On 15/02/2020 11:15, TMS320 wrote:
On 14/02/2020 18:27, JNugent wrote:
On 14/02/2020 14:49, TMS320 wrote:
On 14/02/2020 10:47, Simon Mason wrote:

He said: "The first victim was flat out in the road not moving
because he seemed to be entangled in his racing bicycle. He was being
attended to by a passing first aider.

"The second man, a builder, was laying on the pavement outside Travis
Perkins' front door with head injuries and blood coming from his
wounds."

Not surprising. Fleet is a very popular town for the elderly. A
system that relies on the applicant's honesty can't be a good way of
extending driving licences.

Can you think of many transactions between the state and the citizen
which don't rely to some extent on the good faith of the citizen?

Even a passport application, though vetted more than most
transactions, ultimately relies upon the word of a person "of
standing" who says they know the applicant.

Off hand, I can't think of anything equivalent to a driving licence that
requires a declaration of fitness to perform a task.

No need.

The applicant (who of necessity has already held a valid licence for
some period of time until their seventieth birthday) is the holder - or
subject - of a certificate of competence to drive.

The certificate's details are recorded in the databanks of the relevent
Department. It is (or was) awarded (effectively) by the examiner who
conducted the licence-holder's last test, assuming it was passed
successfully.

After that, the declaration at 70 is merely one as to whether has been a
change. If you think 70 is too old for that, reflect on the fact that
you might just as well argue that they should have been required to take
another medical at (say) 65, which is an age neither of my grandfathers
ever saw. Health and fitness are nowadays off the scale compared to a
mere few decades ago. but you'd prefer to waste the time and resources
of the individual and the taxpayer.

Government services I use are linked to an address. Apart from self
assessment which requires honesty but nobody dies over an error of a
couple of hundred Pounds.

I'm sorry to hear you never passed your driving test.

It explains a few things though.

On the other hand, if you only omitted your driving licence
inadvertently, then reflect upon the fact that your own fitness might
not be all it was when you passed your test. And that you too will - if
you are lucky - be 70 years old.