When to give up the keys? Driving gives us a larger world to live in, independence and a sense of freedom. As we age, giving up driving can be difficult to accept even after it becomes obvious that the dangers outweigh the advantages. Having to give up driving can elicit strong emotions unless alternatives are available. It’s not unusual for family and friends to find themselves conflicted by their frustrations or guilt about depriving a loved one of the opportunities driving provides. Despite these concerns, a conversation about when to put the keys away is an inevitable part of aging. Ideally, this conversation should begin long before the inevitable day arrives. Symptom indicating the conversation is overdue include: • Getting lost on routes that should be familiar • Noticing new dents or scratches to the vehicle • Receiving multiple tickets for driving violations • Experiencing frequent near-misses or crashes • Feeling overwhelmed by road signs and markings while driving? • Having difficulty staying awake at the wheel • Driving too slowly for no reason • An illness that affects decision making or reaction time If any of these situations sound familiar, you may need to talk with your loved one about safe transportation alternatives. To prepare for the conversation, first, learn how to understand and influence an older driver. Be aware that many older drivers will be defensive. In general, it’s best to be prepared with your objective observations (just the facts) along with suggestions for transportation alternatives. Often it’s best to begin with a few non- confrontational observations followed by a suggestion to privately make a self- assessment. An opportunity for a private self- assessment can help ease future discussions. Two free self-assessment questionnaires that can help motivate a meaningful and less confrontational discussions include: • Evaluate Your Driving Ability (15 question quiz) • Safer Driving: The Enhanced Driving Decision Workbook (about 100 questions) For anyone over the age of 40, driving skills have probably peaked and began to deteriorate. By age 50 it’s time for most to acknowledge that eyesight and reaction speed need to be compensated for if we want to stay in the game. The AARP Driver Safety course is a wise investment in helping to understand these inevitable changes and how to effectively compensate for them. In fairness to age, experience counts for quite a lot and in many ways helps compensate for declining motor skills. When ready for your ‘over 50 tune-up,’ go for it. The AARP online course is inexpensive and an easy way to refresh your driving skills, become a safer driver and add to your confidence as a driver. At a cost of about $25, the course may pay for itself several times over in multi-year auto insurance discounts. Consult your agent for details. Even without insurance discounts, it’s still a bargain given that most report changing at least one dangerous driving behavior. The key to safe driving as we age is knowing our limitations. Fortunately, experience has its rewards and most older adults are safe drivers, with high safety belt use and few citations for speeding, reckless driving or alcohol-related charges. Interestingly, the actual number of accidents involving older drivers decreases as age increases. Experts attribute this decline to self-imposed limitations, such as: • Driving fewer miles • Avoiding driving at night and during bad weather • Steering clear of rush-hour traffic The dilemma is that with advancing age the body has less ability to recover from an injury. Fortunately, most older drivers will agree to limit or stop driving if they thoughtfully consider the perils of a severe injury that could lead to long- term disability. For a driver that has become a danger to others and refuses to comply, you may need to enlist the support of a driver rehabilitation specialist for a formal driver assessment. If the older driver has dementia, families should be vigilant about observing driving. Anyone with a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, or any other form of progressive dementia, will eventually lose the skills necessary for safe driving. If safety becomes an unsolvable family issue, you may have no choice other than contacting the motor vehicle licensing authority. Most importantly, have a long term plan. One long term plan I like is Saturday morning walks. Best part – no keys required. Just walk out the front door and keep walking. Of course, you are welcome to join me for a walk around the lakes. Hope to see you. Nancy Neighbors, MD Huntsville, Alabama Can Technology Help? While the fully self-driving car is probably years away, several technologies are available that can enhance the driving experience. For now, the degree of safety these features provide is not fully understood. For tips about questions to ask before investing in these features read “In the Driver’s Seat – A guide to Vehicle Safety Technology.” Below is a short list of features you may find available on a new car. Smart headlights (also known as adaptive headlights): adjust the range and intensity of light based on traffic distance to reduce glare, improve night vision and may pivot as the vehicle turns corners. Emergency response systems: offer quick assistance to drivers in case of a medical emergency or collision, often allowing emergency personnel to get to the scene more quickly. Back-up cameras (also known as reverse monitoring systems): warn of objects to the rear of a vehicle, helping drivers judge distances and back up safely. In addition, the systems help drivers with reduced flexibility. Blind-spot warning systems: warn drivers of objects in blind spots, especially when changing lanes and parking. These systems also help people with a limited range of motion. Lane departure warning systems: monitor vehicle position and warn the driver if a vehicle travels outside its lane. This technology helps drivers to stay safely in their own lane. Vehicle stability control: helps to automatically bring a vehicle back into the driver’ s intended line of travel, particularly in situations where the driver underestimates the angle of a curve or experiences weather effects. In general, this technology reduces the likelihood of a crash. Assistive parking systems: enable vehicles to park on their own or indicate the distance to objects, reducing driver stress, making parking easier and increasing the number of places where a driver can park. Voice-activated systems: allow drivers to access car features by voice command so they can stay focused on the road ahead. Crash mitigation systems (also known as collision avoidance): detect when a vehicle may be in danger of a collision and can help minimize injuries to vehicle occupants. Drowsy driver alerts: monitor the degree to which drivers may be inattentive while on the road. This technology helps drivers regain their focus on driving tasks. If only technology could give us self-driving cars today. Well, we can hope that day’s not too far away. Unfortunately, technology offers many promises but no certain date for delivery. For now, best have an alternate plan. |