Driving
Driving allows a person to independent and when the ability to drive is taken away many people become angry, depressed, and socially isolated.
Research shows a sharp increase in number of accidents involving people with dementia – even very early in the disease. It is ultimately the family's responsibility to take away the privilege before an accident happens.
As Arizona's leading provider of Alzheimer's clinical resources, Banner Alzheimer's Institute offers these suggestions about driving:
Some signs that a person is no longer safe to drive:
- Fender benders and mishaps, unexplained dents and scrapes
- Hitting parked cars and trees (common when backing up)
- Missed signals such as running a stop sign or red light
- Gross errors in judgment such as thinking the train should stop, making a left turn on red, or turns from the wrong lane
- Getting angry with other drivers
- Becoming lost (even in familiar places)
- Slowing down or speeding up
- Driving erratically
- Tailgating
Advice for caregivers in handling dementia and driving
- The best way to stop the person from driving is to discuss it early on.
- Anger is a normal reaction but make sure the disease is the villain, not the caregiver
- Some families will try to break the car by removing the distributor cap or spark plug. Often this results in the person making repeated calls to the garage.
- Some families try to hide or take the car. This may result in the car being reported stolen or a family member being arrested for auto theft.
- A good way to get the keys from a person is to file the “bumps” from the keys without the person’s knowledge.
For more information
This advice was adapted from "When Memory Fades. . . The Caregiver's Challenge Begins,'' offered by Banner Alzheimer's Institute.
