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Registered:
May 2002
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99 year old Toyota Driver
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Thu, 28 November 2002 20:50
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I reckon we should give this guy an honoury membership
http://www.dailytelegraph.news.com.au/common/story _page/0,5936,5577975%255E21302,00.html
Tom's 99 but he's still got plenty of drive
By FRANCES O'SHEA
29nov02
TOM Winnell has just passed one of the most important tests of his life.
After successfully completing a rigorous RTA road test, the 99-year-old is to remain behind the wheel for at least another 12 months.
The licence renewal puts the great-grandfather from Port Macquarie in a very elite club. Only four 99-year-olds still hold licences in NSW. Four 100-year-olds are also licenced to drive.
Mr Winnell said he was pleased to be able to continue driving and admitted to being apprehensive when he sat his test.
"Being deprived of a licence, it would be like taking half my life away," he told The Daily Telegraph yesterday.
"I was a bit worried about sitting the test again but I know I'm a good driver. I'm lucky to still have all my faculties. I would drive anywhere. It doesn't bother me.
"If I wanted to go to Melbourne I would have no trouble driving there."
Mr Winnell first earned his licence 81 years ago when he was 18 at Yanco in the south of the state.
He was taught to drive in a Model T Ford by the local police superintendent, a family friend who passed on a valuable piece of advice.
"He told me, 'You don't take one risk because it may be your last'. I've always remembered that," Mr Winnell said.
"I've also always been very aware of speed limits and have never had a speeding ticket.
"Young people today get a licence and they have no road sense.
"I'd ridden horses and push bikes and knew my way around the roads. These days they get in a car and drive too fast and too stupid."
Mr Winnell said he drove his car at least twice daily – once in the morning to get the bread and milk, later to go "uptown" with wife Dorothy and often to the club later in the day.
He recently drove along the Pacific Highway to Taree and nearby Tuncurry.
Mr Winnell said he had only one regret after 81 years of driving – he wished he could still be behind the wheel of his beloved Wolseley 2480.
"I always drove Wolseleys. They were a great car," he said. "If I was younger and could get my hands on one I would.
"Now I've got a Toyota Corolla which we've had for about 11 years. It's a good little car and gets us where we want to go."
Under RTA regulations, any driver over the age of 85 must pass an annual driving and medical test.
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