When is it time to take away the car keys?

Our ability to safely drive varies enormously. Even though 75% of surveyed drivers felt that their skill behind the wheel was in the top 25%, statistics do apply, and 25% of us are in the bottom 25%.

Many factors determine whether someone should still be driving a car. Teens and young adults tend to take more risks than older drivers while older drivers have poorer vision, slower reaction time, are likely to be taking medication that may compromise driving safety and are at greater risk of cognitive decline.

The latest survey available showed that in 2020, 59% of people 85 and older in the U.S. still had their driving license.

Older drivers are not necessarily bad drivers; that distinction clearly goes to teenage drivers, who have by far the greatest number of accidents and fatalities. Accidents are relatively low for drivers 30 to 69 and then start going up.

What is of concern is that fatal accidents rise dramatically in drivers 80 and older.

So, what do you do if your parent or spouse should not be driving? Many states require older drivers to have their vision checked at license renewal, but none require a driving test.

You cannot rely on your doctor to be proactive; only six U.S. states require doctors to report people whose medical condition makes it unsafe to drive.

If you have witnessed unsafe practices such as running lights or stop signs, drifting across lanes or driving way below the speed limit on highways, you should bring the subject up. If this is met with denial, you could contact their doctor and ask the doctor to broach the subject.

If someone is clearly a risk to themselves and others, you may need to contact the registry of motor vehicles or local police department in a smaller community. In the extreme, you can make the car undriveable by disconnecting the battery.

The corollary is figuring out how to let them get places without a car – often a major issue for those who do not live in a densely populated area with shops and services within walking distance.

Sign them up for Uber or Lyft, contact the local Council on Aging about community resources and/or offer to drive them to medical appointments and shopping or arrange for others to do so. In much of the country, to be unable to drive dramatically shrinks a person’s world.

Just maybe, if you make good alternatives available, they will give up driving and save a life.



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