86-year-old driver who is anti-ageism's poster girl calls Prince Philip 'careless'

Ever since she was told 73 years ago that "women don't drive", advanced motorist Thelma Bradshaw has been battling sexism and is now fighting ageism too but she still won’t let Prince Philip off the hook.

The 86-year-old grandmother of four is one of the oldest people in Britain to pass an advanced driving exam.

After passing her driving test at 17, she excelled in an advanced test in 1977 but decided to take it again aged 86, just to prove she could do it - regardless of her age.

In February, she received an advanced driving certificate – after achieving a score that was one mark short of perfect.

Her excellence behind the wheel has made her a poster girl for older people, who’s out to smash stereotypes about elderly drivers. “Age, it doesn’t make any difference. I’m perfectly fit, intelligent and have proved I can drive.”

Thelma Bradshaw has been driving for almost 68 years and vehemently objects to the blanket idea that a person should put down their car keys at the age of 70, 80 or above. “It doesn’t matter how old people are, it’s a question of how capable they are.”

Prince Philip was ‘careless at that particular time’

“We need safer roads. Driver education is the main thing. Cars are so convenient to jump into and go, no matter what their age, some people don’t give the care and attention needed”.

Mrs Bradshaw, who is the vice-president of IAM Road Smart’s local group in Derby (which she helped set up 30 years ago) says “I think if someone is impaired in anyway, they need to get tested”.

Having volunteered at her IAM Derby group to observe other drivers’ ability, the octogenarian thinks if Prince Philip had wanted to drive again, he should have got retested.

Prince Philip, who is 97, had to be rescued from the upturned Land Rover Freelander he was driving, after it collided with another car on 17 January.

In a letter signed by Prince Philip to a woman injured in the crash, he said: “The sun was shining low over the main road. In normal conditions I would have no difficulty in seeing traffic coming... but I can only imagine that I failed to see the car coming, and I am very contrite about the consequences.”

Despite his contrition, the Queen’s husband fails to get much sympathy from Mrs Bradshaw. “I feel very sorry for the people hurt” but Prince Philip she describes as “careless at that particular time”.

“He blamed the sun but the sun comes up every morning and it goes down every day”, says Ms Bradshaw who is often out driving with her sunglasses on.

“Drivers should allow more space, more time, go slowly. If he had had a good look maybe it wouldn’t have happened. I pay attention every second I’m in the car.”

Concentration: ‘I don’t even talk to my husband’

Mrs Bradshaw regularly drives her Hyundai i10 from her home in Alvaston, Derby to Wales and Southampton.

But she won’t even have the radio playing in the car to make sure all her concentration goes on driving. She says: “I don’t even talk to my husband unless I must.”

Referring to Prince Philip she says “If someone else did that, they would have been prosecuted. It did seem that privilege had an advantage. Should he have been prosecuted? I don’t know. If they fined him it wouldn’t make any difference to the amount [of money] he’s got.”

‘Women didn’t drive’

When Mrs Bradshaw first began driving she says “women didn’t drive”. It was 1946, the war has just ended. “We came through the wartime years with no petrol for private cars.”

But at the age of 14, she got her chance to sit in a car driven by her male cousin. “It was a big adventure! I thought I’d like to do that. I could do that!” When people advised her she wouldn’t be able to drive, “I thought I can show them that I’m better than them!”

Later her father bought a 1934 black Ford Popular (aka ‘Ford Pop’), prompting young Thelma to go and see her neighbour who agreed to teach her to drive.

On 19 June 1950 - the day of her driving test - the 17-year-old’s examiner sat watching in the back of the car as she cranked up the car with a handle.

Her most recent 90-minute advanced test (taken last December), involved the examiner asking her to talk about everything she was doing as she drove for over 40 miles. The pensioner was awarded her advanced certificate from The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM Road Smart) on 10 February.

'Everyone has a tendency to get careless the moment they pass test'

Despite her advanced driver status, Mrs Bradshaw says she struggles to find an insurance company who will take her on.

“The only thing that matters to insurance companies is my age. Not many insurance companies insure people over 80”, says Mrs Bradshaw, who fully expects to pay a hefty sum when her insurance comes up for renewal this May.

The number of drivers aged 70+ will double in the next 20 years, according to IAM Road Smart and there are currently one million licence holders over the age of 80.

The law requires people aged 70+ to appraise their own driving and let the DVLA know if they think they are safe to drive.

Mrs Bradshaw says: “If we had the resources to do it, I would like everyone to take a test regularly. Maybe every five years? Everyone has a tendency to get careless the moment they’ve passed their test”.

IAM Road Smart, a volunteer-run charity that coaches motorists on improving safety on the roads, recommends the government raise the driver licence renewal age to 75, with a requirement to provide a current eye test.

Driverless cars?

IAM Road Smart states: ‘There is no case for an arbitrary age limit on driving as no two older drivers are the same and today’s 70-year-old is healthier and fitter than ever before’.

It calls compulsory driving retests ‘a disproportionate action to take' against those aged 70+ who pose 'no greater risk to themselves and others as middle-aged drivers’.

While the road risks posed by humans of all ages remains, Mrs Bradshaw is still not sure about driverless cars. “Whether they would make it work, I wouldn’t like to say. I’d prefer to use my own judgement. If you leave things to machines, how reliable are machines? I would like every driver to pursue further driver education”.

She says: "I once had a lady of 90, I took to hospital in my car. She said 'you don’t seem to be driving anything!' They may think it’s a smooth-running car but it’s not the car, it’s me”.

Thelma Bradshaw will be 87 on 25 March and says she’ll keep driving “until I’m no longer able.” Her driving tips for motorists of all ages is simple ‘stop thinking you know it all, because you don’t’.