I only drive locally to the shop!

• Many impaired older drivers and their families insist they should still be allowed to drive because they only drive a few kilometres to the local shops. 

• Over the same driving distance, the older driver (70 plus) is 5 times more likely to be involved in a fatal accident than the younger driver 25-64 age. This crash risk is a lot higher in those with cognitive impairment and dementia.

• Older drivers suffering from dementia are involved in more accidents than healthy older drivers. Selective attention (especially the shifting of selective attention) is related to accident risk, and the switching of selective attention is impaired in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease.

• Older drivers with dementia have decreased speed of visual information processing, problems with divided attention, and selective attention difficulties.

• Older drivers with dementia have 13 times higher risk of crashes at intersections.

• Older drivers with dementia have particularly impaired ability to allocate attentional resources appropriately in complex traffic environments with high information load and processing demands.

• Many families do not want to upset their elderly mother or father who are still driving, when clearly not medically fit to drive.  Rather than confront them they just ignore the problem and let them drive. 

• Get a load of what some families say about their older relatives who are confused, impaired physically and mentally but are still driving- these are typical classic responses-

  -he only drives slowly.

  -he doesn’t need to know the speed limits because he only drives to the shops.

  -I take over the driving when he gets too confused.

  -I tell him where to go, when to turn and what to do.

  -I help her get into and out of the car.

  -she only drives when the roads are quiet without much traffic.

  -she gets dizzy and is very unsteady when walking but no problems driving the car.

  -what’s memory got to do with driving?

  -you can’t stop him driving- he needs the car!

  -he is a good driver!

  -I haven’t noticed any memory loss or confusion.

  -she needs help to manage alone at home but she can still drive her car!

  -he has been driving all his life and never had an accident.

  -she is OK just driving locally down to the shops.

  -he always drinks at least 1 bottle of wine every night but it never affects his driving.

  -he lives for driving, it will ruin him if he can’t drive.

  -why can’t he drive just because he is confused and forgetful?

  -her morphine and sleeping pills never affect her driving, just makes her sleepy during the day.

For more information read Dr Peter Lipski’s book “Your Elderly Parents Failing Health. Is It Ageing Or A Treatable Condition”.