driver for the community bus. After monitoring my blood pressure for a week the my doctor was happy. However, we were going to my Son in Holland by car so I needed a licence for the trip so gave up the extra licence.
As a "Minibus" driver I was regularly assessed by an examiner for competence.
Pete wrote: ↑Mon Apr 28, 2025 3:08 pm
Just a quick Monday moan about medicals. Well a question really.
BUT if you hit 60 years of age and you drive around on nice smooth circuits wearing a full safety harness, fireproofs, crash helmet in a fully caged scrutineered car with an extinguisher system, no passengers, no pets, no pedestrians on a smooth track surrounded by safety barriers, gravel traps, marshals and medics on a nice sunny day you’ll need a doctors medical report before you can do so?
Answers on a postcard. .
Pete, have you noticed the average age of regular competitors at hillclimbs?
On Sunday there was a serious incident at Prescott which was dealt with very efficiently by the organisers who cleaned up and proved temporary barriers for the spectators (a Cotswold stone wall was partly demolished, fluids etc on track etc which reminded me of a comment from a very experienced scrutineer at a presentation recently -along the lines "we are not here to stop you competing but to ensure your safety." An example he gave was that an elderly, large competitor needed steps to get over the side bar of his car which he thought would not enable him to get out of his car within, I think 20s? if he hit the barriers which are very close. A simple timed test resulted in side bar being removed and the competitor taking part. He also mentioned that the extinguisher system is there to allow time to exit the car.
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