This discussion occurred during a recent taping of the KEOM 88.5FM Community Focus segment. Barb was interviewed by Dr. James Griffin. This segment offers helpful advice about the elderly and driving.

Q: So, Barb, what are we talking about today?


A: Today I thought we’d talk about driving and the elderly. As we all know, aging can affect our vision and hearing, our reaction time may not be as quick as it once was, and our concentration and navigational abilities may be somewhat diminished. Certain diseases such as arthritis or Parkinson’s disease can affect our physical ability to maneuver quickly in traffic. Certain medications can cause drowsiness.

In addition, dementia poses one of the most serious issues that caregivers face because the person with dementia may not understand the impact of the disease process on his or her driving. These issues are a challenge because we want to honor a person’s independence, while still taking responsibility to insure that they are driving safely.

These two goals are often in conflict when we consider the elderly driver. However, there are steps that we can take to help the elderly drive more safely, to assess driving abilities, and to consider alternate modes of transportation if necessary.

Q: What specific issues should we know about elders who are driving and, especially, those with dementia?

A: As we age we may have increased difficulty with driving due to, say, glare of lights at nighttime. Drivers often learn to go out during the daytime, mostly, and they often stay off the larger highways, making adjustments in driving as they need to. But, the person who has dementia faces challenges that other aging drivers might not face.

Unfortunately, as the person with dementia progresses in their disease, not only do some of these natural changes take place, their ability to cope with these changes may be compromised. They may have more problems with judgment – such as how to quickly avoid hitting the car that just swerved into their lane of traffic. They may not remember directions and might become easily disoriented. Indeed, they may not even be able to understand how much danger their driving poses. All of these are concerns that add to the danger of driving.

Q: How do we know if an elderly person, especially the person with dementia, is still able to safely drive?

A: That is an important question, one that must be addressed individually. Start by getting a first hand idea on how they are driving – by either riding with them occasionally or driving behind them . . . watch for driving behaviors such as reacting too slowly in traffic, waiting to the last second to brake, changing lanes without signaling, or straying into other lanes of traffic. For persons who are diagnosed in the early stages of a dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease, they may indeed have a period where they are able to drive safely. BUT, the driving should be closely monitored for a pattern of changes that indicate that the person is no longer driving safely. The issue is watching for trends, such as missing stop lights, backing up into things, becoming confused, and going down one way streets the wrong way. These, literally, are red lights that tell us that changes are taking place and need attention.

Q: So what can we do to help?


A: First, the subject should be addressed openly and compassionately – in a non-threatening manner. It would be good for us to consider how hard it is to go through these kinds of changes, and especially how hard it is to lose the ability to drive. In many cases driving is the last area of independence.

For all elders, discuss issues or concerns that you’ve noticed with their driving while supporting their need for independence. Vision or hearing problems should be addressed. Especially for persons with dementia, it’s important that the elder hears that it is the dementia, not they themselves that are the problem.

Suggestions can be made regarding safer driving, such as limiting trips just to the neighborhood, driving during daylight hours and non-rush hour times, and ensuring that their car is well maintained.

AARP offers a Driver Safety Program to assess older drivers, as well as other agencies that offer a driving evaluation test. Your doctor may be able to write a letter or note, saying that it is time to stop driving. This is the key. While it may be necessary, at times, to “just take away the keys,” it is a better plan to do everything possible to maximize independence and prepare alternate ways to get around and socialize. Listeners can also contact the Alzheimer's Association for more valuable information about driving and dementia.

Following are some other links that may also offer assistance:

The Hartford Resource Guide

Alzheimer's Association of Los Angeles