"Should you be driving?"

I contacted a friend yesterday to find out if she was well. She had not come to a meeting she enjoys attending and I was a bit concerned.

 "Are you okay?" produced a response which was not entirely unexpected.

"I got stopped by the cops on the way there and I was so upset I turned around and went home again."

She had been stopped for failing to stop at a stop sign and straddling the centre line marking. She tried to blame both things on the fact that she is waiting for new glasses and couldn't see things properly. Apparently they also asked her why she was "so far from home".

It was the question which convinced me that this is someone who really should not be driving. This person has had two "accidents" in the past eighteen months. Neither have caused any injury to anyone but this is just sheer good fortune. The second incident meant she needed a new vehicle. 

On the first occasion she was "not sure" what happened. On the second occasion she said "the sun was in my eyes".  Now she is saying it is her need for her new glasses. 

I suspect the reality is very different. She simply should not be driving at all. The police were, rightly, concerned that she was out of her comfort zone...the area immediately around her with which she is very familiar. They were almost certainly concerned she should not be driving at all given the behaviour she described. Unfortunately they would not have had the time to take her on a driving test there and then.

When she told me about what had happened I suggested she go for another driving test. I told her how the Senior Cat had gone for one at Middle Cat's insistence. He passed. We knew he would but the officer who tested him gave him a short list of things he needed to "brush up on". Middle Cat, already very aware of these things, sent him off to "have a few lessons". He had three and felt much happier than he had before. He went on driving for another three years before making his own decision not to continue. 

I don't know whether the person I was talking to will be prepared to do that. She still believes she is fit to drive and if she did take a test and fail then the consequences would be much more severe. She has no other person she can rely on to help. The Senior Cat had me to do the shopping and so on. He had Middle Cat to rely on for most of his other transport needs. He had taxi vouchers for the times when Middle Cat could not help. All this person has is someone who helps her with her shopping once a week. She drives herself to her numerous medical appointments and rare social outings. 

"I'd have to go into a nursing home and I'd hate that!" she wailed to me.

Yes, perhaps she would. I know that, if I live that long, I will probably end up in one of those dreaded places. At the same time I am much more concerned for her. If she had another accident the consequences could be far worse. She could injure someone else. Any driver could do that of course but to do it because you have continued to drive when it is no longer safe to do so is surely selfish?

I know it is a problem many people face. We need more than "accessible public transport" and half price taxi vouchers to help those who once drove and are no longer fit to drive. It is a more serious issue for them than it is for those who have never held a licence to drive.