'UK's oldest driver is 103-yr-old without any accident'

London, Jan 18: A 103-year-old grandfather in the UK is believed to be the oldest British driver with more than 80 years of experience behind the wheels without committing a single road accident, media reports said.

Giovanni Rozzo, a former ice cream seller and milkman who lives in Cambridge, drives daily to visit the grave of his wife who died last year and regularly visits the shops in his blue 23-year-old Mitsubishi Lancer car.

His wife regularly used to accompany him in their car as a passenger. Rozzo, who has three children and four grandchildren, said that he has been driving cars for the last 82 years and has no intention of hanging up his car keys as there is no cap on the upper age limit for driving in the country.

He has had two speeding fines and has never had an accident during his motoring career. "I've been driving since I was 20. I was a clerk in the Italian army at the time, so I started driving military vehicles in Italy before I came to England, and then drove my van for many, many years," Rozzo was quoted as saying by the Telegraph newspaper.

"I am still fit, and my eyesight is good, and I feel confident as a driver, so I hope I will carry on driving. I was fined twice for speeding, but that was many, many years ago and I was driving all day every day for many miles. My licence is clean now," he said.

Rozzo drove for more than 20 years in Italy on an Army licence before taking a formal UK driving test in 1953 after moving to the country. In 1962, Rozzo was awarded a diploma from The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents in celebration of his licence being "free from accidents".

The minimum age to hold a car driving licence in the UK is 17, but there is no upper age limit. From the age of 70, motorists must renew their licence every three years. According to official figures, the number of older drivers on the roads has been increasing steadily and this is expected to continue. By 2030, more than 90 per cent of men over 70 will be behind the wheel.

PTI