If you’re like a lot of people, you’ve been driving for several decades. To you, the idea of getting behind the wheel of a car was always a symbol of your freedom and independence. But now that you have Alzheimer’s, you may have to stop driving.
Some people with Alzheimer’s will easily acknowledge that they have become hazards on the road. They might have difficulty navigating through familiar places or have trouble remembering what basic parts of the car are supposed to do. Others may be well aware of their shortcomings, but still be reluctant to give up driving. For them, a life without their car represents a major milestone toward their loss of independence.
The truth is, people who have any form of dementia are serious dangers on the road. While the act of driving is so familiar to most of us that it’s almost second nature, driving with dementia is another matter. An impaired brain is less capable of making snap decisions when something unexpected occurs. Think of the small child who suddenly darts into the road, or the car that makes a sudden shift into your lane without warning. Driving also requires that the driver be alert and aware of her surroundings and be able to easily coordinate her eyes, hands, and feet. When a person is suffering from dementia, these abilities may be compromised.
To make matters worse, the person with Alzheimer’s Disease may be well aware of these difficulties and feel intense anxiety and stress about them on the road. Such feelings will only compromise their driving further. In any case, the person with Alzheimer’s can be a serious hazard on the road, both to himself and to other drivers.
What the Caregiver Can Do
As the caregiver, it’s important for you to regularly monitor your loved one’s ability to drive. For some people in the throes of early Alzheimer’s, driving is still something they can do. But for others, it becomes increasingly difficult and unsafe.
How can you tell? According to the Alzheimer’s Association, there are five warning signs that your loved one has become unsafe on the road:
• Forgetting how to locate familiar places.
• Failing to observe traffic signals.
• Making slow or poor decisions.
• Driving at an inappropriate speed.
• Becoming angry and confused while driving.
If you see these behaviors in the person with Alzheimer’s, you should suggest that your loved one stop driving. If he’s reluctant, you will have to take more assertive measures to get him to stop, which might not be easy. Begin with a frank discussion about his driving abilities. Avoid criticizing his driving, but do gendy point out that some of his skills are not what they used to be. You might also start getting him accustomed to not driving by offering to chauffeur him places. After a while, he might come to enjoy, and even prefer, the lesser responsibility that comes with being a passenger.
But if your loved one is still resistant to the notion of not driving, you may have to resort to more surreptitious strategies. The Alzheimer’s Association offers the following tips on how to prevent a person with Alzheimer’s from driving:
• Ask a doctor to write a “do not drive” prescription. By putting the onus of the request on the doctor, the person with Alzheimer’s might be less angry with you.
• Control access to the car keys. Stash them in places where he won’t look.
• Disable the car by removing the distributor cap or battery. You can ask a mechanic how to do this.
• Park the car on another block or in a neighbor’s driveway.
• Have the person take a driving test.
• Arrange for other transportation.
Getting your loved one to stop driving is critical to his safety and well-being, as well as to the safety of others. So if you sense that his skills have become diminished, take action immediately.