<p>We are just home last week from a visit with the in laws, with the other kids, too. We had him agreeing to let the 5 day a week live in do the driving, yes, he was in a funk about it, but he has someone there to drive all the time. I may have mentioned we even rented a handicapped van so he could ride in the front seat, but they took it back after one trial. He planned to give up his license this month, not renew it.</p>
<p>We have the signed forms for the DMV, but were concerned he could pass the test if he was really careful, but he is not at all careful on a daily basis. So we were waiting to see what he did for his renewal this month, knowing that he kept saying he would have to give it up.</p>
<p>Now the darned neurologist told him to feel free to drive!</p>
<p>I think we are calling the neurologist AND mailing the forms in!</p>
<p>No, we cannot take away the keys, he is able enough that he would just go buy a new car & everyone lives over 1,000 miles away so we would not even know.</p>
<p>I’d like to ask the neurologist to take a drive with him, though, given the people I know who have disabilities and a driver’s license (MIL had one for years after her serious stroke) apparently the standards are fairly generous. Really, it is not the physical limitation which are the issue as much as the lack of executive function.</p>
<p>In my area, one of the major medical centers does a comprehensive driving evaluation which is done by the hospitals OT and PT. It looks at things like mechanical ability and vision but also tests executive function. Such a test would take out some of the family conflict. It is really hard for doctors to make determinations about driving in such short visits. Probably the neurologist whould have opted out of making a decision. </p>
<p>That’s what my dad’s doctor did. Her fig leaf was “I’ve never seen him drive so I can’t assess that.” (He had all kinds of medical problems which should have disqualified him. ) </p>
<p>Doctors don’t want to be the bad guy any more than adult children do, I guess. </p>
<p>I normally don’t like lawsuit-happy people, but I wonder if a victim could sue if a patently unsafe driver injured them after being cleared to drive by their doctor-- particularly if it was against the advice and wishes of the unsafe driver’s family.</p>
<p>We need to do a better job of getting unsafe drivers off the road. And maybe, although doctors shouldn’t in general be in charge of driving competence, there could be a list of diagnoses that would trigger automatic removal of a driver’s license, certain conditions that are just incompatible with safe driving.</p>
<p>Mom’s psychiatrist stayed out of the driving thing. The neurologist should have as well.</p>
<p>Even being 1000 mi away, measures can be taken. Take away the driver’s license. Alert DMV where he would go for renewal and see how you can flag that they do a thorough evaluation of driving (whatever your state’s rules are).</p>
<p>It is just like an alcoholic agreeing not to take a drink again. Father needs to agree to turn over the keys and forfeit the license. Make sure he gets a picture ID to vote.</p>
<p>surfcity, hopefully the driver’s insurance will cover your dad’s medical expenses (or, if Medicare is primary, the OOP expenses related to the accident)? I think I’d pursue the $250k max so that his expenses from the accident don’t drain your parents’ ability to cover their needs.</p>
<p>There are many avenues to get a driving evaluation done, and in some states doctors are required to contact the DMV if a patient is unsafe to drive.</p>
<p>My mother had a $1M umbrella policy - and it paid out a lot of money.</p>
<p>Some states do lag on the driving capability screening, while some lag on getting DUIs off the road.</p>
<p>If you or your family would not want to drive with a person due to poor driving, then you need to have the family coordination to get the person off the roads. Hitting a pedestrian, a bicyclist would be tragic. Life is precious.</p>
<p>So lucky to have dodged this bullet - mom’s macular degeneration got to the point where she failed the eye test just when we were starting to get worried about other abilities. When they start saying that they can drive just fine, but “everybody else just goes too fast!”, it’s a warning sign that processing time is increasing. And my mom used to say, “those cones just pop up out of nowhere” - a signal that her vision was declining. There are also judgment issues - when it is safe to make a left turn or pull out into traffic, for instance. </p>
<p>Mom insisted that the eye test machine was broken, since she couldn’t see anything in it, and taht her eye doctor would provide a waiver. Fortunately, he didn’t. At least (here) the law provides an objective standard - eyesight must be 20/50 or 20/60 ( I forget which) corrected, and she didn’t make the cut. But the time before that (here, elders must renew every 2 years, yay, though only with an eye test and maybe written, I forget, but no driving test), the DMV lady passed mom even though I watched the test and she failed on one eye! </p>
<p>Hi Sweetbeet. This – “those cones just pop up out of nowhere” – is actually one of the warning signs of a deteriorating elder driver (sometimes it’s a pedestrian, cyclist, or other car). I used to have a list of the warning signs somewhere. Let me see if I can find it again.</p>
<p>“That bicyclist just popped up out of nowhere” is what elderly drivers who kill cyclists say, about cyclists who were riding along in a straight line in plain sight wearing bring clothing in broad daylight. And they say the same thing about pedestrians crossing in crosswalks.</p>
<p>PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE get your parents off the road when they become unsafe drivers.</p>
<p>We actually used a version of this one with my dad:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>We told him that he seemed to be having some problems with his balance (ha! that was putting it lightly!), and that out of an abundance of caution, we thought it would be better if he didn’t drive until he could get it checked out. We scheduled him an appointment at a PT/OT center which assesses, not driving per se, but the skills used in driving – vision, flexibility, reaction time, ability to process multiple simultaneous inputs, etc. (Actually, it sounds like the facility that GT described in #5044). We asked him not to drive until he got the green light from them. We knew they would NEVER give him the green light, but also knew that the blow would be easier to accept if it came from a neutral third party, especially a medical third party.</p>
<p>Thankfully when my mom was at rehab they told her while she was taking those pain pills she wasn’t cleared to drive. So she would have to choose between the pain pills and driving. And they also told her she had to be cleared by her doctor to drive. When we talked about her move to assisted living she said she didn’t want us to sell her car because she hoped to drive again. We just said as soon as you aren’t on the pain meds and the dr clears you then we’ll talk about it. But we aren’t shutting the door. I’ll say there is no way on earth she’d give up the pain pills and now with aides she seems content to go out with them. Not to mention she can barely move anyway.</p>