Originally Posted by
sggoodri
About a year ago my father had a stroke, resulting in his (second) wife doing all of their driving. When I went to visit them (in Florida) I discovered that she has dementia; she can maintain a conversation and has excellent physical skills but she can't remember some things for more than a few minutes. They got lost often but had no apparent near-crashes. Unfortunately, I could not talk them out of her driving, and the legal process to require her driving to be reviewed was complicated. Their suburban home location was isolated and depended on automobile use.
I did get them to move permanently to their second home, in a more urban location close to her family, who provide her a support network and reduce the amount of driving she would need to do. A few months later my father passed away, and his wife entered assisted living. She won't be driving any more.
Part of the difficulty with removing such drivers from the road is that the higher level decision making skills often erode much earlier than the physical and perceptual driving skills required to pass a driving test. There doesn't appear to be much political will to second-guess seniors' decision making skills if they can steer the car down the road. But I maintain that confusion at the wrong time can be deadly.
Another problem is today's seniors common preference to retire in automobile-dependent areas. Taking away driving privileges is perceived as devastating their lifestyle. We need a better model for the land use/aging equation.
As I was reading what happened with your father, it was repeatedly reminding me of my mother.
My mother was diagnosed with a medical problem directly related to, and affecting her eyesight. The same medical condition causes patients to drive over medians(including the medians made out concrete and at least foot high on the ground). I have been in the car on two occasions where she drove over a concrete median/divider. She told me that her ability gauge a concrete median is affected, yet she is still driving. She has made no offer to stop driving, before she gets it corrected. I know she has taken the bus before, so I know she can use public transportation.