We’re not good at telling our elders it’s time to stop driving, B.C. poll shows

Getting your driver's licence was a ticket to independence when I was growing up and it's something I'd be reluctant to give up voluntarily.

For seniors, it's an especially hard step because it sharply reduces their self-reliance. Now they have to depend on friends and family for trips that were once routine, or they're forced to sample the dubious pleasures of public transit.

My mother voluntarily quit driving at age 84 after 50 accident-free years, realizing she could no longer cope with city traffic. My father-in-law, pushing 90, still drives, though generally not too far.

But I'd be lying if I said that doesn't make us anxious. You keep seeing those videos of seniors crashing their cars through store windows after mistaking the gas pedal for the brake. Or you worry about something like the 2011 accident at Victoria's airport, when an 81-year-old driver ploughed into a group of off-duty taxi drivers, killing one.

A new poll done for the B.C. Automobile Association (BCAA) shows we're not alone. A majority of British Columbians worry about how safe seniors are behind the wheel, yet have trouble broaching the subject with their aging loved ones, the Vancouver Sun reports.

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According to the survey, conducted by Insights West, 72 per cent of respondents said they were concerned about the road safety of drivers aged 65 or older.

Seventy-one per cent, including senior drivers, said there should be more road safety education available for senior drivers.

And 42 per cent of those who had a senior driver in their lives felt they didn't have enough information to determine whether that driver was safe behind the wheel. More than a third said they don't know what signs to look for that might indicate a senior driver is having trouble.

About two-thirds of respondents said they haven't talked with an aging family member about their driving and 41 per cent said they don't know how to bring up the subject, the Sun said.

While the poll results are limited to British Columbia, the issue affects all Canadians as the leading edge of Baby Boomers follow their parents into the their "golden years."

A look at seniors' transportation habits released last year by Statistics Canada noted most Canadians live in neighbourhoods designed around cars and most seniors want to remain in their homes as long as possible. They want to lead independent lives.

"Their desire to remain in their homes is not very realistic unless they have adequate transportation," the StatsCan article said. "In most residential areas, this means having access to a private vehicle."

Yet the same article points out that drivers aged 70 and older have a higher accident rate per kilometre driven than any other age group except young men. They're also more likely to die in collisions.

"In the context of an aging population, the balance between road safety and the autonomy some people associate with driving is a growing concern," the article said.

StatsCan reported that in 2009, 28 per cent of people aged 65 or older who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or some other form of dementia — roughly 20,000 people — had a driver's licence. Of those, about 7,000 were classified to have an advanced stage of the disease.

Driving a car is not necessarily a problem for someone with early-stage dementia, the StatsCan article said, but driving ability should be assessed regularly.

The StatsCan data review found seniors who got around mainly by driving their cars or as a still-licensed passenger were more likely to participate in family and other social activities than those who no longer had a license or relied on various forms of transit or taxis.

There's the dilemma in a nutshell. We're reluctant to deprive our elders — and eventually ourselves — of the independence driving provides but there's a growing realization that past a certain point, seniors' driving must be regularly monitored.

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The Globe and Mail noted in an article last November that most provinces require drivers aged 80 and above to renew their licences and take a written test every two years. But mandatory road tests are not part of the program.

You can't generalize about elderly drivers, a road-safety expert told the Globe.

"The mere fact that you are old doesn't mean you have a problem," said Dr. Jamie Dow, medical adviser on road safety for the Société de l’assurance automobile du Quebec, the provincial agency that licenses drivers and vehicles. "The fact that you are older does make you more susceptible to having a problem."

Which means it's up to us to monitor our own skills and those of aging family members.

The BCAA poll was released to coincide with the launch of the association's new tool kit aimed at older drivers or families that support one. It's designed to help seniors and their families assess driving skills, learn more about the issues facing older drivers and how, if needed, to modify driving habits.