Harry Jamieson has clocked up more than two million miles since being given his driving licence in 1924 aged 17.
He never had to pass a driving test because it wasn’t introduced until 1935. Nevertheless his safety record is spotless: 88 years and not a single penalty point.
www.express.co.uk/posts/view/342006/Harry-s-still-driving-at-105
Harry, of Worthing, West Sussex, learnt to drive in an armoured Rolls-Royce before picking up his first car for £35 (£1,728 today) in 1928.
In the year Harry first got behind the wheel comedian Benny Hill was born and Lenin was buried.
Harry said: “I learnt to drive in an armoured car which weighed around seven tons so it was a lot different. Then I bought my first car which was a Singer 8. Then an Austin 10. I really loved that car, it was a classic. I have had many since, more than I dare to count.”
The retired electrician, a father of two and great-grandfather of five, now drives a red Ford Escort, itself a bit of a classic at more than 20 years old and having never broken down.
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The man to wave to and not a zimmer frame in sight..
He said: 'I used to travel a lot in my job around the country so I know the roads well. They are a lot different to what they used to be though. There was a time when I would travel half the country and not see another car on the road.
Read more and some photos of a guy who looks a lot lot younger than his years
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2193865/Britains-oldest-motorist-living-fast-lane-105-years-old.html#ixzz24nIkGI3D
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Out of morbid curiosity, id love a ride in the car with him, just to see how good he still is.
It amazes me these older folk who can still pass a driving test, I remember someone north of 90 did that a few years back, might have been the advanced test, cant recall.
Good luck to him.
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Lord Renton passed his driving test at the age of 95.
He had been driving since before tests were needed, but decided quite voluntarily to take the test. A brave thing to do, because apparently if he had failed his previous exemption would have lapsed. (Not like MOTs)
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What I see when I look at his photo is someone who is fit for the box and shouldn't be driving at his age.
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>> What I see when I look at his photo is someone who is fit for
>> the box and shouldn't be driving at his age.
>>
That's the mirror you're looking at Dog, his photo's over there...
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>> >> What I see when I look at his photo is someone who is fit
>> for
>> >> the box and shouldn't be driving at his age.
"I've never had an accident, but seen a few in the mirror though..."
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Well done him.
And if the other drivers have to cut him a bit of slack, then so what.
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That is a good age 105 and still driving a car.I always knew electricians have a easy live.
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>> Well done him.
>>
>> And if the other drivers have to cut him a bit of slack, then so
>> what.
>>
Only to a degree.
Taking it away from this particular individual, because we have no idea of his competence (or otherwise)......... where do you draw the line?
There are no doubt many competent drivers of a great age...and equally so many who are frighteningly out of touch with modern driving conditions and whose faculties are now such that they would have difficulty coping with the roads of a byegone era, let alone now.
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Yep. The fact that this is newsworthy is because it is so exceptional. 99%+ of those at this age either have already stopped driving or really ought to.
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Most of us will be dead at his age oilbuner.105 I feel like a young man.>;)
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Been out dogging again Dutchie?
:}
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Mind your own bussiness.>:)
All is fine here Diana is having the whip.Iam fifty shades of black.>)
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Give Diana my very best regards Dutchie.
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Thanks Dog she is smiling and reading her books.
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>> 99%+ of those at this age either have already stopped driving or really ought to.
Until you reach that age yourself and know what it's like, you're not qualified to make that statement. I'm guessing that you're one of the younger Car4players and are unjustifiably prejudiced against older drivers.
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>> Until you reach that age yourself and know what it's like, you're not qualified to
>> make that statement. I'm guessing that you're one of the younger Car4players and are unjustifiably
>> prejudiced against older drivers.
>>
Yes, it's true, I am younger (less than 40), but is it prejudice or is that a chip on your shoulder?
Notice we're talking about someone driving at 105, not 60, 70 or 80 or whatever. I'm not against older people driving, I'm not ignorant of the fact that I'm going that way myself! The problem is, whether we like it or not, our faculties are diminished over time. Of the few people who make that great age, there's even fewer that can or should be driving.
Medically, it would not be hard to establish a benchmark at which a majority of people will have reaction times, vision and visual-spatial abilities affected to such a degree that they are *possibly* not fit to drive, and should have to prove their capabilities on a regular basis.
I can't make that judgement, but I'm sure a bunch of qualified professionals could.
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>> but I'm sure a bunch of qualified professionals could.
>>
Always remember that the Titanic was designed by qualified experts.
And I speak as one....
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Nothing wrong with the Titanic.Full speed against a Iceberg any ship would have gone down.
Talking about ships I don't know how much a Icebreaker would take.The Russians have some powerfull icebreakers.
