OT Elder drivers

[philo]

Maybe someone here can help me get serious advice.

My step-father is in his early 80's but may be at the beginning stages of Alzheimer's. About a year ago he got a speeding ticket and was totally unaware that he was going too fast. He was clocked at 109 MPH in a 65 zone...so it was pretty serious.

He insisted he was just careless and was OK to drive.

Today he got into a minor fender bender and from the details I got, it was his fault...but the police issued no tickets.

When there is an accident I thought someone always must be issued a ticket.

What can I do ? My mother is in total denial that anything is the matter.

[Doctor WTF]

I don't believe that tickets are automatically issued in the case of an accident.

In Alberta you can report the incident to the Transportation ministry who will investigate and make a determination on how to proceed.

Not sure where you are at, but at least the government is the bad guy then.

It's a very tough position to be in, good luck with this.

[philo]

Thanks for the reply.

My first step will be to level with my step-dad and insist he get a medical exam and have a doctor make a judgment as to whether or not he should be driving.

If worse comes to worse I can report this to the DMV (Wisconsin) and they can evaluate the situation.

[Dean Hoffman]

This is from the State of Nebraska:

There is a procedure here to confidentially report problem drivers.

[philo]

Thank you very much, it seems Wisconsin also has something similar...hopefully I can get my step dad to voluntarily submit to an exam before I have to take more drastic measures.

[J0HNS0N]

In my state the police must have probable cause to issue a traffic citation at an accident scene. There are accidents where there is not enough evidence to determine fault, thus no traffic citations are issued.

One example is at a signalized intersection where both drivers claim they had the green light. With no independent witnesses or cameras to determine the light color at the time of the collision there would be no citations issued.

Also in my city the police do not investigate no injury/minor damage/no alcohol accidents. Drivers are instructed to exchange information and contact their insurance companies. There are no citations issued here either.

In my state any citizen or police officer can write a letter to the MVD with particulars. They will investigate and can call the person in for further testing. If they determine he is no longer qualified to drive they will revoke his drivers license.

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per philo:

"Denial: not just a river in Egypt"....

I would look for some sort of back door into the DMV that would result in his receiving a notification that he needs to take a driver's test.

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per (PeteCresswell):

I should add that we did this successfully with my mom.

It was win-win in a sense: dad's eyesight had failed and he was forcing her to drive even she knew how impaired she was. She didn't want to drive and then, unable to pass the test, was relieved.

[ChairMan]

In news:mjtn4j$v8n$ [e-mail], philo belched:

Talk to his doctor

[Nil]

On 24 May 2015, philo wrote in alt.home.repair:

My Dad developed severe vision problems in his late '70s as complications of his diabetes. I only found out much later that he was getting in more and more fender benders and had received several tickets. Eventually his license came up for renewal but he failed the vision test and so lost his license. I was unaware of all of this until after the fact, otherwise I would have tried to intervene somehow. Thank God that he didn't injure himself or someone else. I think his fear of losing his independence overrode his good judgment.

I don't have any real advice for you, sorry. I think the situation evolves slowly enough that the victim doesn't see a clear indication that enough is enough. Pride keeps them going. A wakeup call is needed, one that doesn't involve injury, loss of life, or great property loss. It would be a tough conversation to have. I hope I have enough self- awareness to know if to retire myself as a driver.

[philo]

Yes. I guess the police thought that they were doing him a favor by being lenient. In this case, I think they needed to look further.

I will be facing my step-dad ASAP and will contact the motor vehicle dept if he is stubborn.

[philo]

Thanks for the info, it may soon came to that.

Just hard to watch someone decline.

[philo]

Will do so if necessary...I have been doing more research into this and it seems that a doctor is not legally bound to contact the DMV

[Tony Hwang]

Huh? transporttion ministry? I'd suggest take him to a doctor and let him check him over.

[philo]

This was certainly my wake up call and I am now prepared to deal with it...getting in the right frame of mind was the difficult part.

As to diabetes...my wife was starting to have problem with her vision and it turned out to be Type 2 Diabetes which she now has under control thanks to diet and exercise...vision is now fine.

An astute nurse picked up signs her doctor missed.

Needless to say she no longer sees that doctor.

[philo]

Easier said than done, but will have to do this

[Idlehands]

It was simply a suggestion, Alberta transportation has a procedure in place that a complaint can be made and they will act on it.

Doctors are not always willing to step in and be the bad guy.

[Doctor WTF]

That was indeed what I was suggesting, not sure why I said "Transportation Ministry", oops.

[Ed Pawlowski]

But maybe he will tell dad that he should not be driving. That may be enough.

[ChairMan]

Exactly, it's surprising what Dr's can do. I have several freinds that have had to deal with the same issue. Worried about how to take the keys from Dad and not be the bad guy. Doctors deal with this all the time and have no problem being the "bad guy"