A MAN who is still driving at his 100 years has told he has no intention of stopping but viewers told him it’s “time to give up”.
Centenarian Eric Dixon from Canterbury, Kent, is still behind the wheel despite reaching a milestone birthday.
SWNSCentenarian Eric Dixon still motors around in his Kia Picanto[/caption]
The veteran motorist has been driving since getting his first job as a three-tone lorry driver 87 years ago.
He left school aged jut 13 to join the open road riding motorcycles and taking on a double-decker.
The pensioner now drives a Kia Picanto and said he has no plans of ditching it.
Eric said: “I love it. I’ve been driving all my life and I still love it as much as I did when I started.
“It’s what I learnt to do when I was very young.”
Eric passed his several driving tests in his teens – including three during the army for heavy goods vehicles and trailers.
Despite his eight decades of experience, he started to question whether he was still fit to be behind the wheel.
While watching ITV’s 100-Year-Old Driving School, which follows motorists in their 90s, he decided to get tested again.
He said: “I was damn certain I was better than they are.
“But then I wondered if it was me thinking I was better than I am.
“Some of them should not be driving and it was them who made me think seriously about myself.”
He then showed up at a test centre in Thanington in 2017 to get examined.
Eric added: “The driving instructor came and looked at me,” Eric explains. “He said: ‘Are you Mr Dixon?’
“I told him I was and he expected me to have a walking stick as I was 94.”
He says the driving test was the toughest he had taken as “it included so much more” than others.
The motorists was checked by a nurse who him questions about his health.
But against the odds he still got “10 out of 10”.
However, others think the pensioner should retire from the road despite his centenarian experience driving.
One user said: “Time to give it up, perhaps.”
But others disagreed and praised the man for his dedication and mindset.
Another said: “He looks amazing for his age and has a wonderful attitude too. That’s whats keeping him ‘young enough’ to drive.”
Eric celebrated his 100th birthday last Sunday – which said it as “absolutely brilliant”.
He received his card from the King and Queen to commemorate the milestone.
It comes as a boy who got behind the wheel of a car at seven years old is now set to become one of the world’s youngest rally drivers.
Aleksander Pelikański, from Poland, fell in love with driving after his parents bought him an off-road buggy at just three years old.
RULES FOR OLDER DRIVERS
Older drivers are personally responsible for making sure they are fit to drive.
They need to report any physical or medical conditions by law.
Although other conditions do not need to be reported, they can still affect your driving.
Drivers are urged to regularly monitor how their health can affect their driving through a pharmacist or doctor.
Driving licences expire at 70 years of age, so drivers need to renew it to continue to be on the road.
To do so, you need to visit the DVLA official website before your 70th birthday.