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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Alzheimer's / October 2005Driving issues
>From USA Today: ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - A 93-year-old driver apparently suffering from dementia fatally struck a pedestrian and drove for three miles with the man's body through his windshield, police said. For more details: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-10-21-elderly-driver_x.htm?csp=34 According to an associated online poll, 93 percent of respondents favor seniors being tested for driving ability. Just FYI, in light of recent threads... Songbird > >From USA Today: > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Songbird no doubt there will be someone related to that person who will have said 'well he seemed to be OK driving locally' or, 'oh he made a fuss when we tried to tell him to stop'.  SignatureTumbleweed email replies not necessary but to contact use; tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com I've posted about a similar incident before http://www.fathers.ca/women_convicted.htm It particularly resonates with me, since it happened a block from my father's house I grew up, at an intersection I walked through every day from the time I was in fourth grade through high school. Incidentally, Beth Kidnie's body fell off in the driveway of Mrs. Hicks home, and Mrs. Hicks (still oblivious to having hit anyone or dragged them to their death) went into the house and called her son to say she'd gotten home okay. A passerby walking their dog found the body lying in the driveway next to the sidewalk. Mary G. Sadly, I see stories like that in the news consistently and I have to wonder if our species carries a "not me" gene. As I told Anthony, not everyone is lucky enough to be the sole recipient of their mistakes in driving. Unfortunately, I don't see the situation improving voluntarily as the boomers age in this country. If people won't admit they can't drive when they are drunk, how do you expect them to admit it when their judgement is impaired from dementia or similar ailments? As an attempt at devil's advocate, I will admit that people do stupid stuff in cars at all ages. I saw a man in mid-40s pull out into the direct path of an oncoming van yesterday and the van was about 10 feet away and moving. One of those morning moments when you want to say "Sheesh! Get another cup of coffee, would you!" Karen --------------------------- http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/12954994.htm Posted on Thu, Oct. 20, 2005 Elderly woman crashes through post office in San Bernardino Associated Press SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - A 78-year-old woman sideswiped the fence of a daycare center and crashed her car through the wall of a post office Thursday, injuring three people. --------------------------- http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/3407125 Oct. 21, 2005, 8:32AM SUV driver kills pedestrian in crosswalk A sport utility vehicle driven by an elderly man struck and killed a woman Wednesday morning as she crossed a southwest Houston street. --------------------------- http://kutv.com/topstories/local_story_293140408.html Oct 20, 2005 12:01 pm US/Mountain There was a very strange and deadly accident in St. Petersburg, Florida Wednesday night. According to police, an elderly driver on his way to McDonald's struck and killed a male pedestrian, but kept driving with a hole in the windshield and the body on the roof of the car. Left behind at the accident scene was a severed leg. --------------------------- http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051021/NEWS/510210329 Two elderly women were killed in two unrelated accidents Thursday, each of which involved their cars and trucks. In the first accident, which was in Green Brook, an 81-year-old woman died after crashing head-on into a landscaping truck parked on Rock Road East, police said. Less than two hours later in Hillsborough, at 12:13 p.m., Jean A. McLafferty, 77, of Hillsborough was stopped at a red light at Andria Avenue and Route 206 when she pulled her 2003 Hyundai Elantra into the intersection, witnesses said. Her car was struck by a tractor-trailer traveling north on 206, driven by Gregg D. Barrack, 36, of Piscataway. However, Karen, you see the denial all the time in this very forum. Never mind the person with the dementia or impairment - they can be somewhat forgiven for not seeing their own problems because they may have brain damage, and genuinely be oblivious to what is obvious to everyone else. As you know, we frequently get postings from the family members who know their loved one isn't 100% on many fronts. All too often, they are very reluctant to stop the person driving because they want to preserve the person's feelings or sense of independence, or because nothing really bad has happened just yet, they don't think its necessary. Frequently, they don't realize that most dementias don't just impact memory - they don't really "get" that their loved one may be impaired in more insidious ways that affect driving - depth perception, muscular coordination and reaction time, judgement, reasoning, emotional control etc. etc. In retrospect with our own family situation, we very lucky that around the time of diagnosis the doctor ordered a good assessment of my mother in law's cognition, and my husband sat with her through the testing (kinda like the testing for learning disabilities)....and it was horrifying i.e. wide ranging damage that was almost completely hidden in social situations was like an iceburg. Hardly apparent on the surface