Those are the questions many are possible asking in mild of the news that the legendary 97-year-old actor Dick Van Dyke was in a driving accident final week in Malibu, Calif. According to stories, Van Dyke’s silver Lexus collided with a gate, however the actor suffered solely minor accidents. He gave the impression to be the driving force and sole occupant of the automobile.
Like many states, California makes sure necessities of older drivers as a safeguard — particularly, it requires that these 70 and over renew their license in individual and supply proof of sufficient imaginative and prescient. Some states additionally require that older drivers renew their licenses extra steadily.
Still, all this hasn’t stopped seniors from driving. In truth, in line with AAA, by 2030, there will probably be greater than 70 million folks age 65 or older on this nation — and 85 to 90% of them could have a driver’s license. At the identical time, AAA warns that we should face a reckoning on the subject of our skill to hit the highway as we age, noting that “seniors are outliving their ability to drive safely by an average of 7-10 years.”
In impact, AAA says, “we must plan for our ‘driving retirement’ just as we plan for our financial retirement.”
Not that it’s so easy to surrender driving. At subject, say those that are acquainted with the challenges confronting senior drivers, are two main issues. First, life within the U.S. is essentially constructed across the automotive: Save for many who dwell in main cities with extremely developed public-transportation techniques, Americans depend on their autos to get to the shop, to the physician’s workplace, to, properly, wherever.
There are methods round this for seniors — say, by dwelling in a retirement group that gives transportation or by counting on taxi companies or the like. In mild of Van Dyke’s accident, some have puzzled why the actor, a person who possible has the monetary means to rent a non-public driver, didn’t accomplish that. (MarketWatch reached out to Van Dyke for remark however didn’t obtain a response.)
But that will get into the second drawback — to surrender driving is to surrender a way of independence that many seniors worth.
“ ‘My skills are diminished. I drive differently than when I was younger.’ ”
It’s an issue that Neil Charness, a psychology professor at Florida State University, is aware of all too properly. Not solely has he devoted a bit of his analysis to senior-related driving points, he additionally needed to confront his father, then in his 90s, about the potential of giving up driving.
As Charness recalled of his late dad’s response: “He said, ‘There’s no way you’re going to pry that steering wheel out of my hands.’”
Which is to not say that older drivers are essentially extra reckless drivers or that there’s some precise age when driving ought to change into a no-no, in line with specialists. If something, older drivers might be a lot safer drivers by advantage of their years of expertise on the highway. And that’s more and more the case when evaluating them to drivers of their 20s, Charness notes, pointing to how the youthful cohort is extra susceptible to such points as dashing or driving whereas impaired.
Indeed, Charness mentioned it’s not till about age 85 that older drivers are as crash-prone as these of their 20s.
Actor Dick Van Dyke, seen right here at a 2021 occasion, was concerned in a driving accident earlier this month.
AFP through Getty Images
Still, there’s no denying that as you age, chances are you’ll face a variety of bodily and cognitive challenges that would have an effect on your skill to drive. To say nothing of the actual fact chances are you’ll be on medicines that would impair your skill to function a motorcar.
That’s why specialists advise older drivers to have frank discussions with their healthcare suppliers in regards to the driving query. Or to hunt out different methods to judge themselves, as AAA advises.
Unfortunately, too many seniors presume they’re extra succesful than they’re, mentioned Dr. Karen Severson, a geriatric psychiatrist based mostly in West Palm Beach, Fl.
“They think that just because they’ve not had an accident before, they’re not going to have one in the future,” she mentioned.
Even when age-related challenges come up, there could also be methods to work round them with out giving up driving altogether, specialists advise. A driver with arthritis which will have an effect on their skill to show their neck and verify their blind spots should purchase a automotive with blind-spot expertise. A driver who feels they’ve misplaced a few of their edge on the subject of sure tough driving maneuvers — say, making a left flip at a busy intersection — can presumably select to keep away from that intersection.
But Cherness mentioned if the driving force is beginning to endure from dementia, that needs to be the top of the highway — actually. Ironically, the dementia typically prevents them from seeing “how bad their condition is,” he added.
Of course, that’s one of many situations when youngsters of aged drivers or others near them can attempt to intervene. It’s by no means a straightforward job, specialists advise, nevertheless it’s one that may be a lifesaver. Various web sites present recommendations on navigating the dialog, together with the necessity for suggesting transportation options. “The best way to fix a problem is to find a solution,” one web site famous.
Severson warns that if the scenario turns into dire, youngsters or others can contemplate extra drastic measures, equivalent to taking away an aged driver’s keys or disabling the automobile.
Cherness mentioned the issues related to seniors and driving could possibly be considerably solved if we put extra money into our public-transportation techniques or labored out methods with the personal sector to help in supporting transportation choices. For instance, a grocery store chain may provide free rides for seniors, understanding it will convey it enterprise, Cherness advised.
Cheness additionally mentioned that expertise might proceed to make a distinction, pointing to driverless vehicles as a possible future possibility for seniors.
Of course, one other approach to grapple with the problems related to older Americans on the roads is through the legislation — that means having states place extra necessities on senior drivers. Not surprisingly, such proposals are sometimes given a thumbs-down by seniors, who’ve historically constituted a robust voting bloc and who even have the lobbying energy of the AARP (the group previously often called the American Association of Retired Persons) behind them.
Consider a latest invoice in Vermont that may have required drivers 75 or older to move each a imaginative and prescient and highway take a look at so as to renew their license. It was opposed by the AARP, which mentioned “it discriminates against older drivers on the basis of age. AARP’s policy supports effective, evidence-based assessment models to identify at-risk drivers of all ages.” (AARP didn’t instantly reply to a MarketWatch request for remark in regards to the laws or different issues associated to seniors and driving.)
The Vermont invoice by no means made it previous the committee stage. Which got here as no shock to Vermont state senator Mark MacDonald, who sponsored the laws. He mentioned he knew he was in for a tricky struggle, however he thought it was necessary to acknowledge there comes a time when some seniors shouldn’t be allowed to drive.
MacDonald famous that he was talking from expertise, having lately turned 80 himself — in different phrases, the legislation, if accepted, would have utilized to him. MacDonald mentioned that he nonetheless feels succesful sufficient to drive, and he continues to take action, regardless of having lately suffered a stroke, which resulted in his insurance coverage firm requiring him to take a highway take a look at (he mentioned he handed).
But MacDonald additionally mentioned he is aware of the truth of rising older.
“My skills are diminished,” he mentioned. “I drive differently than when I was younger.”
Source web site: www.marketwatch.com
