Jamie Woodford
Lethbridge Herald
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
It can be tough for seniors to admit that it might be time to hand over the car keys for good, but with a little preparation there's no reason to dread that day.
Dr. Bonnie Dobbs, a director of the Medically At-Risk Driver Centre in Edmonton, said everyone will have to move from the drivers seat to the passenger seat at some point in their life, which is why she encourages people to start planning ahead.
"It's interesting that the majority of people prepare for the day that they retire from the workforce, but very few prepare for the day that they're going to have to retire from behind the wheel," she said.
"Research indicates that men outlive their driving careers on average by six years, and women outlive their driving careers by 10 years, so for the vast majority of us we will have to stop driving."
Dobbs will be in Lethbridge Friday to speak about medically at-risk drivers, particularly in the senior community.
Having a drivers licence is a person's key to mobility and independence, and having that taken away can be difficult to accept.
"We all rely on our vehicles to get our groceries, to get to the doctors office, to get to Tim Horton's for coffee, for other social events and to get to religious events, so when a person loses their licence, if a person either voluntarily or involuntarily stops driving, mobility becomes a real challenge," said Dobbs.
Talking to elder family members about giving up driving can be also be difficult, especially when a person has become impaired due to an illness such as dementia, as opposed to poor eyesight, a condition that is more recognizable as an impairment.
"One of the reasons that (those conversations) are more difficult is that an illness such as Alzheimer disease robs a person not only of their ability to drive, it also robs them of the insight that their driving is impaired. So the person really does believe that they're still OK to drive, and so the family can spend an extraordinary amount of time trying to convince the person that they are no longer safe to drive."
Having those conversations early on will better prepare a person to accept that they are no longer safe to drive, said Dobbs.
"All of us need to start thinking about how we're going to meet our mobility needs if we can no longer drive and certainly having conversations between spouses, irrespective of age, and also with our parents is important," she said.
"We know that it's going to affect more of the senior population than other segments of the population, so starting to prepare in your 50s is a really good idea.
"We all need to have this conversation with our neighbours, with our families in terms of if we do end up with a medical condition, what should we do as responsible citizens?"
Using public transportation while still capable of driving is another way to prepare. That way it won't be as intimidating when the time comes to rely on a bus as a means of mobility.
It's also important to be aware of alternate forms of transportation such as a "Driving Miss Daisy" service, especially for those that suffer from a dementia.
"Once the dementia is at the level that they have to stop driving, it will also be very difficult for them to use a public bus."
Dobbs is also a director of research at the Department of Family Medicine, Division of Care of the Elderly at the University of Alberta. She said statistics show that crash rates by distance driven - the amount a person drives per year - starts to increase at around age 74, 75.
"It's interesting in that if you look at the statistics on dementia for example, there's certainly an upswing in the number of people who have a dementia at around age 75."
Dobbs stressed that it's not just seniors that could be classified as medically at-risk drivers. People who suffer from conditions that affect any age group such as epilepsy, neurological disorders, heart and lung diseases, pose just as much risk as seniors.
For example, a person with diabetes who hasn't managed their condition well could have changes to their visual system or cognitive abilities making them unsafe drivers.
"The illnesses that affect our driving ability can happen at any age, but they are age associated," she said.
During her talk on Friday, Dobbs will touch on community resources and strategies people can use to make conversations a little easier with family members that should no longer drive.
Her presentation will be held at the Lethbridge Seniors Citizens Organization Friday at 10:30 a.m. Tickets are available at LSCO, Nord Bridge or by calling 403-320-2222. Cost is $10 and includes lunch.