Was in the car with my family and the person in front was driving as badly as I've ever seen someone drive, hazards on for a good three miles, weaving all over the road, random braking, my wife and I both thought the person was well over the limit.

We called it in on 999.

Got a call back about 1/2 hour later turns out she was 89 and doddering. Looks like her licence will be revoked. I feel like a proper shitheel.

NO, she was driveing very badly,she may have been drunk,she may have killed someone,let the Police decide,how would you feel if she had of run someone over.

She can always get a mobility scooter,or Dial A ride.

You did the right thing. She is a dangerous as a drunk driver, and just as likely to kill herself and someone else.

At the end of the day a driving licence is a privilege, not a birthright. I'm 39, have Type 1 diabetes, and as a consequence have to renew my licence every three years.

feel good that you've taken someone dangerous off the road..
i have the urge to do that to some of my patients who say they drive to my clinic….its so scary to think of them in a car..

Well don't, you may just have saved someones life, quite probably hers and if not some poor kid or anyone else unlucky enough to be in her path. Proper retests at 65 should mandatory for everyone (in fact they should probably mandatory for everyone regardless of age every 5 years). The right to be on the road should be down to your ability to drive safely, not some PC crap spouted by age concern about discriminating about older drivers.

I think the fact you feel bad about is to your credit, you did something most of us wouldn't have the bottle or thought to do.

Thank you

Aye, you did the right thing. If she was driving as badly as you say then she needs to be taken off the roads – and that time will come for all of us. What she'll save on running a car will cover taxis & buses, so don't feel too bad.

Agree with everyone else! Might be a bit harsh, but I think once you reach a certain age you should be given a 3 year licence, and each time it runs out, have to attend a session that assesses competency to drive. Or something like that anyway.

Stumpyjon: You beat me to it

You did the right thing

I feel like a proper shitheel.

Well don't.

You most likely did her a big favour,what if she had been weaving all over the road & gone head into another vehicle?,or mowed down a cyclist?

And it could so easily have been a driver OTL as you first thought.

old people that cant drive properly just shouldn't drive i got hit off my bike by a guy in his late 70's and he didn't even stop i got his registration and phoned the police turns out he didn't see me because he was half blind im a grown man and can take a good kick and tumble had to from being in the fleet air arm imagine what would have happened if it was a young child it still give's me chill's

I concur. You did the right thing. If someone is driving badly enough to make you think they are drunk and not in control of the car then the shouldnt be on the road.

Well done.

agreed…if you cant drive safetly you should not have a license.
Good job.

It really was bad as I say, I thought she was literally staggering drunk. Conditions were bad but both the wife and I felt it worth calling 999 at one point she was almost touching the kerb on the other side of the road.

Still though , bless, 89 and in her little car…

And she was probably someone's mother and grandmother so no doubt they will be hugely relieved. You did the right thing there.

I agree with stumpyjon and that retest or better still a proficiency course to make sure people are stil capable. I've seen a few doddery people around about Pompey that definately shouldn't be driving. One person leaving the local asda cut the corner and mounted a kerb then the front wheel mounted the central reservation. I didn't ring or write down the details that time but I have done in the past

Theres a bloke, ancient, lives near me, drives his wife to the supermarket, just as long as he's doesn't have to make right hand turns he's fine. I caught him once sitting in the car checking out the receipt from the shopping with this F&*k off great magnifying glass…

It's an accident waiting to happen

Good work! Nothing dreadful about it.

Was "she" driving a Honda Civic ?
Sounds like my mate Neverfastenuff on a good day.

You did a good thing.
Might have been someone's child in her way one day, god forbid.

we used to rent a cottage off an old couple.

she explained how they got to the supermarket a couple of miles away as he had bad cataracts – she had dodgy knees and couldn;t drive so she used to do the looking from the passenger seat and he used to drive (left, left, straight, right, brake). I followed them once and they didn't go over about 10 miles an hour.

I wouldn't have had the bottle to shop them though so well done op.

What's this? Everyone agreeing on STW? Must be the Xmas spirits….

