Criminally stupid driving

The pensioner was on the roads in hazardous and freezing conditions with a layer of snow and ice across the top of her blue Nissan. She had managed to move her windscreen wipers just a few inches to clear a tiny area of glass to peer out from.

Police say she had left the house to buy food when she was spotted by a traffic officer who pulled her over - and gave her an ice scraper.

She should have been prosecuted for her criminal stupidity, not indulged by the police. And how old was this elderly driver?

Later this year a number of people will die or suffer terrible injuries at the hands of elderly drivers who are totally unfit to be behind the wheel of a ton of metal, and all because no government has ever bothered to insist that elderly drivers prove they are fit to drive by re-sitting the driving test and having annual medical checks.

Driving is the only aspect of modern life where the criminally negligent operation of highly dangerous machinery is indulged and treated lightly.