Wresting the wheel from seniors a tough task
PATRICK WHITE

From Monday's Globe and Mail

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.2007...NStory/lifeMain/home

August 27, 2007 at 8:44 AM EDT

The RCMP are still investigating why a 71-year-old man plowed his pick-up truck through a Sikh wedding procession in Abbotsford, B.C., late Friday - killing six and injuring 17 - but there is one glaring factor they won't ignore: the driver's age.

Canadians over the age of 65 account for just over 15 per cent of auto fatalities, according to Transport Canada, while drivers over 75 cause more accidents per kilometre than their 16-year-old grandchildren.

For many families, it's an all-too familiar dilemma: what to do when you suspect a family member is too old to drive?

Driving can play an important role in seniors' identities, researchers say, and confronting them about declining driving skills can be difficult.


"The last time a patient yelled at me, it was over driving issues," said Kenneth Rockwood, a professor of geriatric medicine at Dalhousie University. "It's a very emotional issue and it's one we see a lot."

In most provinces, seniors undergo special testing to keep their licences, but the majority of those tests involve only a medical exam. In Ontario, which has the most stringent regulations in the country, those over 80 must pass both a written and a road test.

But when their faculties begin to fail, families and doctors may have a difficult time wrestling the elderly from behind the wheel. And with the country's exploding population of seniors, the problem is about to become more heated.

"It's a very difficult issue for seniors," said Allen Dobbs, a professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Alberta who now runs DriveABLE a cross-country network of driver testing centres that specialize in elderly motorists.

"Most refuse to understand that they have a driving problem."

Just over a decade ago, Dr. Dobbs researched the tendencies of elderly drivers and found that they most often made errors during moments of stressful decision making: changing lanes, making left turns and merging into highway traffic.

The Edmonton office of DriveABLE now tests over 400 seniors a year, most of whom are referred by a doctor. Nearly one-third of them fail a written test before they are even ready for a road test.

During the test, drivers steer through a number of scenarios that focus on quick decision-making abilities. Even when a driver is guilty of taking the test car the wrong way down a freeway or turning left on a red light, most seniors will deny they've done anything wrong.

"Many of them will deny it outright," Dr. Dobbs said. "Telling them this kind of thing is very difficult. Losing that driver's seat can be a very public marker of cognitive decline."

For many seniors, a driver's licence has both a practical and symbolic value. It both permits them to live a mobile life and shows they are a "functioning, healthy member of society," according to Dr. Dobbs. "When it's lost, you're no longer part of that group. It can be devastating."

Physical and mental decline among seniors can happen suddenly. Doctors stress that it's incumbent upon family members to tackle the problem as soon as there's a worry.

"Don't ignore it." said Bonnie Dobbs, an associate professor of family medicine at the University of Alberta and Dr. Dobbs' wife, who runs support groups for seniors who've had their licences taken away. "It'll be a tough conversation. Taking someone's licence away can have very negative consequences on their self-worth. But it has to be done."

If an elderly relative refuses to listen to family members, she advises having a physician talk to them. "A message straight from a doctor is taken more seriously than from anyone else."

She notes that people with mild dementia are up to eight times as likely to be involved in automobile accidents than other people their age.

"It's a difficult conversation to have, but it's easier than dealing with the consequences of an accident."

Sadly, too many times we are forced to be the "BAD GUYS"
We know what it means to our loved ones to give up driving.How do we feel when we have no access to our cars?It breaks your heart to take that feeling of independence from them.
We do it out of love and concern for their well being as well as the other person who could be injured.
The only way to accept the decision is to know you have done it with all good motives.
Not easy.How many of us will have to rech that day when we have to admit we are no capable of driving with safety as the main concern?A horrible thought.Bless all of their hearts

Handbasket, thanks for dropping by, we don't see you around often enough. I did something similar with my Mom. She has macular degeneration. about 5 years ago, she made an off hand remark about a "new Black spot " in her vision. while talking to her about it, it seemed it wasn't all that "new". 4 days.

