When senior citizens need to stop driving

February 11, 2012|by Jim Grawe | KWCH 12 Eyewitness News

An elderly woman drives the wrong way down an interstate. An 86-year-old man loses control of his car and runs over ten people. Another elderly man slams his car into an apartment building. All are recent cases of senior citizens out of control behind the wheel.

As AARP's driver safety coordinator for Kansas, 80-year-old Norman Dahlstrom knows that driving becomes more challenging with age. Dahlstrom says seniors, and those close to them, need to look for the warning signs.

"Our body, it changes," Dahlstrom says. "We lose reaction. We don't react as fast as we used to. We don't have the control we used to."

Dahlstrom says it may be time for a senior to quit driving when they start running into curbs, forgetting where they parked the car, frequently turning in the wrong direction, and noticing a lot of dings and stratches on their car.

About ten percent of all American drivers are at least 70 years old, and that percent continues to grow. So in coming years there are going to be more and more younger people who are going to have to have tough talks with their parents and grandparents about possibly hanging up the keys for good.

"It's a difficult situation," Dahlstrom says. "I find it more so in older men. Nobody likes to be told they don't know how to drive."

Dahlstrom says it's always easier when seniors realize it on their own. But if not, he says it's up to others to be aware and be tactful.

"I would highly recommend never to walk up to a person and grab their keys and say, you're not going to drive anymore," Dahlstrom says. "That is absolutely cruel."

The Kansas AARP's driver safety course is available to people of all ages. People who take it learn defensive driving skills and have their auto insurance rates reduced.

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