Safety- Some Signs of Unsafe Driving

Some Signs of Unsafe Driving

This topic is never easy when it comes time to tell your loved one they can no longer drive. In the case of both my mom and mother in law we had the Doctor tell them. Believe me it is easier that way! They will still yell at you, sway nasty things to you and they try to find a way for you to let them drive so be prepared for that. However, I found that if you refer back to "the Doctor said so" then you always have them playing the bad guy/gal instead of you being the bad one. If you have any doubts at all take the keys immediately and prevent something worse from happening.

Determining when someone can no longer safely drive requires observation by family members and or caregivers, etc. The following list below provides some of the warning signs that it's time to stop your loved one from driving before they hurt themselves and or someone else. The bolded ones are the ones that we noticed.

• Forgetting how to locate familiar places
• Forgetting the destination you are driving to during the trip
• Returning from a routine drive later than usual
• Becoming angry or confused while driving
• Getting lost and calling us because they were disoriented
• Failing to observe traffic signs
• Making slow or poor decisions in traffic
• Driving at an inappropriate speed (could be slow or could be fast)
• Hitting curbs, swaying in lanes
• Using poor lane control
• Making errors at intersections
• Confusing the brake and gas pedals