JOAN’S BLOG – FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2008 – WHY ARE THEY STILL DRIVING?

After the torturous Hell I went through this past summer with the cessation of Sid’s driving (July 08 blogs in the "Previous Blog" section on left side of website), I really did not want to revisit this topic, but what is going on around me is forcing me to.

Have you heard of Silver Alert? As far as I am aware, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, North Carolina, Texas, and Florida are currently the only States that have the program. (That is what my research told me -I could be wrong on this – maybe other States have adopted it.) It is modeled after the Amber Alert program that has been so successful in finding missing children. When a senior goes missing, an alert is sent out on TV, radio, and an electronic billboard on the highway, describing the person. One went out just last week here in our area. I was driving on the highway, and saw the sign myself. My husband made sure it was brought to my attention that the highway billboard listed THE TYPE OF CAR AND LICENSE PLATE THAT THE MISSING 86-YEAR OLD ALZHEIMER’S PATIENT WAS DRIVING!

As you can imagine, Sid was incredulous. “You took MY license away. I am nowhere near the age or mental condition of these people who ARE STILL DRIVING. What is wrong with this picture?” I calmly explained that maybe the man just took the car, and either did not have a license or was not supposed to be driving. But it bothered me just as much as it bothered Sid, because every single day, I either read about, hear about, or actually see people driving with valid driving licenses, who have Alzheimer’s Disease. I am the first to admit, that I do not believe a driver’s license should be taken away as soon as the diagnosis is made. Many people are diagnosed with MCI or early Alzheimer’s Disease, whose driving skills, memory, and judgment are not impaired enough to be denied driving privileges. Sid was definitely in that category for 2 years. It was only when the impulse control, anger, and memory, started to affect his driving, did I step in. Now that he is so calm, and his memory is much better (either due to the anti-depressant, single BAP infusion, or both- we don’t know), he wants to drive locally again. (That is another story for another time.)

I recently read a blog by a woman who has AD, admits that she gets tired, confused, that her thinking is often very unclear, BUT with the help of her GPS, she STILL DRIVES, and holds a valid, current driver’s license. Does this not concern her family? I read and hear all of the time of both men and women with Alzheimer’s Disease who cannot remember anything from one minute to the next, cannot follow 2-step directions, and whose behavior is unpredictable, yet they are STILL DRIVING. 

Driving is more than mechanical skills. As I am CONTINUALLY reminded, my husband’s driving SKILLS are better than mine. I admit it. They are. He can maneuver in and out and around parking spaces much better than I. He can judge the distance between the car and those horrid cement barriers on the right side of the highway better than I. However, his focus, memory, processing time, and impulse control, are of serious concern. But he is, as he says, much higher functioning than so many of the Alzheimer patients who are legally driving. My husband is 100% correct on this one – WHY ARE THESE PEOPLE DRIVING? 

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