Overall, many older adults are capable of driving safely, even into their seventies and eighties. But people age differently. Several factors place seniors at much greater risk for road accidents. More important, a person 70 or older who is involved in a car accident is more likely to be seriously hurt, more likely to require hospitalization and much more likely to die than a young person involved in the same crash. Knowing the risk factors and warning signs of an older loved one who has become unable to safely operate a vehicle will help you gauge when it’s time to take away the keys. There are also strategies to help you talk to seniors sensitively about giving up driving and present them with
practical transportation alternatives.
Risk factors that impair driving
Many of the changes that often come with age can adversely affect driving ability. These include:
• Visual decline—including poor depth perception, narrowed peripheral vision, poor judgment of speed and poor night vision, along with increased sensitivity to bright sunlight, headlights and glare.
• Hearing loss—especially the ability to hear important warning sounds while driving.
• Limited mobility and decreased flexibility—which increases response time slows pedal selection and steering control, and limits the ability to turn one’s head to look for hazards.
• Chronic conditions—such as rheumatoid arthritis, Parkinson’s disease, sleep apnea, heart disease or diabetes can impair driving skills, even suddenly.
• Medications—as older people often take more medications, which, in combination or taken with alcohol, can result in risky, unpredictable and dangerous side-effects and drug interactions.
• Drowsiness—is often due to medication side-effects or sleep difficulties that come with age, resulting in daytime tiredness and an increased tendency to doze off during the day (or while driving).
• Dementia or brain impairment—makes driving more dangerous and more frustrating. It can also cause delayed reactions and confusion on the road.
Warning signs that say stay off the road
According to the National Institute on Aging, there are several critical indications that a senior may be losing the judgment or ability to drive.
• Incompetent driving at night, even if competent during the day.
• Drastically reduced peripheral vision, even if 20/20 with corrective lenses.
• Struggling to drive at high speed even if he or she drives well locally at slow speeds.
• Erratic driving, such as abrupt lane changes, braking or acceleration, hitting curbs, missing turns or scaring pedestrians.
• Getting lost frequently, even while driving on familiar roads. Trouble reading street signs or navigating directions.
• Frequently startled, claiming that cars or pedestrians seem to appear out of nowhere.
• At-fault accidents or more frequent near-crashes or dents and scrapes on the car or on fences, mailboxes, garage doors, curbs, etc.
• Failing to use turn signals or keeping them on without changing lanes.
• Drifting into other lanes or driving on the wrong side of the road.
• Range-of-motion issues, such as failing to look over the shoulder, trouble shifting gears or confusing gas and brake pedals.
• Increased traffic tickets or “warnings” by traffic or law enforcement officers.
When it’s time to hang up the keys
Talking to a relative about his or her need to stop driving is one of the most difficult discussions you may ever face. However, it’s better if it comes in the form of advice from you or someone he or she knows rather than by an order from a judge or the DMV.
One of the main reasons seniors are reluctant to give up driving is that it is one of the few ways they can continue to feel self-sufficient. The discussion becomes even more difficult when the person still maintains most of his or her faculties, just not those that enable safe driving.
Preparation is the key
Before you even broach the subject, it’s best to have a thorough and sensitive plan in place.
• Build a case—by keeping a record of traffic tickets, fender-benders or other incidents that worry you. Be specific.
• Calculate the monetary savings that will benefit the senior by giving up driving, such as costs of insurance, gasoline, maintenance, repairs and registration fees.
• Get others to back the decision—such as a physician, pastor or another authority figure your relative trusts. You might even ask the elderly driver’s doctor to write a prescription stating “no driving.”
• Research and arrange transportation plans. Many seniors find it demeaning to have to ask for help. The more you can do in advance to have alternative means in place, the easier the transition will be.
√ Offer rides or find others who can drive, including the senior’s friends.
√ Investigate ride services offered by churches, senior centers and other nonprofit groups to the elderly.
√ Plan bus or other public transit routes or research local taxi services.
√ Purchase alternative means of mobility, such as a power chair or a 3-wheeled adult tricycle.
√ Enlist the services of a Home Care Assistance caregiver to drive your relative to run errands, go to appointments, visit friends, etc.
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