£1 million-plus damages for cyclist who will spend rest of her life in wheelchair

all bus drivers and hgv drivers have to have regular medicals and eye tests every 5 years and have to pay for it themselves so why not everybody as well.

5 years mandatory eye tests over the age of 70. Conducted by DVLA opticians - not your favourite GP. My mother (aged 82) has had more scrapes with bollards and other cars then she cares to mention and she admits she can't drive at night as the oncoming lights halo. She will not give up her car and she would probably pass her GPs test. That said she drives so slowly that most cyclists are only in danger as they overtake her.

I propose anyone over 80 sell their car and the government use some of this revenue to employ younger people as drivers for the elderly. More jobs for the unemployed and less bewildered elders on the road. Simples!

Also whilst we're in simple solutions lets solve the Euro crisis by making the banks cut our mortgages by 50% for 3 years as long as we take a mandatory 2 week holiday in Greece or Italy. Simples 2!

STATO - the issue of eye testing has been raised at EC level within the corridors of power. Road safety is a key policy in Europe just now. It's entirely likely we'll see mandatory eye testing for all drivers in Europe in the next few years as this is a known problem. Following on from that, regular ability tests on drivers are also a possibility.

Hope the lady is OK. There's a great spinal injury charity called Back Up who help people after accidents like this with activities like skiing and sailing and hand cycling.

I'm running the London Marathon for them later this month.

Quango - was the person who nearly knocked you off an older driver?

Periodic driver ability retesting would involve an array of checks and spatial awareness would be included in that, along with eye tests. A lot of drivers have inadequate eyesight, not just older people. Yes, motor skills can degrade with age. But the rate at which these degrade vary from person to person. Some people are in better shape aged 70 than others in their 30s.

The way karbonKev's post is punctuated means it can be interpreted in different ways.

Having periodic checks on all drivers to assess ability would deal with a lot of safety problems on the roads. Ensuring this included training for awareness of vulnerable road users would further boost safety.

Karbon Kev - some drivers aged over 75 are competent, some aren't. The same goes for younger drivers to be honest. Retesting and regular eye checks for ALL drivers at periodic intervals would solve a lot of problems. I think any suggestion of a ban n drivers over 75 would quickly face challenges on grounds of age discrimination - and rightly so.

Again, absolutely disgusting until something is done about the increasing numbers of imcompetent older drivers. A total ban of anyone over 75 imo ...

I'm not sure the upper age limit would be either a good idea or fair Malmesbury.

Different people age at different rates. Certain people can be unfit to drive at comparatively young ages due to various illnesses or disabilities. Others may well be fit and healthy and able past the age of 100. The key to ensuring safety as people age is through testing of the eyes and also driving ability - there does need to be a change in legislation to ensure that all drivers are tested at periodic intervals to ensure their fitness behind the wheel.

As the law prevents people under 17 from driving, may be it's time to consider an upper age limit after which people are no longer allowed to drive. Before that age, agree with regular eye tests.

What I find scary is that there are probably a large number of elderly drivers who's eyesight is just as bad as this 89 year olds, but they won't accept the fact that they're getting old and that their eyesight is deteriorating.

In my car I've been sat behind pensioners who have had to come to an almost complete stand still to turn a corner at a simple junction, which they then crawl around at under 5mph. It worries me to think how much they're actually able to see, and what the consequences would be if they were to hit someone.

In several countries a drivers license is renewed every few years with a compulsory eye test. Surely it wouldn't be that hard to institute something along those lines here?