Taking off and landing are certainly the most dangerous times of flying, and yes both starting out driving and when to hang up your keys for the last time statically noted are truly deadly. Unfortunately beginning and ending drivers not only often take their own life but often many with them. When new drivers take it slow with a lot of help it greatly reduces the danger, similarly if we begin to slow down and get help like landing a plane cutting back the power for a slow approach we too can greatly reduce the danger. The latest resources are more than amazing…
The Issues:
- Vision
- Hearing
- Reaction Time
- Medical Conditions and medications
- Mind and cognition processes
So by all means there are all sorts of resources to help in all these areas posted below so that you can cut back and begin your decent safely. The difficult question is where is the end of the road as I would put it, when do I put Old Red out to pasture? It’s all about freedom isn’t it? When you first started to drive it opened up a whole new world of freedom to you and control and at the end of the day giving that up has to be so difficult yet at some point completely necessary. I don’t have “The Answer” and I am hoping on today’s show we can get lots of points of view on this but here are my thoughts/
If it was my family that loved me enough to slowly let me drive more and more until they felt I was ready for complete freedom. I would like to trust my family and ask them to tell me if they see something dangerous in my driving as I age. I hope to know when it’s time to stop driving at night and stop making left turns like my mother did. I hope to increase my following distance and reduce the noise level and passengers just like you would with a teenager who learning. As I age I understand I am more easily distracted.
If the Lord will that I am around that long I pray that it would be a long slow reduction of freedom until the day it’s over. I hope to have my family so engaged in the process that they feel very comfortable telling me it’s over.
So what are your thoughts??? Below are some amazing resourses… I especially like the Roadwise RX that tells you what your medications may effect..
Take the Test… Are You A Safe Older Driver
National Institute on Aging http://www.nia.nih.gov/health/publication/older-drivers
AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety
607 14th Street, NW, Suite 201
Washington, DC 20005
1-202-638-5944
www.seniordrivers.org
AARP
601 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20049
1-888-227-7669 (toll-free)
www.aarp.org/families/driver_safety
Administration on Aging
Washington, DC 20201
1-202-619-0724
www.aoa.gov
American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators
4301 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 400
Arlington, VA 22203
1-703-522-4200
www.granddriver.info
Federal Highway Administration
Office of Safety – HSSI, E71-318
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
1-202-366-6836
http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/
The Hartford
One Hartford Plaza
690 Asylum Avenue
Hartford, CT 06115
1-860-547-5000
www.thehartford.com/alzheimers
For more information on health and aging, contact:
National Institute on Aging Information Center
P.O. Box 8057
Gaithersburg, MD 20898-8057
1-800-222-2225 (toll-free)
1-800-222-4225 (TTY/toll-free)
www.nia.nih.gov
ww.nia.nih.gov/espanol
How to avoid and detect Elder Fraud:
https://www.top10vpn.com/guides/elder-fraud/
A guide for older people, carers and relatives
https://www.comparitech.com/blog/information-security/elder-fraud/
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