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Driving, Early Dementia and Stroke
Aging Well | Last Active: Nov 9, 2020 | Replies (17)Comment receiving replies
@fiesty76 For many people, giving up driving privileges is seen as a loss of independence. My dad grieved his decision to stop driving, but had enough clarity to understand his abilities did not match the need to be safe, and would have been heart-broken if he hurt someone. My mother stopped driving one day, when she got lost and had a total meltdown, at age 69. She had had a small stroke years before, and I believe she was in early stages of Alzheimer's when she stopped driving.
On the road is a mixture of drivers being careful, others in a hurry and taking chances, and yet more who aren't sure of their surroundings and being a danger to themselves and others. It's hard to put aside driving unless you have adequate public transportation services or someone to drive you as needed.
Ginger
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@gingerw, How hard it must have been for your dad and how very understandable his grief in making his decision to stop driving. And, also for your mom at a young 69 years to realize that getting lost while in her car meant she needed to stop driving as well.
I so agree that "giving up driving privileges" would painfully signify for me and many others the single largest act of a personal loss of independence. While house modifications can be made and home health workers hired to allow a person with physical limitations to remain at home longer, the inability to drive would place many of us in a place of burdened dependence on others not experienced since childhood.
Public transportation is limited in my small city with scattered buses and lengthy waits for Uber and taxis. With the exception of a Target 1.3 miles within walking distance, the next closest pharmacy, bank, fast food establishments, gas stations, grocery and other businesses are 3+ miles away. Becoming increasingly aware of my own physical dependence on my car, the distances to frequented businesses and my decreasing "walking stamina, coupled with the lack of other options for transportation, I am giving more serious thought to changing my current living arrangement and lifestyle.
A few years ago, my elderly next door neighbor performed an almost unbelievable feat in backing out of his driveway and once in the street, turned his car toward my yard, hitting his accelerator and ramming the front of the car over the curb and into my tree. Only by a miracle was he not injured. Another neighbor witnessed what happened and said it was beyond scary to watch. Thankfully, my neighbor was so shaken by what occurred he stopped driving and agreed to let his wife act as chauffeur.
A driving instructor friend told me that most accidents caused by elderly drivers are those occurring as the driver misjudges the distance to keep as they feed onto loops from access roads. As you wrote, there is a large mix of careless, older, young, and clueless drivers "on the road" and it behooves us all to be as alert and careful as we can be going forward.