Relatives of older drivers urged to help them ‘hang up their keys’

OLDER DRIVERS whose driving style may have changed or are less able behind the wheel should be aided by relatives in deciding when to hang up their keys, according to an industry expert.

Professor Andrew Parks, a chief scientist at the Transport Research Laboratory, warns in a new video interview that older drivers can be very defensive about their driving standards and react badly to any criticism of it.

"I know this from my own experience, as I was recently on a car journey driven by my father, the first for 10 years,” he explaned. “I noticed how his style of driving had changed; he was driving much faster, much more aggressively and assertively than he had done before.

“I reacted by expressing my surprise and then trying to make a joke out it, which probably made my father feel even more defensive about his driving.”

Professor Parks recommends that any discussion with an elderly relative about their driving is part of a considered and planned approach, and due consideration is given to how they will get around if they are planning to hang up their keys.

“Taking time to think about just what journeys your elderly relative needs to make can assist in reducing the overall negative impact of age and the restrictions on mobility that can go with it,” concludes Professor Parkes. “You’re showing care and compassion, which can only help an elderly person make a smoother transition to a less mobile lifestyle.”

The interview forms part of a series of videos and advice on the website stillsafetodrive.org.uk, produced in association with GEM Motoring Assist and designed to help relatives of elderly drivers discuss this sensitive subject.

By Press Association reporters