3 Ways To Tell If Your Elderly Loved One Shouldn’t Be Driving Anymore

If you have an elderly loved one who isn’t needing to move into a memory care facility yet but is starting to show their age a bit more, there may come a time when you have to encourage them to stop driving as a way to keep them and others safe. However, knowing when it comes to this point can be hard to determine. 

To help you in making this determination and ensure that your loved one is able to stay safe and avoid harming anyone else on the road, here are three ways to tell if your elderly loved one shouldn’t be driving anymore. 

You’ve Noticed Recent Mental Changes

One of the biggest signs that you should be on the lookout for to help you determine if your elderly loved one should still be driving is their mental state. 

While it’s very common for people to become more forgetful and absent-minded as they age, if you notice these types of things taking place very suddenly or becoming markedly worse, this is cause for concern. Things like becoming easily confused, not being able to see well in the house or when spending time outside, getting easily distracted, and having slower response times to things could all be signs that your elderly loved one’s mental changes are too advanced to safely be driving anymore. 

They Start Having Close Calls

Even if you haven’t noticed the kind of mental changes mentioned above, it still may be necessary for your elderly loved one to stop driving if you feel like they have started to have too many close calls while being on the road. 

If you have noticed that your elderly loved one has a hard time staying safely in their own lane, has missed traffic signals or stop signs while driving, doesn’t start braking with enough time to safely stop, is driving too fast or too slow for the conditions, or has talked about how they almost hit someone or something, it’s might be best to get them out from behind the wheel. 

You Wouldn’t Trust Them To Drive Your Kids

In some instances, there might not have been one or more actual situations that you feel could have been dangerous for your elderly loved one. But if the idea of having them drive you or your child somewhere scares you, you might want to think long and hard about how safe it really is for them to be on the road anymore. So if you don’t want your elderly loved one to drive your kids anymore, this could be a sign that they shouldn’t be driving at all. 

If you’re wondering if your elderly loved one should still be driving, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you determine what the safest option will be.