I'm probably the only person who is going to post anything other than "STOP HIM
NOW!".

Does "his ability has diminished" refer to anything other than his ability to
find his way to his destination or back? If not, I believe it's Ok in the
following circumstances:
-    it's for more than a trivial need (like going to buy a magazine).
-    it's a trivial distance and it's a common route for him
-    the traffic is low
-    if at night, the roads are reasonably lit and there's sufficient need for
the trip.

I won't post much more in the above vein but, knowing what the "uninformed"
response is going to be, I will assert that the only people who can assist in
the making the decision are those who have local experience of his abilities and
judgement and who are on the ground to use that experience to determine the
appropriate time to cease driving entirely or at night.

Now for the  view of those who know the answer by osmosis...
-    the streets in question are
--
2 + 2 = 5 for sufficiently large values of 2.

Hi James,

I am not going to be "knee jerk" about it and automatically say you should
stop him now, but you must remember that our Anthony is in the same position
as your dad.   He has been diagnosed with the illness and typical of all the
sufferers of alzheimers, he cannot see his own deficits.   It would be
pretty safe to guess that your dad can't see his own deficits either.

So if that is the case, you will have to be the one to judge his abilities
and the dangerousness of his driving, for him.  If you really wanted to be
safe as well as fair, perhaps you should have him tested by professionals
and arrange for periodic testing every couple of months, to see if his
abilities have continued to decline.   When they say "stop" then so should
you.   But most people are afraid of that, because they know that the
authorities would stop them sooner than they would like to do so themselves.

Now periodic testing might work, if the decline was steady and gradual and
always measurable, but everyone here who has cared for a loved one with
alzheimers will assure you that some days their abilities are better and
some days they are worse.   This means he could be tested OK to drive today,
and tomorrow morning go out and get into a bad situation.   Maybe a life
threatening situation.

It could also be dangerous to other drivers and their passengers to
encounter someone who is a little confused, which is why they disallow the
use of cell phones while driving, or when indulging in alcohol while
driving.   A very little impairment or distraction can go a long way in
contributing to a dangerous mishap.

In our local news there was a story just this week, about two elderly ladies
who went out to the store for a bottle of milk and somehow ended up 90 miles
from home, the next day (!) completely confused about how they got there.
Some tried to suggest it was foul play, but there was no evidence whatsoever
for that.   But most of us here could probably tell you exactly what it was
with some degree of certainty.   It was a moment of confusion, whether
caused by a mini-stroke, alzheimers, or some other brain glitch.

Now you may think your Dad is OK enough to drive to the store or the bank or
the post office with no problem, but what would you say about those little
familiar trips if suddenly he had a moment of complete unfamiliarity with
his circumstances?   What if he suddenly couldn't remember what pedal to
push to stop the car?   Or how to get back home?  Or where he was supposed
to be going?   These are typical of the kinds of confusion that characterize
the illness.

Did you yourself, ever absent-mindedly make a wrong turn off a familiar road
and have some difficulty maneuvering back onto your familiar path?   Imagine
how confusing it could be for your dad to do that?

Allow me to assure you that any of the above is indeed possible, if your dad
has been diagnosed.

If a person is diagnosable with alzheimers disease, he ought not to be
driving, and not just for his own sake, for the sake of everybody else on
the road.    There are young children and innocent other drivers out there
and we ALL should be comfortably assured in believing that the other drivers
on the road are NOT impaired in any way.   Not drunk, not yakking on a cell
phone, not impaired with a brain illness, but in full possession of ALL
their faculties, with FULL concentration on the road.   We all deserve that!

I hope that didn't sound too "knee jerk" to you, because I sincerely
re-thought the entire thing as I typed it up.  I assure you that Anthony,
like so many of us, doesn't want to admit that if he has been diagnosed, he
has deficits that should preclude driving a several thousand pound vehicle,
hurtling down the road.

I don't want a several thousand pound missile hurtling down the road,
piloted by an impaired person of any kind, when my daughter is out driving
my grandchildren here or there, or when I myself am going out here or there.

I don't care how familiar the road is, or how slow they are going,
impairment has a way of mixing up the most familiar of circumstances.

Please re-think the driving issue, and do it soon before there is a tragedy
of some kind.

My husband is 56 and diagnosis is "cognitive loss". His doctor and I agreed
to have the driver's license pulled as John got lost twice that I know of in
the last 6 months. Just turned out to make the trip longer but I felt that
was better before it got worse rather than after something awful happened.

