True independence is still a car and a driving licence

I don’t know who I feel more sorry for: older drivers struggling to hang on to their driving licences, cars, independence and dignity, or youngsters facing the tricky but essential task of passing their tests, before getting a foot on the car-ownership ladder, then paying for expensive insurance policies. 

Let’s start with those mature motorists who’ve been driving for decades but are in no mood to hang up their car keys. Good on ’em, I say. You show me a fit and well car driver approaching, or beyond, pension age, but still safe behind the wheel, and I’ll show you a proudly independent, self-reliant soul living a fuller, more active, productive and enjoyable life. 

Such seniors value their 24/7 cars. It’s often the case that they simply can’t and don’t want to resort to public transport – not least because many of them (particularly those living in rural areas) know that clean, regular, dependable, day/night bus, coach and train ‘services’ are at best patchy, at worst non-existent.  

But some veterans are being forced to give up being active drivers. Partly to blame are factors such as reduced confidence behind the wheel; driving at night; deteriorating eyesight and other age-related issues. But inflation-busting rises in vehicle, fuel, VED and car insurance costs, together with motoring rules, regulations and fines, are playing a big part in forcing them out of their driving seats, too. And when they are, priceless pleasures like freedom, liberty, independence and social lives can be severely compromised.

The Mature Drivers’ Conference was staged in Birmingham last week, while the Young Driver Focus event is being held at London’s RAC Club on May 13. Trouble is, tickets to events like this are limited, conditional and expensive. Attendees tend to be politicians, academics, and members of the road-safety establishment, not ordinary, real-world motorists seeking practical, easily accessible advice and guidance. Shame, that.

More modest than the RAC Club is the Farnborough Exhibition Centre in Hampshire, which will host the British Motor Show from 21-23 August. Those aged 17 or under can not only gain free entry to the event when accompanied by a paying adult, but they can also buy brief drives in proper, full-sized cars (or, for under-10s, less powerful, scaled-down versions), with guidance from on-site instructors. Formal and informal careers, car design, maintenance, rebuilding and driving advice will be available, too. 

Driving is an essential skill for adult life. Show me a youngster who’s taken a course of proper driving lessons, then sat and passed their test, and I’ll show you someone who’s massively increased the prospect of getting a job, meeting a wider circle of people and discovering the bits of Britain where buses and trains can’t go. Degrees and apprenticeships are important, but so is proudly earning ‘qualified driver’ status.

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