One of the most common reasons patients get upset with neurologists is when we tell them they should no longer drive. Most older folks are very independent, and when you take their car away from them, they are not happy. In fact, many become belligerent and act as if you’re personally out to get them.

The most common reasons for prohibiting driving include seizures, Parkinson’s disease, and dementia.

What is dementia? It is very broad term that encompasses all the hundreds of things that can lead to poor brain function. In addition to impairing memory and overall cognitive ability, dementia greatly diminishes reflexes and reaction time, visual-spatial processing, as well as hand-eye-leg coordination. And it is very common.

How common? It’s estimated that 5-10% of the population aged 65 years or older has it. My guess is that amounts to millions upon millions of unfit drivers.The scary thing, however, is that no one is doing anything about it.

The laws are incredibly strict when it comes to punishing and taking away licenses of people who get DUIs (driving under the influence of alcohol). And rightly so, of course. We don’t want them killing us or our children.
But what about the tens of millions of drivers over 65 that are demented? I believe they also represent a major road hazard, and need to have their licenses pulled.

Came across an article on physorg.com that recently notes:

Researchers at the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and elsewhere have developed a three-hour workshop that trains health care providers to identify potentially unsafe drivers with dementia and to encourage appropriate retirement from driving.

This is all well and good, but the vast majority of primary care physicians are too busy taking care of medical issues to have to worry about this sort of thing, and many are not expert enough in neurological assessment to determine when “appropriate retirement from driving” should take place.

If a state can make laws prohibiting cell phone use while driving, why can’t they make laws subjecting everyone over 65 to another driving test?

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