She had driven herself 2 places in that time. She didn't want to "bother anyone". We had a serious nononsense talk about how much everyone would have been bothered if a car or a child, even a pet, had been in that black spot.

You and I are lucky that our LO can hear reason and recognize a good bargain. Our LOs are lucky that we mean it when we make a promise and they can trust us.

Good work HB,

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Bobcat,

I stood in the front yard one day and watch Dad drive himself up to the convenience store, he was old school so wearing a seat belt was "sissy and unmanly" to him. He backed out right in front of a car coming down the street and when they honked at him and they stopped just in time, Dad freaked at noticing he pulled out without ever seeing the oncoming car and jammed the car down into drive and drove the passenger tire up, over and off the curb causing curb damage and then proceeded to just drive off.

I steamed the entire 15 minutes he was gone thinking about how the car behind him might have had a young baby or child in it and a wreck could have easily happened or he could have backed right into the side of that car.

When Dad drove back into the driveway I was there, still steaming and not going to take his back lip anymore for any reason. I held out my hand and demanded the keys right there telling him he could have killed a kid or something and caused our family to be sued for damages that none of us could afford.

He got red faced and I could feel he wanted to blow up at me but then I felt the keys fall into the palm of my hand with great relief.

To smooth his anger a bit more, I also promised him that we would get him to all of his doctor appointments and such so he wouldn't have to worry about driving.

So if your trying to get the keys from your senior, you might try touching on the fact that they could be sued for damages, they might kill a kid, or you might get into legal trouble for senior neglect by letting them drive unsafely and unsupervised, and last, even get mad if you need to.

Whatever it takes to keep them from hurting themselves or other people is much more important than their dignity or even their anger level. Be brave and goodluck to you all!

This items is so very hard for our independent folks! My dad hasn't forgiven me for taking the car from him (he's been dead for 2 years). My mom scared herself a couple of times so she willingly gave up.

quote:

Now with cell phones, seniors who are unable to drive but who can go out independently could save the number of a good taxi company and even ask for a trusted driver by name.

Most rural and even semi-rural areas do NOT have taxis! Small towns and rural areas don't even have buses! For city dwellers, this is a problem easily remedied, but for the millions of people who do not live anywhere near public transportation, losing their license to drive is like being incarcerated. Even though I took Mom anywhere she wanted, she still wanted to go when she FELT like it and without having to ask someone to drive her... although it can't be helped and she had no business driving, I DO understand how very much losing the privilege to drive impacts many seniors.

Mom didn't quit driving until she was 88. She did well until then. But macular degeneration set in and we convinced her to quit. We had to promise we would get her every where she needed or wanted to go.
She couldn't get behind the wheel now if she wanted to. She can't even fasten her seatbelt alone.

My mother told me that when my great-grandmother was in her late 70s and still had her car, with all the money she had to spend on maintenance and her lack of confidence behind the wheel, my mother thought she would have been better to sell the car and put the money in an account just for taxis! Now with cell phones, seniors who are unable to drive but who can go out independently could save the number of a good taxi company and even ask for a trusted driver by name.

Sigh... so very true... I sure wish we had pulled Mom's license BEFORE she had the accident...

I DO understand, however, how very devastating the loss of independence is to people. Mom LOVED to drive and travel to see folks - she STILL wants to know where her car is from time to time... It's a huge loss of freedom.

I feel 'em... I think I will have to get a golf cart before they pry my car keys out of my arthritic fingers... or the lawnmower... or the tractor... Heck, they probably won't even let me have an electric wheelchair...

This is an excellent article.It explains why a license should be taken away and why it is very emotional to the one loosing their ability to drive
I had to have my husbands doctor talk to him about stop driving.It was not an easy pill for him to swallow and I understood his feelings.His doctor emphasized it was no longer about him but the people he could cause injury.He told him if he did not do this on hos own that he would call the dept of transportation him self.
Another step to his having to face his limitations which is frightening.

The DriveABLE Assessment centres mentioned in the article can be found here: http://www.driveable.com/