You would not want a newly qualified driver in charge of a truck due to their lack of road experience. Yet what about older drivers? Do truckers improve with age like a fine wine? Or is there a point where their performance starts to drop?
Aging affects all drivers, and there is a happy medium between being too young to be safe and too old to drive safely. The difference for truck drivers is that their vehicles are much larger. If they make a mistake, the consequences could be much worse for others nearby than if someone in a family car crashes.
DRIVING INVOLVES A LOT MORE THAN SITTING TURNING A WHEEL
First, drivers need to stay aware of what is going on around them. They need to use their eyes and ears for that. Yet, both vision and hearing weaken as we get older. Glasses and hearing pieces can help with that, so drivers must get regular checkups and use any equipment the doctor recommends.
Second, drivers need to process the information they take in through their eyes and ears and do something with it. Think about sports where fast reactions are crucial, and you will notice most people are in their 20s to 30s. Reactions get slower with age and are fastest around 24 years old. A driver nearing the end of their career may be slower to apply the brakes in an emergency than someone younger.
While older truckers may have a lot of experience that helps them stay safe, they can still make errors. The more you understand about a truck driver who injures you, the better your chance of working out why they did so and getting the compensation you need.
