September 19, 2023
Are you beginning to worry that your loved one may not be able to drive safely anymore? It can be a tough discussion to have with an elderly loved one and they might resist the suggestion to either eliminate or restrict their driving.
There might be issues that you’ve seen gradually get worse, or it could be a sudden change in circumstances that has brought up concerns about his safety and others on the roads. The important thing for you as a caregiver to try to remember is that you’re not the “bad guy.” You are looking out for your loved one with care and love and making sure he doesn’t hurt others or himself.
If you have a home care assistance team, this can be a great time to have them reinforce what you have to say. Your home care assistance providers can also be a great resource for providing transportation when your loved one cannot drive.
As you are considering driving restrictions, here are six areas to review regarding your loved one’s ability to drive safely.
If your loved one has an eye disease or degeneration of his eyesight, this can be a fairly clear reason to limit or restrict his driving altogether. If the problem is only at night, you might limit your loved one to only daytime driving, and leave any nighttime driving to family or his home care assistance providers.
Everyone loses their way occasionally, but if your loved one is struggling with getting to and from familiar locations, it might be time to pull in the reigns of his driving privileges. While GPS can help many people with directions and may help your loved one, it can also be a distraction and may cause more problems if your loved one is consistently looking at the screen for help.
Are you noticing dings and scrapes on your loved one’s vehicle that he can’t explain? While it’s true some may come from shopping center parking lots if you’re noticing a lot of them, especially ones that seem to be caused by him and not someone opening their door into the side of the vehicle, it could be cause for concern.
Does your loved one complain about getting pulled over a lot? It may not be just for speeding. It could be for going too slow, driving through an unseen stop sign, or forgetting to signal. All of these driving errors could add up to a deadly crash under the right circumstances and may lead you to consider restricting driving before it’s too late.
If your loved one gets more angry while driving than before, or becomes overly stressed at detours, weather conditions, or other things that may upset the comfort of his ride, it might be time for him to take the passenger seat on his travels. Increased stress levels can lead to bad choices while driving.
Finding solutions to his need to get from place to place will help your loved one be more willing to restrict his driving and keep himself and others safe.
If you or an aging loved one are considering hiring Home Care Assistance in Fox Chapel, PA, please contact the caring staff at In-Home Quality Care today. Serving the Greater Pittsburgh Area since 1990! Call 412-421-5202
