Should Older Adults Continue to Drive?

Question: Do older adults stop driving when they are no longer able to drive?

Answer: This is a trick question.  Most older adults DO stop driving when they are no longer safe to drive.  The population that does NOT stop driving when they are no longer safe to drive are individuals with dementia.

Dementia effects driving- even in early stages of dementia.  What happens to an individual with dementia is that they lose their executive functions fairly early in the disease process.  That means problem solving, decision making, judgement, and self regulation.

One of the most common things I observe when I am providing a driving assessment to an individual with dementia- they ask where the gas and brake pedals are located in the test car.  I used to be surprised at this question.  But then I realized that an individual who has dementia has lost the ability to use abstract thinking.  That means that they can't translate the information of the pedal locations from their car to the test car.  And mixing up the gas and brake pedals is exactly what caused the accident of Mr. George Weller at the Santa Monica Farmer's Market.