First, you hit a wing mirror. Next time it could be a child

Published: 14 May, 2010

• I FEEL the Tribune was rather quixotic in giving so much space to an elderly lady’s complaints about how her motoring misdemeanour was handled (Driver: ‘I was treated like criminal but all I did was clip wing mirror,’ May 7). Fact is, damaging someone’s car and not leaving your contact details under the windscreen wiper is anti-social. Not stopping at the scene of an accident is an offence. If the police see wrongdoing they have a duty to act.
My mother gave up driving in her 80s after a minor collision served notice that her concentration and reflexes were not what they once were.
There is a time for everyone when age, infirmity or medication undermine the ability to control a potentially lethal weapon, however many years of blameless motoring you have clocked up. 
Mum is now getting around fine on a mobility scooter for local journeys. Fellow members of her various clubs are happy to provide lifts to meetings and nine years on she continues to make a contribution to society.
Motoring in London has never been so difficult; more traffic, more signs, more roadworks, more cyclists. If there is prima facie evidence that someone’s car control or judgement may be problematic, I cannot help feeling that re-training and re-testing would make a more useful contribution to road safety than the random allocation of penalty points by remote camera.
G CAMERON
Melody Lane
N5

• MARY Cosh asks what she has done. She has illustrated precisely why older drivers should be re-tested.
Someone who lacks spatial awareness and has a physical disability that could easily affect reflexes is a potential hazard on the road.
So what if she has driven for 50 years? She is now in her 80s. Driving is not an entitlement. Next time it may be a child and not a wing mirror.
MARY PACHINOS
EC1

• THE Tribune reported that Mary Cosh, distinguished author of A History of Islington and several other books, clipped the wing mirror of a parked car but did not stop – because there was no room nearby. Pounced on by a passing patrol car with blaring sirens, she was ordered by police to take driving lessons before applying for a licence renewal.
Mary notes that she has a clean licence even after a lifetime of driving. The penalty imposed treats her like a feckless young beginner.
Driving lessons cost the equivalent of a heavy fine, as well as involving time and hassle plus huge inconvenience to an elderly, disabled lady unable to get around without her car.
It would prevent her from carrying on research needed for her future work, which is a lot more valuable to the people of Islington than a slightly-damaged wing mirror.
I suggest that the police should let her off with a ‘tut-tut’ reprimand.
ANGELA SINCLAIR-LOUTIT
N1