Tests

[Digit]

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-New ... ealth_MOTs

Roy.

 

[filsgreen]

I agree to it in principle, especially if you have to get your eyesight checked, and if another valid medical is sufficient for the Job.

 

[Digit]

Sorry mate, but I think it's rubbish. The idea of tests, yes, 10 yrs apart?
What good would that do?

Roy.

 

[filsgreen]

Better than no tests at all Roy?

 

[Digit]

I'm 68 mate, if I survive another ten yrs how valid would my medical be by that time?
Would you be happy driving with me knowing that I was passed as medically fit 9 yrs earlier?
Between 25 and 35 maybe, but between 80 and 90?
Apparently they would be voluntary, but if you had an accident and had not had the medical you could face prosecution. So 9 yrs after a medical no prosecution but at the same age without the medical you're nicked.
A defence lawyer would have a hay day with that I think.

Roy.

 

[Travis]

Good evening Roy

There is a sliver lining in this: I'm 71 and if and they throw me in jail for life when I'm 80 or 90, I won't stay there long.

T

 

[filsgreen]

I take your point Roy but the MOT springs to mind, It's valid for a year, however, something could go wrong five minutes after leaving the garage. Still doesn't stop the Government from enforcing the test, it's a standard that they find acceptable. Over here they don't have MOT's for cars, just infrequent roadside checks. On a positive note the medical may highlight something that may further your lifespan .

Phil

BTW I'm 50 this year and I have to have a class 2 aero medical every year costing roughly £200 to continue flying!

 

[Digit]

Exactly my point Phil, yearly, and even that hasn't stopped pilots from dying at the controls, but it's a damn site better than 10 yearly.
Private licence or commercial by the way?

Roy.

 

[frugal]

HGV drivers have to pay £150 every five years to have a medical to keep their license (from 45 I think), and then every year from 65.

 

[filsgreen]

Only a PPL Stude Roy, thirty eight hours in. Frugal, I've got my class one and did not renew it at 45 because of the cost of a medical. It didn't help that I hadn't drove one since passing my test in 1997

 

[Digit]

Best of luck Phil.

Roy.

 

[filsgreen]

Cheers Roy, do you fly?

 

[Digit]

I tried but my vision is distorted in the left eye due to surgery, this causes me to be able to see close up and at a distance, but in between every thing's distorted so that I couldn't read the instruments clearly. Therefore no chance of a licence, unhappily.
It was then that I found out that for a driver's licence you only need one eye and that with more than 60 per cent of some standard. Frightening isn't it?
One of our local taxi drivers was legally blind, well so I found out when he wrote my car off!

Roy.

 

[filsgreen]

Your story reinforces the necessity of eyesight tests on a regular basis. I used to drive taxis years ago and a colleague only had one eye.

Another taxi driver had a heart attack and required a heart transplant; he was back behind the wheel three months later. They found a heart for him while he was working and was asked to drive to a local school playing field, where a helicopter was waiting to take him to have his operation. Sad end to the story is that he died two years later.

Phil

 

[Digit]

I only found out about the law, at that time at least, by having my sight tested to establish my own situation.
I felt that I was safe to drive, but then, don't we all?

Roy.