but massive none the less...and even KNOWING that, we still waffled on the driving front until the doctor reported her. When postings from those with loved ones still driving are made, the people who have been through this with those close to them form the Greek Chorus on how dangerous it is to let a person with progressive brain damage drive - and the original poster is often offended and irritated - probably because they really do want to believe its okay for Aunt Margaret to keep driving the Volvo to Piggly Wiggly. I guess its all part of that awful transition we make as caregivers from viewing the loved one as a functional and independent adult to viewing them like a ward we must take responsibility for and protect. Mary G. > keep driving the Volvo to Piggly Wiggly... ================================= LOL! Makes me think of one of my favorite movies..."Driving Miss Daisy". SignatureJohn Inzer Maybe it's because my first job was at an insurance agency, but when we got involved with my MIL's situation and I found out that she had allowed her auto insurance to lapse ("I'm sure I paid it and they lost the check!") and then I rode with her, I told Hubby she was a liability case waiting to happen. I think the month between seeing the situation and gaining enough control to do something about it was an eternity. But I made sure her auto policy was back in effect ASAP. That's when we found out she'd had an accident the previous year that she completely didn't remember. When I was a teen, I found out some rural areas allowed elderly people to drive a tractor along the side of the road when they couldn't drive a car. I suppose it was on the theory that the slower vehicle couldn't be as much of a problem. From this end of the situation, you pegged it -- denial. If it were just the one person at stake, it would just be neglect. But when you see how many others are involved it becomes public endangerment (if not vehicular manslaughter). With the boomers aging, I suspect they won't be able to wait much longer before doing something about it. Karen > However, Karen, you see the denial all the time in this very forum. > Never mind the person with the dementia or impairment - they can be [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > > Mary G. I was very fortunate with Grayson. Driving to town one day, he pulled over to the side of the road and said, "I think you'd better drive". He didn't drive any more after that. Gwen > Maybe it's because my first job was at an insurance agency, but when we > got [quoted text clipped - 58 lines] >> >> Mary G. >I was very fortunate with Grayson. Driving to town one day, he pulled over >to the side of the road and said, "I think you'd better drive". He didn't >drive any more after that. You should have stopped him years ago! -- 2 + 2 = 5 for sufficiently large values of 2. God Bless him Untitled Normal Page > I was very fortunate with Grayson. Driving to town one day, he pulled over > to the side of the road and said, "I think you'd better drive". He didn't [quoted text clipped - 63 lines] > >> > >> Mary G. Yes, God bless him for making that decision on his own and taking such a huge step. It may seem small to many who don't deal with this with their LOs (don't mean those here...y'all understand all too well) but the driving issue can be a major deal. We finally got a call one morning regarding MIL from hubby's best friend who was like another son to her. He'd seen her driving down a 3 lane one way very busy street at 15 mp approx and swerving back and forth across the lanes at 7ish in the morning. Not wanting to startle her, he followed her to the doctor's office and then called us so I could come down there. MIL was livid...that Irish temper really came out over losing her car keys. After I had followed her one day to the grocery store, I knew she was at risk driving. Hubby didn't see it yet until James described it for him. We took the keys to the car but left the car there so it would always appear someone was home. She had spares and was out driving the next week. So ultimately, we took the car and put one of our vehicles there until we got her to agree to move in them in wish us. We never told her James was the one who called us b/c she would never have spoken to him again. > Yes, God bless him for making that decision on his own and taking such > a huge step. It may seem small to many who don't deal with this with [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > in them in wish us. We never told her James was the one who called us > b/c she would never have spoken to him again. Oh she would, after she had forgotten :-) SignatureTumbleweed email replies not necessary but to contact use; tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com I found out that was the one thing that made it bearable. After having my MIL literally launch a physical attack at my hubby and pitching a screeching fit every time she saw either of us, it was quite a surprise when she informed us (after several weeks) that she had moved herself into the Assisted Living Place. Fortunately, we had the coaching of one of the caregivers that told us #1-She can't get in your world so you have to get into hers and #2-don't bother correcting her if it doesn't really matter -- that's the reality she's in at the moment. And the way she was driving, I was afraid she was going to make her long term care a moot issue before we could get her off the road. Karen > > We never told her James was the one who called us > > b/c she would never have spoken to him again. > > > Oh she would, after she had forgotten :-) |
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