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How do you persuade an elderly relative it's time to stop driving?

(58 Posts)
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jackypat Fri 15-Jan-16 10:18:52

My mother is 82 she is fiercely independent and still driving. As one of her three daughters I and my sisters are too frightened to be in the car when she drives. We have all suffered near misses, driving too fast, wandering out of her lane etc. She would be mortified if she hurt anybody. My father is unable to drive any more because of his sight and is anxious about her driving too. Last year she had hip and knee replacements and I taxied them around and friends helped with lifts so they know they can function without a car. Help please! Have you had this job to do or have you been the recipient of a request to stop driving?

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Desdemona Fri 22-Jan-16 14:00:09

I had a problem with an elderly relative who had several small accidents (and a few bigger ones!) and refused to stop driving. In the end I contacted the DVLA and voiced my concerns. They in turn contacted his doctor who managed to convince him not to drive anymore.

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Elrel Tue 26-Jan-16 00:16:47

Inside Out - Monday 25/1/16 at 7.30
Apparently 71 year old Angela Rippon has done a tv programme on older drivers. Did anyone see it?

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Elrel Tue 26-Jan-16 00:18:53

It was inside Out London but is on I player

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WilmaKnickersfit Tue 26-Jan-16 00:53:30

I've just watched it and have mixed feelings about what was said. Firstly I don't think Angela was happy to be told her driving wasn't the best and suspect she thought she'd come out on top. Also, it wasn't clear what she was aiming to do when she was driving with the RSoPA man. Was he going to point out her weaknesses and/or give her advice on how to drive more safely? And I don't think the stats were that useful. OK, so junctions are a danger area for accidents and statistically older drivers have less accidents. That doesn't tell us anything about how serious those accidents were and for all we know older drivers might kill more people when they have an accident. The article was very superficial and I can just hear lots of older drivers who are not safe to drive saying older drivers are the safest on the roads.

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Elrel Tue 26-Jan-16 18:42:07

Thanks, Wilma, I haven't yet watched it. It sounds like something that could have been better done with more precision and depth.

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WilmaKnickersfit Wed 27-Jan-16 01:03:04

Elrel I think that's about right. For a serious subject it wasn't in depth enough.

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imagran Wed 03-Feb-16 13:46:45

Message deleted by Gransnet for breaking our forum guidelines. Replies may also be deleted.

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