Elderly Driving: New Guidelines Issued For Drivers With Dementia (VIDEO)

It's a difficult question: When is the right time to take away the car keys from an aging parent? Now the American Academy of Neurology has issued new guidelines that might help, ABC News reports.

The AAN report on Driving and Dementia claimed that a startling 76 percent of those with mild dementia are capable of passing driving tests. Given the importance of driving to living a full and independent life for seniors, the the organization does not believe a diagnosis of mild dementia is a justification to stop.

"Driving cessation is associated with increased depressive symptoms ... and actually can have an effect on their life expectancy," said Dr. Don Iverson, author of the Driving and Dementia guidelines.

However, some experts, such as Dr. Gary Kennedy of Montfiore Medical Center, disagree with the new guidelines. "The last thing we want is to wait until there's an accident, and then stop."

ABC News Senior Health and Medical Editor, Dr. Richard Besser said a good rule of thumb is what has been called the grandchild test: "If you have children, and you're afraid to have them drive in the car with grandpa or grandma, it's time for the grandparents to stop driving."

Watch:

Comments

[ESQ1]

06:25 PM on 05/12/2010

Elderly people with dementia have no place on the road. I know. I tried to have my mother's license taken away. Her physician refused to help me. In my state, the DMV demands a physician's certificate to suspend a license even with a child requesting intervention. She had 2 accidents in a year. He still refused to do anything. She caused a third taking an illegal u turn, never hitting the brakes. She drove a huge car that she could not control. The woman she hit is now permanently disabled, in severe pain, and can never work again. The innocent other driver has had multiple surgeries and has sued for over $1.8 million.

My mother, by her selfish behavior will probably cost my family everything that generations of my family have worked hard to earn and save including the family home. That is her miserable legacy. When the accident occurred, I called the doctor and told him that he had blood on his hands.

It is so much easier for physicians to say that it is fine and dandy for the demented to drive. They do not now have to live with the consequences. I do. I recommend that any adult child facing this issue do whatever it takes to stop a selfish demented or dangerous elder from driving.

[nah415]

10:18 AM on 04/16/2010

Many elderly adults with undetected dementia have several "near misses" before their cognitive deficits are discovered. Once a physician determines a patient has dementia or mild cognitive impairment, they are required by law in most states to make a report to the DMV. The license is suspended until the elderly adult is able to pass a driving test. This driving test is usually more difficult and more involved than the routine tests given to most drivers.

However, because driving can be an overlearned skill, many adults who have difficulty functioning in unfamiliar surroundings, are actually able to pass the test because they rely on this overlearned skill. I do agree that the screening and subsequent driving tests need to be more routine with older adults.

[brahdog]

01:07 AM on 04/16/2010

just revoked driving privileges from mama for this reason. she's not happy about it.

[zoetrope]

07:09 PM on 04/15/2010

One of my dear friends is dealing with this question with her father. I say....Take the keys away.
No matter how badly he may feel, you should feel worse if he kills someone on the road.

[Halsey]

01:53 PM on 04/14/2010

This is a tough one. My father, now 87, has always been a horrid driver...and he was a travelling salesman..in the day of on the road (all over Montana) 4 days a week. How he never killed himself (or us on driving vacations) or anyone else is just dumb luck. He still drives...and it IS his link to independence...my cop out..is that maybe he'll hit a pole (no one gets hurt)...and the cop takes his license away....I also know..this will throw him into a HUGE depression out of which he may not recover. My mother (great gene pool) is 81...a good driver...she could still get him around..but...I think HE drives to Wal Mart, etc..just for SPACE (they've always fought like cats and dogs...why they say married, I'll never know)... but it faces all us boomers with parents still alive...then...in a few years...WE'll be the ones being tested...I don't want to live long enough for any dementia...really!..

[sierraseven]

03:13 PM on 05/12/2010

Your "cop-out" is pretty scary for someone who has to share the road with your father. THINK. Think about the consequences of an accident. No, he won't just "hit a pole (no one gets hurt)" - that's your fantasy. He may indeed only injure himself - making him, perhaps, totally disabled and needing years of extremely expensive total care. Or the nightmare - which has become real for far too many families - he permanently disables or kills someone. Think about the legal and financial consequences - and if the family of the injured or killed innocent person can find proof that you knew he was dangerous and should not have been driving, those consequences could be directly on you.

Are you really willing to wager your parents' life savings and home, or YOUR life savings and home, or most importantly a stranger's life, on this idea that your father will have a harmless accident and have his license taken away by the authorities? Man up! Do the right thing - yes, it will be hard, and he may be angry with you. But YOU KNOW it needs to be done. Stop making excuses, before he kills or maims someone.

[luziannagirl]

11:08 AM on 04/14/2010

Unfortunately, in our modern American society we disrespect everyone who can't drive or chooses not to drive. They become severely socially handicapped.

It's very sad to see an elderly person more than capable of walking , shopping, visiting friends and relatives, and attending church, totally dependent on grown children for transportation, or worse, stuck at home or put in a nursing home simply because they are no longer safe behind the wheel of a car.

A real solution to this situation would be a blast from the past...multi-modal public transportation.

Bring back passenger trains, commuter light rail, streetcars and buses!

[Katie Young]

02:04 PM on 04/14/2010

So true. I am a very healthy 50 year old who has chosen not to have a car my entire adult life. I ride a bicycle in good weather, and take the bus in winter. So many people feel sorry for me, and offer to loan me their cars, drive me, etc. If more people made the choice at a young age not to have a car, there would be no stigma attached when we finally do get too old to drive.

[luziannagirl]

09:03 AM on 04/15/2010

Katie, you are a very courageous and committed person, I suspect. What would really be nice, now, is if our public infrastructure offered the least bit of support for your decision. Just the opposite is all too common. Case in point: 60,000 mostly pedestrian urbanite New Orleanians---and some pedestrian by CHOICE--- left stranded in a flooded city...for nearly a week.

As I've said many times, not all these folks we saw on TV wading in water and pleading for help outside the Superdome were poor and black. Some chose to live simply and lightly in a city in which one-vehicle-per-adult is simply not practical nor possible. When the evacuation "order" (little known fact is that law abiding US citizens cannot be legally forced to abandon their homes)came, thousands of pedestrians were knowingly left behind. As they are in EVERY hurricane. Routine thing.

It's just that this time, the consequences were tragic.