When Is It Right Or Fair To Take Away Grandma’s Right to Drive a Car?

While I was in Florida last I was driving down the freeway and I noticed a truck driver driving extremely close to an elderly couple driving a Lincoln Continental with New York plates. It was obvious that the driver of the Lincoln Continental was upset that the truck driver was tailgating and trying to push them along, so they slowed their car down to about 50 miles an hour, all the while the rest of the traffic was driving 70 to 75. This was a highly dangerous situation, and one false move and that Lincoln Continental would become a floating car in the swamp-like area right off the somewhat elevated freeway.

Of course, that’s not the only thing I saw which bothered me, I saw many elderly drivers making huge mistakes, one was driving down the wrong side of the road, another completely ran a stop sign, and still another was making a right-hand turn from the number two lane, on a four-lane road. It gets to be downright dangerous. Perhaps you have an elderly grandmother or grandpa who is still driving and refuses to give up his or her keys. In the great state of Florida they don’t have to take a driver’s test upon renewal for their driver’s license.

The citizens of Florida are also concerned, and they tried to get that law changed, but then the retired group stepped in with their huge lobby, and that was the end of that.

Recently, I read an interesting article titled; “Helping Seniors Drive Safer, Longer” which had in it the “Top 5 Driving Tips for Seniors” and that got me thinking about a huge problem. You see, at some point families need to step in when they see that their grandparents can no longer drive safely. They need to take their car keys away, but then we get into elder law, and if they still have their mental wits about them, they aren’t about to sign over power of attorney, or let anyone take their card keys. That is a sense of freedom, individuality, and without it they would feel whole.

Of course, if they are unsafe and still driving they could seriously hurt someone else, or die in the process. The reason I say that is my grandmother pulled out into traffic and was hit by a dump truck, she was killed. I speak from experience, and this is something we all need to think about especially as our demographics change and people are living longer, and there are more elderly seniors than ever before. I hope you will please think on this and consider it all.