By Tanya Davis
As adult children watch their parents age, one of the biggest differences that they notice is driving skills. Aging invariably brings about physical changes that will ultimately affect motorists’ ability to drive. A few of those changes might be:- Mental alertness
- Reaction time
- Vision impairment
- Hearing loss
So one of the most-asked questions from family members is: When does it become unsafe to drive?
As baby boomers have moved toward retirement age, there’s been—and will continue to be—an influx of senior drivers. It is interesting that older drivers have proven to be some of the better drivers on the roadways. Their accident risk is quite low; they are less likely to be drinking and driving, they speed less, and they have emotional maturity on their side. They also have plenty of experience, so they can make good decisions about traffic situations. And most drivers recognize the changes in their abilities, so they self-limit. They avoid situations that seem difficult to handle, like freeways or nighttime driving.
When does that begin to change? We all know drivers who are well past the era of good driving. They alternately stomp the accelerator, then the brake. They park a mile from the curb or hanging out into the parking lot. They don’t comment when they drive over a curb, so you know it’s a natural event. They’ve had a few minor fender benders lately. Those drivers terrify us, but we whisper about it behind their backs. We never bring the subject up in front of them, at least not overtly. If we do mention it, we have “this friend” who “might need to consider giving up driving,” and invariably, the real culprit never realizes we mean him at all.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Association has identified several factors that they say are indicators of decreased driving ability in older adults. Besides avoiding freeways and limiting their own nighttime driving, there are signs like dementia, neurological disease, visual impairment, and an age of more than 85 years old. Now, those factors don’t necessarily mean it’s time to hand over the keys. What they do indicate is that people need to keep up with their medical evaluations and consider the changes in their own driving practices. It may be unsafe for someone to drive if they are observed to have:
- Decreased reaction time
- Decreased speed of turning
- Trouble judging velocity of oncoming cars
- Less ability to perform visual scanning
- Lack of attention to road conditions.
NHTSA offers an evaluation of senior drivers, and sometimes the AARP offers driving classes. Keep up with your medical and eye exams, and consider planning your drives for a less busy time of day, and a route with less traffic.
What Families Can do
As the family member of an active senior citizen, it is very difficult to take the car keys away. Driving signals independence, and seniors do not want to give it up. The easiest way to convince an elder driver that his or her abilities have become limited is by enlisting the help of a neutral third party. Ask the family physician for assistance, and encourage your loved one to visit an evaluation site like NHTSA. Many senior evaluation checkpoints offer help making minor adjustments to help them be safer drivers; for example, adding a wide-angle mirror for a driver who is no longer able to turn his or her head far enough to check the blind spot, or simply adjusting the seat for better vision.
Making a decision that it is time for Mom or Dad to surrender the keys is never easy, but it doesn’t have to be traumatic. Ask for help from the professionals, so you are not the bad guy. But do keep your loved one safe – even if that means taking the keys.
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