Yeah they can be lethal, once watched a guy trying to fill his car up, must have took him ten mins to get the pump into the tank. At the end he dropped his keys, they were right in front of him but even on hands and knees he couldn't see em and I had to get them. He then drove off bashing the kerb. Should have got his number.

Used to live next to a lovely old guy, he wrote his car off when they introduced traffic calming bollards and he didn't notice them one day.

i've reported a suspect drink driver before, felt the same as you but I would have felt worse if i'd read the papers and they'd killed someone…

if their actions warranted a call then it must have been bad, given todays lack of people giving a shit generally. you did the right thing!

One less female on the roads. 😀

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
😉

Agree with the rest…you've probably done what her family were unable to bring themselves to do…remove her from the road!

Had a similar situation myself last month, was following a utilities van along an A road in the dark one morning, every time a vehicle approached coming the other way the driver would stand on the brakes and slow from approx 55mph to 30mph and then speed up again. I had a huge distance and was still catching up each time and the cars behind were getting irate. Once we got to a dual carriageway, the cars overtook us both (I was in a van so let them go first) as the first pulled back in a few car lengths in front of the van the driver braked and almost stood the van on its nose, luckily I'd already pulled out and I shot past. Driver did the same everytime someone pulled in front of him for the next five miles or so until he pulled off.

Was going to report him to the company as driver was either drunk from the night before, on drugs or needed a serious eye test. But then I started wondering if perhaps, although he was middle aged, he was a new driver and inexperienced etc etc, could lose job etc if not fit to drive, etc etc and chickened out. Still not sure if it was the right decision…

Yeh you did the right thing. I'm sure you feel like crap though knowing you have taken away what little independance an 89 year old woman had and put her through the huge trauma of the police calling at her home.

But well done for taking another danger from the roads.

all you did was highlight someone driving dangerously. Powers higher up than you will decide her fate. Bottom line, if it's dangerous driving, the cause, be it alcohol or old age, doesn't really make a difference.

You did the right thing.

I think you should have a word with the police and see if there is anyway you can get to meet her to explain why you had to do what you did and how it was in every bodies best interest.

And then make her a ridiculous offer for the car. 🙂

nothing dreadful about that, problem is that people get used to the freedom that car ownership gives them & then don't want to give it up as they get too old to drive competantly.

Probably saved her life too.

don't feel guilty, where i used to live a old bloke turned onto a footpath because he did'nt have his glasses on and killed a toddler playing outside they're house, i bet the parents wish someone like you had called the police then, you did the right thing even if it feels wrong

I reported a workmate to the cops for drink driving. Twice. He's an alcoholic & spent all day getting pissed up then drove home through town, often right at the time schools were getting out.

Only thing I felt bad about was that the fuzz never bothered their arses to do anything about him.

A woman neighbour couldnt park her car in the garage at night,because she had no light in the garage,when i explained she had headlights,she looked amazed.

gran-ma on her way to bridge its all she lives for since alfe her yorkie died last year……………………………………………………
………….Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 👿 Happy christmas fella……. 8)

A few years ago we decided that my dear old dad's (now 83) driving was getting a bit dangerous, he really struggled with judging speed/time/distance from other vehicles so poor old chap now has a family enforced driving ban… although he could legally drive.
It is absolutely the right decision!!!

After reading the title I half expected the word 'ladyboy' to be included in the confession…sorry IGMC

@Spooky_b329 – I had a similar experience a couple of years ago. Early morning commute, transit flatbed in front of me with some sort of machinery in the back, well laden. Kept drifting in and out, occasionally fully into the wrong side of the road (nothing coming). Then drifted in to the side, clipped the kerb, swerved out into the wrong side again, and back to where he should have been. And then just carried on. Either very sleepy or pissed from the night before. Possibly fatally dangerous to himself or others, so I made the call (stopped of course). I caught up on him, and passed him just before we got to a layby with a police car in it. He came out and followed the transit, who instantly indicated and turned off the road down a country lane – followed by the police of course.

Pretty sure he was pissed up, and making the call was the right thing to do.

Well done sir. If I ever meet you in a pub I'll buy you a beer for doing what you did.