Not fit to drive…but what to do?

[Eek3under3]

Family member (mid 80s) is not fit to drive. Medical issue that would automatically mean they are not allowed to drive if declared to dvla, along with total disregard for other road users/ pedestrians.

Lives rurally and relies on car but is (literally) an accident waiting to happen. Multiple people have witnessed them mounting the kerb, parking on junctions/ blocking the road, actions that have caused various other vehicles (including a bus) to swerve into oncoming traffic.

wwyd? Feels like a moral obligation to do something…but what? Has been spoken to a number of times but gets v defensive. Even if they were anonymously reported to dvla I doubt they would stop driving.

help!

My friend removed her dad's car keys (then helped him look for them...)

At the very least, report them to the DVLA. You could also contact their doctor with the hope that the doctor spells it out that they shouldn't be driving. It might be better received coming from an authority figure. Maybe then focus on getting the car off the road for the winter in the hope that it never goes back out in the spring. That was my strategy, over the winter it had no tax or insurance and the MOT lapsed and then it was all too much trouble to get it back onto the road.

Driving was the one thing mum and I argued over because she saw it as her freedom but I saw that her perception of the world around her had changed. If you can't recognise the butter in the fridge will you recognise a cyclist at a road junction?

I would contact the doctor and express my concerns.
how rural are they – is there access to a local taxi account or similar which may soften the blow of keeping them mobile?

Ask the gp to report the condition to the dvla

How would you solve the reliance on the car ? You need solutions

When my DF had dementia over 20 years ago we took his car away.

Remove the keys, imagine if something happened.

Was there not something recently on the news an 82yr old mowed down a cyclist and didnt even see him

Can you set up weekly online food shop for them and prescription deliveries etc? What do they currently use the car for?

I agree with just taking the keys off them. Otherwise there is a risk they'll kill themselves or someone else.

If they have a medical condition which means they're not allowed to drive, why has their GP not already reported it to DVLA?

I think you need to inform the GP and/or DVLA and work on a plan to assist relative in continuing with their day to day activities without their car - eg find details or any community car schemes, numbers of local taxi companies, various delivery services.

Once mil got to a garage, filled up but couldn’t remember how to pay her family contacted the local police pcso who told her she could no longer drive.
can you set up a taxi account/ community transport etc?

Report anonymously to DVLA. It works.

Thanks for all the comments. Report to dvla is the route I think we will go down. I don’t know why gp hasn’t already done so (but I also didn’t realise they did this).

It will cause a HUGE fallout. They go out 3 times a day in the car for a hobby/ socialising with friends, so the practicalities of food shopping and getting medication are not an issue, but I don’t know how we would get around the other bits. The distances are relatively short so I don’t think a taxi would be keen (they would need to come from the nearest town which is 15 miles away), for what are 5-10 minute journeys.

I think step 1 is an anon dvla report. @KangarooKenny do you know how quickly the respond/ what they actually do? Is it just a letter in the post?

It was a couple of weeks, I was surprised how fast it was.
It was a letter sending them to a certain medical person. It wasn’t far away, quite local. That person told them not to drive while they had tests, and that their insurance would be invalid if they did. That was followed up with a letter informing them that their licence had been removed.
Try and find out their insurer if you can, then you can inform them if they lose their license.

Should have said, I don’t mean to come across as if the socialising is more important than risk to life. That is my main concern and reason we need to act quickly to prevent something happening.

GP won’t report as it would stop people seeing them, apparently.

Thank you @KangarooKenny that is very useful.

Would they use a mobility scooter instead? Much lower risk to life and limb than a car, and the high-end ones have a good radius distance-wise.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/aug/12/shelagh-robertson-woman-cleared-baby-boys-death-louis-thorold-then-undiagnosed-dementia

In case you need more incentive to report.

Who does he socialise / do hobby with? Can one of them give him lifts for a small fee?

Please report before they have an accident. I was hit head on by an elderly driver who should not have been on the road. As bad as it was for me, sadly it was way worse for them.

How short and flat are the distances? Could an adult tricycle or electric mobility scooter be a solution?.

Often rural communities have volunteer drivers who give lifts and you just pay the petrol. Often they will have connections with the local church so might be worth asking there?

I think as about to suggest this.

Your relative is bound to have friends and acquaintances who will be positively relieved you’ve acted to have his license removed. I’m sure they will offer to help.

I'm a paramedic in an area which is very popular for retirement. I have been to more RTCs due to "collapse at wheel" and elderly unable to control their vehicle than I care to remember. One where the elderly driver reversed his automatic over a pavement, across a main road, over another pavement, across the bus station and then onto the bus stop area. Somehow despite it being the middle of the day with loads of elderly with walking aids and young mums with pushchairs out and about, only one person was hit and got away with 'just' a broken leg. It really is a miracle that this didn't turn in to a mass casualty incident.

Remove the keys, let all the air out of the tyres, take the HT leads out of the engine, and then wait for the DVLAs input, and plan alternative transport.