Laura M. Krohn - Elder Law Attorney

It is often difficult for aging individuals to recognize their changing abilities.   Most seniors believe they will know when it is time to stop driving.  For most people, driving is a sign of independence, control, competence and social responsibility.  Consequentially, giving up the keys can be devastating to seniors, who view it as a loss of independence and self-sufficiency.  The following article offers tips for seniors and others for recognizing unsafe driving and guidance on handling decisions about driving.

Statistics indicate that older drives are at a disproportionate risk for becoming involved in fatal crashes, according to the New York Department of Motor Vehicles, Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee.  That department’s research indicated, for example, that nationally in 1995 senior citizens accounted for:

• 5% of all people injured in traffic crashes;
• 13% of all traffic fatalities
• 13% of all vehicle occupant fatalities; and
• 18% of all pedestrian fatalities.

First, it is important for seniors to know the signs of decreasing driving skills and adjust their driving habits to compensate for the decrease.  For example, a senior who recognizes a decrease in driving skills could restrict his or her driving to:

• Daylight hours
• Off-peak traffic hours
• Familiar roads
• Shorter trips
• Lower speed roads

The AARP has published a “Close Call Quiz” as part of its Driver Safety Program, to help drivers recognize diminishing driving skills.  The AARP states that a “yes” answer to any of the ten questions, may indicate that the driver perhaps had a close call for an accident.  The ten questions are as follows:

• 1. Do you sometimes say “Whew, that was close”
  2. At times, do cars seem to appear from nowhere?
  3. At intersections, do cars sometimes proceed when you felt you had the right of way?
  4. Are gaps in traffic harder to judge?
  5. Do others honk at you?
  6. After driving, do you feel physically exhausted?
  7. Do you think you are slower than you used to be in reacting to dangerous driving situations?
  8. Have you had an increased number of near accidents in the past year?
  9. Do you find it difficult to decide when to join traffic on a busy interstate highway?
  10. Do intersections bother you because there is so much to watch for in all directions?

Family, friends, physicians, care-managers, and other individuals close to a senior are pivotal in identifying a senior’s functional limitations that may impair driving performance and lead to unsafe decisions.  Some physical signs that driving may be dangerous are loss of hearing, vision problems, health problems like arthritis, sleepiness, attention problems, and other medical conditions which may affect driving skills, such as dementia.  Driving behavior that may indicate a person’s driving threatens personal safety and that of others includes:

• Has difficulty following instructions
• Drifts into other lanes of traffic
• Stops abruptly without cause
• Presses simultaneously on the brake and accelerator while driving
• Delays changing lanes when an obstacle appears in the lane which he or she is driving.
• Does not use turn signals
• Straddles lanes
• Does not react to emergency situations
• In increasingly nervous when driving
• Has difficulty seeing

Dealing with older family members diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease means family members need to take a more active role in making driving decisions.  Since memory loss is associated with these diseases, the person often does not remember that she or she cannot drive.  Explaining to the person can often lead to frustration and arguments.  The Alzheimer’s association makes the following recommendations to family members:

• Get a prescription from the doctor that states “no driving”.
• Distract the family member who insists on driving, diverting his or her attention to something else.
• Control access to café keys by keeping them out of view, bending the keys, or filing them down.
• Disable the care by removing the distributor cap or unplugging the starter wire.
• Move the care out of sight.
• Sell the car.

For more resources, see the Senior Driving Section of the Senior Resource Guide of Rhode Island.  Most importantly, support from friends and family members is crucial to helping the senior through this time in his or her life.