Five Ideas for Limiting Your Senior’s Driving
It’s not always fun to talk about limiting your senior’s ability to drive whenever and wherever she wants, but it’s an important conversation for you and her to have. There are ways for you both to compromise that keep your senior safe and also allow her to be autonomous.
Elder Care in Deerfield IL: Limiting Your Senior’s Driving
Restrict the Length of Each Trip
When the trips themselves are shorter, that can keep your elderly family member focused on doing what she needs to do. Shorter trips allow her to get where she needs to go and go home again, hopefully with very little interference. She may also find that she’s less anxious about driving if the trips are fairly short ones.
Restrict the Routes She Uses
But it’s not just how long the trip is. There may be specific routes that are problematic for your senior. Helping her to plan out her trips beforehand, or sticking with roads and routes that she’s very comfortable using, can be helpful. Choosing roads that are less familiar can cause bigger issues.
Limit Driving During High Traffic Situations
Something else to consider with several of these variables is the amount of traffic involved. If she’s got a choice between a route that has relatively low traffic levels consistently and one that tends to be packed, it’s much better to go with the routes that have less traffic. That’s going to be less overall for your senior to have to manage if she’s still driving.
Ensure She’s Not Driving During Bad Weather
Driving during bad weather can be really frustrating for anyone, but it can be especially dangerous for your senior. You and she may decide this is one of the first compromises you each make about your senior and driving. Rain or snow can be incredibly distracting, and it’s much better for someone else to do the driving in that case.
Restrict Nighttime Driving
If the weather isn’t the first compromise you and your senior make in regard to driving, nighttime driving might be the one. Driving at night can be just as difficult and anxiety-inducing as driving during poor weather, especially if your senior’s night vision is not what it used to be.
Having alternative options for your senior when she shouldn’t be driving is going to be crucial when you’re talking about limiting her ability to drive. Home care providers are an excellent choice because they can be there for your senior in other ways, too.
If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring Elder Care in Deerfield IL, call the caring staff at LifeCare Home Health & In-Home Services. Call (888) 606-4199 LifeCare serves all of the Chicago Metro Area.
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