This is a subject that tends to make people laugh - more or less yellow - in all families:grandpa and grandma have become real dangers at the wheel, between forgotten indicators, cyclists barely brushed against or misinterpreted signs! A subject that we sometimes take lightly, until we experience real frights, when it is not tragic accidents that end up making the headlines:an elderly person who mows down pedestrians after feeling unwell or who to take a branch of the motorway in the opposite direction!
If road safety statistics do not make seniors the most dangerous motorists, since they would be the age group responsible for the least number of fatal road accidents, the articles published in this sense also fail to indicate their proportion on the roads, which does not really make it possible to draw conclusive conclusions on the actual dangerousness of the different age groups. And once related to the distance travelled, the frequency of accidents would actually double among elderly users compared to the rest of the population. For there is no doubt that the infirmities that overwhelm them and the reduction in their faculties, whether it is a question of their vision, their hearing or their motor skills, make at least some of them truly dangerous - for themselves, but also and above all for others!
What is certain in any case is that age in itself is not a relevant criterion to take into account when it comes to questioning a person's ability to drive safely. . You can be an octogenarian in full possession of your faculties, just as you can, from your sixties, face engine hazards that make driving potentially dangerous. And even a simple cognitive test would not be enough to determine with as much certainty as a real-life driving test the real ability of a person to hold a steering wheel safely. We must therefore learn to spot the warning signs when an elderly person around us is behind the wheel.
What you need to know is that in the majority of cases, stopping a senior's driving is not a problem. Either this appears as obvious to everyone and is done, perhaps not with mad joy, but in any case willingly; either the loss of autonomy remains manageable and the elderly develop adaptation strategies, such as stopping night driving, a preference for short journeys, a rather "defensive" driving style (lower speed as well as overtaking, increased distance from other road users, etc.). Nevertheless, a minority stubbornly persists in driving in conditions that present a real danger for themselves and for others, either out of pride or the inability to realize the decline in their faculties themselves. Be that as it may, it is in these cases that it is necessary to intervene:either by trying to dissuade your loved one from driving again, or - an admittedly drastic solution - by reporting it to the Prefecture, who will be entitled to claim the passage of a new driving aptitude test.
It is still necessary to know how to spot the telltale signs of dangerous driving. The type of accident that tends to involve older people has more to do with errors in observing driving rules (with respect to priorities, signage, etc.) while they are underprivileged. represented in everything related to the rules of caution (respecting speed limits or safety distances), which suggests that the accidents which involve them relate to situations where instantaneous reflexes are necessary, and therefore have to do with decline in their cognitive abilities. It is therefore important to observe the behavior of your loved ones in these situations:do they respect the signs? (or rather, do they perceive the signs?) Do they check their mirrors? Do they signal themselves correctly to other road users? So many clues that allow us to suspect a degradation of these capacities. Likewise, their dexterity, strength, endurance and coordination decline:do they stall more often? Are they struggling to make a niche? Do they strain quickly after a long drive?
These are also the senses that decline with age, and in particular the most essential to driving:sight. Visual acuity, reduced resistance and increasing adaptation time to glare, reduction of the visual field, increased adaptation time to darkness… These are degradations of the visual organ well normal with age, but which have a definite impact on driving (after all, it's not for nothing that people with visual impairments are not allowed to become pilots!). This is without taking into account other deficiencies such as dementia or heart problems, which are not necessarily visible on all journeys but can have dramatic consequences. In these cases, it is necessary to raise the subject with the attending physician, who is also supposed to educate drivers when prescribing medications that may affect the driving of a vehicle.
Finally, rather than listing all the potential mistakes that an elderly person can make while driving, there is still a very simple test:do you feel safe with them?! If the answer is no, if you've ever had cold sweats in the passenger seat or felt like you've come close to an accident, it's probably time to intervene.
Unfortunately, it is always a bit sensitive to question the autonomy of a loved one. It is a subject in the face of which he can take pleasure in denial in the face of nevertheless overwhelming examples, and which one would prefer not to have to make him admit himself. However, it is better to broach the subject before a serious accident ends up happening. A slightly unpleasant conversation is still preferable to regrets! If you therefore observe driving that is becoming dangerous, and this testimony is corroborated by other relatives (neighbors, friends, family, but even possibly policemen or local notables!), it is necessary to intervene, and this with pedagogy of preferably, at the risk otherwise of pointing the person concerned. Even the authorities are not comfortable when it comes to discussing this subject, considering that measures such as a medical examination or a driving test, or even the obligation to stick a sticker on your vehicle indicating the presence of a senior at the wheel, would be discriminatory.
Thus, it is generally not so much the total cessation of driving that must be recommended (except in the event of particular pathologies requiring it, moreover not always related to age) but rather an adaptation of behavior and driving habits (for example, avoiding driving at night or in bad weather). It is moreover a type of reform favored by specialists in the subject – that of a partial licence, limited to daytime driving for example, which would make it possible to preserve its independence – rather than the simple stupid and malicious withdrawal. Seniors are often strongly attached to their vehicles, which for them represent their autonomy! We must not forget, moreover, that quitting driving even has a negative impact on it, since this is an activity that casually stimulates their motor and cognitive faculties, at an age when a lack of stimulation of the latter can greatly accelerate their decline! Stopping driving indirectly affects their social life, and therefore ultimately their mental well-being.
In short, the picture is neither black nor white, and it would be cruel to place the burden of their dangerous driving entirely on the backs of senior citizens, by making them pay the price for their freedom, their health and their autonomy. Seeking to deprive them of this would undoubtedly be more counter-productive than anything else:they must be made to become aware of their limitations themselves and to adapt their habits accordingly, by raising the issue of their driving comfort, for example. . We must also think of a way to maintain their autonomy, and this upstream, before the situation becomes critical and the cessation of driving is essential. It is also a public responsibility towards our seniors and all people losing their autonomy, and it is important to put pressure on local authorities in order to maintain or develop a public transport network worthy of the name, which allows everyone to age with dignity without posing a danger to the rest of the community.
