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Driving, Early Dementia and Stroke

Aging Well | Last Active: Nov 9, 2020 | Replies (17)

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@fwentz

I'm so glad you drew our attention to driver safety. Early in my wife's journey with Alzheimer's Disease, when she had been diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, she was driving us home and couldn't remember how to get there when she was only a mile away from our home of 45 years. Another time her mother was visiting us and wanted to do an errand so we gave her the keys to our car. About a half hour later she phoned us and said she was lost. She told me about some things she could see nearby so we were able to find her and help her get back safely.

Now, at age 81, I am very focused on my own driver safety. I'm aware of many of my own changes in vision, hearing, reflexes, and attention. For decades I have made good use of the AARP safe driving courses. I retake the course about every 3 years and learn something new to focus on every time. Then I find myself reminding myself as I'm driving "You are too close to the car ahead, back away." "Slow down, you're reflexes aren't as good as they used to be." "Be careful pulling into the intersection. The most frequent cause of accidents by older drivers is when they fail to yield the right-of-way. You might misjudge how fast the oncoming traffic is going." Etc.

I don't drive at night unless absolutely necessary. I limit my driving during the day to times when traffic volume is low. I really focus on paying attention when I'm driving, acting like I'm taking a driver's test with an examiner in the passenger seat. I'm starting to use Uber more often.

I highly recommend the AARP or other safe driving courses. Here's a website to check out. That reminds me, it's time for me to sign up again!
https://www.aarpdriversafety.org/why-take-our-course.html

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Replies to "I'm so glad you drew our attention to driver safety. Early in my wife's journey with..."

@fwentz Yes! the AARP driver safety course is a good one to take. It's also time for me to renew my course. And as an added bonus, some auto insurance companies offer a discount if you send in proof of taking the course!
Ginger

Thanks for your response, @fwentz and for calling attention to the AARP safe driving course. I like to schedule my appts during the slower traffic times throughout the day as well.

Also good to hear that you were able to find your loved one and help her home safely.

Another neighbor was able to use/ install? a GPS and connect it someway to her Apple watch (I think) to track her husband who refuses to stop driving but has called home "lost" a few times. I don't know about the technology involved so may be not relating this accurately.