Linda

You could anonymously turn him in to the bureau of motor vehicles and they
will have him come in for a test.   I realize that it's only a test for that
particular day but if he's impaired it should show up.    I know that
Florida has a preliminary test and then if you don't do well there's
another test later.  Good Luck I know it's toughie....been there.....June

Having been through this, my first stop would be the doctor. In many
jurisdictions, the doctor has a legal responsibility to report anyone
who has a condition that might potentially affect their ability to
drive safely. This usually translates into a request for the person to
have a third party driver assessment done, or pass an actual written or
road test by a specific date, or have their license revoked.

Even if the doctor has not reported the person, you need to think long
and hard about dignity and independence vs. safety. Safety trumps
everything else - so no excuses. If the bells are ringing in your gut,
don't try to justify ignoring them because you want to spare someone's
feeling.

Being able to drive safely isn't just about knowing where you are. Most
progressive dementias don't just impact memory. They affect depth
perception, judgement, reasoning, emotional control, muscular
coordination, reaction time - a whole lot of things that are absolute
necessities for driving safely.

At the time my mother in law had to stop driving, she had had no
accidents or tickets. However, the doctor had to report her and the
prospect of a written test was enough to stop her in her tracks. We got
the rules of the road book for her and she just wasn't able to remember
speed limits, what various signs meant, etc. etc. I think that matters
- she should have known what all the signs meant. Shortly before she
lost her licence, she told us a story that made us realize her grasp on
the rules were slipping - just a couple of blocks from her apartment
was a complicated intersection that had an "advance green" for left
turns. It came to an end and turned red, and she didn't understand that
meant she couldn't turn left. She launched into a left turn right into
solid traffic - and just couldn't understand why they were honking at
her. Just no idea that she could have been killed or killed someone
else.

Would you want your children on the sidewalk or crossing the street
where the person is driving? How about being given a drive by the
person?

At a bare minimum, satisfy yourself about their abilities by finding a
third party professional who specializes in assessing driving skills,
and let them tell you if the person is fit.

Mary G.

James, if his abilities have diminished sufficiently to make a diagnosis,
that probably should be considered an answer, but I would ask the doctor to
make that call.  He's an impartial, third party that is an expert in the
subject.  (or as my Grandma would say "Why buy a dog and bark yourself")

On a personal note, my MIL lived in a town that you could drive through in
approx. 5 minutes.  One reason we had to get involved is that she had gotten
lost several times _that we knew of_ in the town she had lived in for over
50 years and driven around in excess of 4 hours each time trying to find her
way.  I remember being in the car when she blew through a school zone at 50+
mph.  She had also had a wreck the previous year that she remembered nothing
about and had dropped her auto insurance.

You may want to ask yourself what will be the sign that he is no longer able
to drive.  A wreck?  A bashed bumper that he can't explain?  I think we all
remember the senior citizen that plowed through the crowded market in
California because he mistook the gas for the brake.  If you don't feel
comfortable taking the issue to his doctor, make sure his insurance is kept
up.

I believe the rants and tantrums Anthony is referring to was the general
reaction to his statement that he still wanted to live life, "even if it
means I get stuck between the tyres of a large truck".  Few people are lucky
enough to be the _only_ recipient of their driving skills on the road when
something goes wrong.
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.support.alzheimers/msg/b81d74bb5105bbee?hl=en&

Karen

Take very frequent drives with him to monitor his progress. When you see
that he isn't able to hear, see or *react* fast enough, that's when I think
it is time to take away the keys. I wouldn't wait until he hurts himself &
others. Likewise, I wouldn't want to take the keys prematurely. So I think
continuous monitoring is the best solution.

Here's a good info source on this topic that I ran across while helping a
co-worker research something...
http://www.aging-parents-and-elder-care.com/Pages/Checklists/Elderly_Drivers.html

When to Put the Brakes On Elderly Drivers
Are elderly drivers safe? Yes ... for the most part. The same can be said
for teen drivers.

Do driving skills of elderly drivers decline with age? Yes, but just like
other age groups, driving skills vary from one elderly person to another.
Telling elderly drivers that it may be time to stop driving can be one of
the most difficult milestones for caregivers. Driving represents freedom and
independence for the elderly ... the ability to visit friends, go to the
movies and shop ... without relying on anyone else.

Revoking an elderly person's drivers license over a certain age is not an
acceptable solution. Elderly driving skills vary widely at all ages. It is
unfair to punish most elderly drivers for problems caused by only a few
drivers.
--- continued ---