How to stop elderly parent from driving!

I'm wondering if someone somewhere has balanced the calamitous effect of banning old people living alone with no relatives on hand being confined to the house, against the risk of letting them drive with some impairment.

There is a huge list of ailments which have to be reported to the DVLA. If you are in an accident, and it is found you have not reported the medical condition with which you suffer, I think it can invalidate your insurance, and you are liable to be fined.

Mind you, at present, the DVLA are not accepting phone calls, as they are so short staffed, with a huge backlog - I know because I have a medical condition, for which my licence has run out. As long as my Doctor has told me I can drive, and I submit the renewal form with the details, which will be corroborated by the HCPs I name on the form, I can still drive perfectly legally.

I’m not surprised you have a ropey relationship. Reporting your own father to the dvla!!! Wait till you’re older and see how you like it when your children start telling you what to do. Do you even drive?

The Drive for Life: academic challenges older driver safety myths

Make them watch cartoon.

It annoys me when people use past behaviour as proof of future behaviour.

Every elderly person will be able to say they’ve ‘never had an accident’ right up to the point they have an accident and potentially kill someone else.

So, are we saying that we should let elderly people to continue to drive until an accident, and then ask them if they’d perhaps like to give up their licence?

It's the system- or lack of it - that's the issue.

There should be some some sort of response test - could be done using a computer simulator- at opticians or anywhere really, and drivers required to pass it at age 80/85/90, or if concerns raised by doctors or they have an accident.

I doubt many people want to take away their DPs driving license, but it's sometimes the question of what is going to cause the least harm.

A potential fatal accident involving other people due to unsafe driving or the physical and mental decline of an elderly person, not a great choice for anyone to have to make.

It seems elderly people are treated like silly children once they get to a certain age. We will all get there one day if fortunate enough. It may come back and bite you on the backside as your kids may treat you in the same way.

I didn't say automatic did I? It's clear from these testimonies that the DVLA is allowing many people to drive who shouldn't be.

It would be wrong to deprive people of their licences when an assessment has shown them to be a capable driver.

Dementia doesn’t just kick in overnight with a complete lack of capability. An automatic driving ban for those in the very earliest stages would be a fine way to deter people seeking early diagnosis

My mid- late 80s neighbours all drive and one has just given up his beloved sports car for an electric car. Their driving is good. Maybe you could give your dad a gift of a mature drivers assessment by IAM for Christmas.

@WhoWants2Know I know they can because I called the dvla

I think it's outrageous and took matters into my own hands by selling her car . We sent back her licence but she wrote to them trying to get it back . I called them and wrote to them myself and said not to give it to her under any circumstances .

I don't care if it's allowed , it's scary to think people are still driving when it affects your ability to make decisions and your peripheral vision !

My 86 mum's car was written off when her 91 year old brother-in-law kindly offered to park it for her, and ran it into a wall. We were so unbelievably grateful.

We pulled the sparkplugs out of my Mum's car. When the garage came to pick it up we had a quiet word and he very kindly took it for a week and then told my mum that it wasn't fixable. Thankfully my mum didn't get a second opinion.

"People can and do legally drive with a dementia diagnosis."

Unless it's very mild, this is just wrong. You shouldn't drive if you can't remember what you did 5 minutes ago or if you think it's 1941.

People can and do legally drive with a dementia diagnosis. It's a notifiable condition, so they must inform DVLA and their insurers of the condition. The DVLA should then communicate with the relevant medical professionals before deciding whether the individual can continue driving, and how soon it must be reviewed.

If the medical professionals aren't sure, they should refer to an assessment centre like Driveability, who will carry out proper cognitive and driving assessments.

If the person then fails the assessment, they are trained to help them deal with the information and work on alternatives.

My DM won’t give up. She has already nearly reversed into a small child - apparently it was not her fault because (a) the reversing sensors didn’t go off (they were broken, probably from the last time she reversed into something), and (b) the child shouldn’t have been there.

I usually hear these things from the neighbours, as she won’t tell us anything.

@Catchupwiththeneighbours luckily the weather is putting him off driving at the minute. He hasn't actually caused any accidents and he is getting very frail, I'd so much rather he made his own decision.