As has been said above, we are all going to get old one day, and often that’s when you need your wheels more than ever; I’m not talking mobility scooters either. I personally favour renewal of car driving licence every five years after age 50, the renewal to be accompanied by a certified eye test; it being a given that one’s eyesight is the first thing to degenerate without us being fully aware of the fact. Older drivers are not necessarily bad drivers.
One part of the increased retirement age which will directly affect us is the HGV medical. At present, as we all know, it’s five-yearly till age 65 then annually thereafter. This is fair enough at the moment when people are able to take their pension at 65, and working after that is a lifestyle choice; but what about future generations? I’m 54 now and am scheduled to be of pensionable age when I’m 66; for those about ten years younger it’ll probably be 70. That means, as it currently stands, that those drivers will have five years of enhanced cost of employment plus the extra hassle and cost of renewing the vocational licence every 12 months. That cannot be right or fair, as it puts older and more experienced drivers at a disadvantage, more so now when the pool of available drivers has been depleted by the advent of DCPC.
I intend to carry on till age 70 if my health and my employer permit it, simply because my pension pot isn’t big enough to permit me to live in the style I’d like to if I took retirement at the earliest opportunity. It also hinges on whether or not I still enjoy the job.
