Potentially dangerous elderly driver?

You definitely need to contact the police department. Your friend need not be involved in any way. You are doing what is best for one elderly man who no longer understands what he is doing, and for lots of innocent people who should not have to deal with his bad decisions.

There are many Seniors on the road that should have stopped driving long ago. If you live in a small town, then you can give location of where this man lives.

The best bet would be to follow him and write down his

license plate number. Also note anything you see that may be a problem. Then you will have something to say when you go to the Police Dept. They will also need

his license number if they are just going to watch him

California law says that any diabetic on medication is subject to having their license pulled. Also any Opthalmologist that has a patient with low eyesight is required to notify the DMV of that fact.

Also, any Senior on any medication that would make them sleepy or slow response time are not supposed to drive (but they still do).

One who doesn`t see or hear well, has slow reflexes or who travels 25mph in a 55 mph zone all pose a hazard to self and other drivers. Also elderly drivers who easily get lost or are confused can end up on the wrong side of the road, driving against traffic.

If he 'doesn't think' he'll pass the eye test,then it's a racing certainty he wont. If he's driving on an expired licence,then his insurance will be void,so any accident he's involved in he'll have to pay,the unfortunate victim may not get anything.

He should be told that if he persists in driving,he'll be reported.

I wish eye tests were compulsary every year,Failing eye-sight comes slowly and is rarely noticed until it's too late

You can report him anonymously. I know that some people might think this is an underhanded thing to do, but the police will probably just pull him for a routine traffic check and discover he has no license. Quite honestly, it would be doing his children a favor because they won't have to be the bad guys. This is one of the hardest things that grown children must deal with when their parents are no longer safe drivers.

If he is driving on a expired license you need to report him. He will most likely fail the test and the problem is solved.

Yes, definitely report him (anonymously) to the police - they can make arrangements to "stop" him driving for some minor infraction! Then they will check his out of date drivers license and that will be that!

CJ

I have the same situation. My mother-in-law is in her late 80's & has had several accidents. Fortunately no one has been hurt yet. There has been property damage. We are halfway across the country & his sister won't do anything about it. We've tried reporting it to the police, the DMV, etc, but nothing's happened. Good luck!

Taking the keys away from your parent is a tough thing to do.

Maybe you could ask her to read the information at these two sites. She may not realize that he is also in danger. Thank you for being her friend.

Driving and Transportation Safety

By Ryan Mackey

http://www.caregiver.com/articles/general/driving_...

Alzheimer's Association > driving

http://google.alz.org/search?q=driving&ie=&site=al...

I would report him before he hurts someone or himself. Family members fail to step up to the plate in these situations time and time again because they want to avoid confrontations or the inconvenience of having to drive the elderly person around themselves.