Motoring Discussion > Max age to drive a bus. Miscellaneous
Thread Author: henry k Replies: 17
View Threaded 

New Tue 18 Sep 18 17:56 
 Max age to drive a bus. - henry k
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-34453910

"With no upper age limit restrictions for becoming a bus driver, many choose the profession as a post-retirement job option."

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-45561937
Reply to this message | Report message
       
New Tue 18 Sep 18 18:25 
 Max age to drive a bus. - Bromptonaut
A randomly chosen maximum age wouldn't prevent cases like that in Coventry. There are multiple forms of dementia occurring at ages with increasing frequency from 50 up (or before) and with massively varying rates of progression.

Question is how/why the driver in this case wasn't picked up. Did any of his colleagues notice the tell tales of forgetfulness and constant repetition?
Reply to this message | Report message
       
New Tue 18 Sep 18 18:40 
 Max age to drive a bus. - Pat
He would have had to have had an annual medical after the age of 65 too.

Pat
Reply to this message | Report message
       
New Tue 18 Sep 18 19:23 
 Max age to drive a bus. - zippy
>> He would have had to have had an annual medical after the age of 65
>> too.
>>
>> Pat
>>

There are professional doctors and there are quacks.
Reply to this message | Report message
       
New Tue 18 Sep 18 19:27 
 Max age to drive a bus. - zippy
Reminds me of a family friend who's first proper job was driving a bus at 21.

There was a crash (she wasn't involved) and a police officer got on the bus and ordered her to take a route through a carpark to avoid the crash. She didn't want to but the officer was insistent.

Of course there was a 6ft 6 barrier and the bus hit it.

The police officer promptly disappeared, whisked off by colleagues, but forgetting it was all captured on the buses' CCTV.


Reply to this message | Report message
       
New Wed 19 Sep 18 10:38 
 Max age to drive a bus. - Mapmaker
>>She didn't want to but the officer was insistent. Of course there was a 6ft 6 barrier and the bus hit it.

"Officer, there's a 6'6" barrier there that we are about to hit," might have been a sensible thing to say...
Reply to this message | Report message
       
New Tue 18 Sep 18 23:35 
 Max age to drive a bus. - Fullchat
One would expect your own GP to conduct a HGV PCV medical who has your medical history at their fingertips.
There seems to be a growth in establishments offering 'cheap' medicals. The will not have access to your history (or am I wrong on this score? ). Yes they can do a medical and complete the form based on the here and now but to my mind it needs more than this.
Lygonos?
Last edited by: Fullchat on Tue 18 Sep 18 at 23:37
Reply to this message | Report message
       
New Wed 19 Sep 18 00:04 
 Max age to drive a bus. - Lygonos
Yup.
Reply to this message | Report message
       
New Wed 19 Sep 18 02:22 
 Max age to drive a bus. - Pat
>>One would expect your own GP to conduct a HGV PCV medical who has your medical history at their fingertips.<<

Our local GP practices charge anywhere from £120 to £180. Lead times for booking is between 6 and 10 weeks (DVLA send the forms out approx 4 weeks before it's due) and it's conducted on one evening a week after 8 pm.
They fill in the form and do the statutory tests for that.

Cheap drivers medicals start at £45, an appointment can be had during the next week at a time of your choice often at weekends so no work is missed.
They fill in the form and do the statutory tests.

Pat
Reply to this message | Report message
       
New Wed 19 Sep 18 02:27 
 Max age to drive a bus. - rtj70
>> Cheap drivers medicals start at £45,

Are they thorough and what about access to previous medical history?
Reply to this message | Report message
       
New Wed 19 Sep 18 07:36 
 Max age to drive a bus. - Lygonos
Mostly relies on what the patient tells them, and then the DVLA will tally the report with any previous ones to ensure they are consistent.

Most drivers, understandably, see it as a necessary hoop to jump through.

A few wittingly or unwittingly will withold information from an examining doctor such as Glasgow's friend Harry Clark.

Reply to this message | Report message
       
New Wed 19 Sep 18 07:50 
 Max age to drive a bus. - Duncan
>> A few wittingly or unwittingly will withold information from an examining doctor such as Glasgow's
>> friend Harry Clark.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-39453847
Reply to this message | Report message
       
New Sun 23 Sep 18 07:34 
 Max age to drive a bus. - jc2
Most big firms/bus companies will have their own doctor on retainer-I never paid for a HGV medical or paid the renewal fee.
Reply to this message | Report message
       
New Sun 23 Sep 18 11:32 
 Max age to drive a bus. - sooty123
>> Most big firms/bus companies will have their own doctor on retainer-I never paid for a
>> HGV medical or paid the renewal fee.
>>

I was thinking the same, I didn't pay for my driving medical either.


Pat, is paying out of your own pocket common?
Reply to this message | Report message
       
New Mon 24 Sep 18 05:05 
 Max age to drive a bus. - Pat
Yes, it is now and I don't know of any firms who have their own doctor or even reimburse the driver for the fee.

It has swung the other way and there is more chance that a small family firm where you may be the only driver would do it.

Pat
Reply to this message | Report message
       
New Mon 24 Sep 18 07:02 
 Max age to drive a bus. - Lygonos
Reimbursement seems less common than in the past.

Many companies pay for occupational health services but I'm not aware of any of these covering driver medicals, though I wouldn't necessarily know if the medicals were undertaken elsewhere unless they detected an issue.

Most contact I get from occ health is requests for reports for staff that are off sick, and health issues that could have a work-related component eg deafness or breathing difficulties.
Last edited by: Lygonos on Mon 24 Sep 18 at 07:05
Reply to this message | Report message
       
New Mon 24 Sep 18 08:08 
 Max age to drive a bus. - Harleyman
Further to Pat's comments above; it's worth noting that eyesight tests have been made more thorough on vocational licence medicals. Up to a couple of years ago, the examination was somewhat perfunctory, consisting of the classic reading of the chart on the wall with one eye covered then t'other, which of course is open to abuse; and a fairly basic test for peripheral vision..

Nowadays one has to attend a qualified optician and go through a far more thorough examination which invobes eyeball scans, checks for glaucoma and other associated eye diseases and a proper eyesight test. Not before time in my opinion.

I am reimbursed for all my costs; and in my opinion that is only right.
Last edited by: Harleyman on Mon 24 Sep 18 at 08:10
Reply to this message | Report message
       
New Mon 24 Sep 18 09:34 
 Max age to drive a bus. - Lygonos
At least for PSV/HGV exams you can still have the eyesight check at a GP.

It's on the first page of the D4 form, and can be signed independently of the rest.

It is good practice however to have a more thorough eyesight/eye exam every couple of years at 60+ anyway as it can pick up subtle changes I won't often pick up.

Poor eyesight is by some margin the commonest reason to 'fail' a driving medical.

Last edited by: Lygonos on Mon 24 Sep 18 at 09:36
Reply to this message | Report message
       
Latest Forum Posts