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No Dutchie.
The watertight bulkheads didn't go high enough.
After the collision, the boat listed. Water began to go over them , flooding other compartments progressively.
With properly designed bulkheads, the ship would at least have sunk much more slowly, if at all, allowing more time for rescue.
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I see what you mean so you are saying the design was wrong.Same problem with modern open cross channel ferries no bulk heads.All boils down to cost I would think and carrying less cars.Still the speed the Titanic was travelling wouldn't have helped would it.Can't understand a experienced Captain going full speed where there are Icebergs around.
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>> Always remember that the Titanic was designed by qualified experts.
>>
And so was the Moon landings and a whole load of other success stories!
The point is, a few medical experts in the field of aging could easily come up with a benchmark that says at age X facility Y is impaired by amount Z. And then the politicians can argue over what exact age to set a re-test limit at. Can't see anything wrong with that, and I suspect with an aging population (including the first generations where almost everyone drives) this issue will keep on coming up till somebody grabs it by the balls.
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>> Yes, it's true, I am younger (less than 40), but is it prejudice or is
>> that a chip on your shoulder?
There's a succulent piece of lettuce leaf ready for my tea but nary a chip!
:-D
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"99%+ of those at this age either have already stopped driving or really ought to."
I don't think you have to be 105 years old to make that statement. It seems entirely self evident to me. The problem is surely that you cannot really rely on people to know when it it time to give up, they will nearly always think they are OK. There has to be some external pressure, either in the form of a test or regulation.
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I always chuckle over that old joke
"I'd like to die peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather, not screaming in terror like his passengers".
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>> There are no doubt many competent drivers of a great age...and equally so many who
>> are frighteningly out of touch with modern driving conditions ............
Based on my own experience, people who haven't had a break in their driving automatically keep up with changes in driving conditions.
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Funny that the Titanic should be mentioned: old Harry is perhaps one of the very few people alive who might remember being told about the Titanic as a child.
Good luck to him.
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I see plenty of 50yr olds on a daily basis who are probably more decrepit than the average 80yr old.
Age is a poor tool for judging fitness to drive.
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>> Funny that the Titanic should be mentioned: o
>>
I remember seeing an old man being interviewed and asked what he thought was the main cause of his longevity.
He paused for a moment and then replied that it was probably cancelling his reservation on the Titanic.
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In 2010 the greatest number of car drivers in reported accidents were in the 40-49 age group.
See page 125 of this Department for Transport statistics report. tinyurl.com/czy23sp
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That's encouraging Snail, I turn 40 in a couple of months' time :(
A courier firm I used to work for employed a chap in his 80s who was more than a match for the rest of us in terms of early starts, punctuality, heavy lifting and accident record. He had to retire at 85 only because the company could no longer get insurance cover on the vans for him.
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There's a piece in today's Guardian about a 100-year-old driver in LA mowing down some schoolkids.
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>> There's a piece in today's Guardian about a 100-year-old driver in LA mowing down some
>> schoolkids.
BBC: www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-19419495
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This vindictive attitude against a poor guy because he is 105 is mean and unjust. It's the youngsters like this tearaway who need sorting out -
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/los-angeles-driver-100-hits-11-people-8096234.html
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>> It's the youngsters like this tearaway who need sorting out -
The one mentioned in the 2 posts above you mean :)
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>> There's a piece in today's Guardian about a 100-year-old driver in LA mowing down some
>> schoolkids.
>>
Which kind of proves my point, although a dose of left foot braking might have avoided this one... *ducks for cover* ;)
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Interesting follow up piece on Radio Four's Broadcasting House newsmag this morning.
Interview with former BBC correspondent Reginald Turnhill and his wife, both still driving in their nineties. Limited their driving mostly to local stuff these days though she said she drove into London occasionally. Both clearly sharp as tacks.
Twill be on i-player, about 15 minutes in at a guess.
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Are there some figures somewhere, comparing the percentage of drivers of each age who mow down people in bus queues?
Supposing it were found that the highest percentage were aged 19, would that be a good argument for automatically disqualifying all 19-year olds until they had repassed their test?
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Or you could turn that on its head and force a retest for anyone convicted of dangerous or careless driving?
Don't they do that anyway, and if not, why not?
Anyway, your stats would be silly, you'd need to adjust for the number of drivers in those age groups.
e.g. are 80, 90, 100 + drivers any more likely to cause death or serious injury as a percentage of mile driven for that age group?
19 year olds might cause more accidents, but there's a whole load more of them driving than 99 year olds.
Last edited by: oilburner on Mon 3 Sep 12 at 11:43
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105 years old and still driving - henry k
