Road Safety Tips for Chicago Seniors
To encourage their safety behind the wheel of a car, senior drivers need to consider factors that take place both on and off the road. Overall health can have a great impact upon a senior’s ability to safely operate a vehicle, and since aging causes some decline in hearing, eyesight and reflexes, it’s important that older adults receive regular checkups by a doctor as well as frequent eyesight and hearing examinations.
Anytime new eyeglasses are prescribed, the adjustment period can cause changes in vision and occasional disorientation; so until the elderly have become fully adjusted to their new prescription, they should hang up their keys. It’s also crucial that they understand the affects of any medications that they take regularly, both by reading what it says on the bottle and understanding how taking it affects them. A senior should never drive when their prescription states that it’s “not safe to operate heavy machinery” or “it’s unsafe to drive a vehicle”; however, just because these warnings are not present, doesn’t mean that a senior shouldn’t take the time to evaluate how the drug impacts their perceptions on the road.
While seniors should exercise extra care when on the road, the elderly’s approach to getting behind the wheel shouldn’t be so different from younger generations. Seniors also need to have a firm grasp upon the rules of the road, and be proactive while driving defensively. Those who find their confidence has declined can take a driving class or refresher course through the AARP, AAA or National Safety Council. It’s also okay for older adults to adjust their driving based on their comfort levels, by avoiding driving at night, through unfamiliar areas, in heavy traffic or when there is bad weather.
Families can help encourage their Chicago seniors to drive safely, by reminding them of these basic driving tips:
• Wear a seatbelt
• Watch all the traffic around, including those entering the road from curbs, driveways or businesses and keep eyes moving
• Use rearview and outside mirrors often
• Never assume you can take the right of way, always enter an intersection with caution
• Maintain a minimum three second following distance
• When driving in the rain or in winter, reduce speed and increase following distances
• Avoid prolonged hours of driving.
• Keep windshields and rear windows clean inside and out
• Avoid looking at the headlights of oncoming vehicles
• Do not drive when emotionally upset
• Minimize background noise; keep radio volume, air conditioning and heater blowing units on lowest settings
If you believe that an important senior in your life is exercising unsafe driving, be encouraging and talk to them about their options; having the ability to drive allows them an element of independence that cannot be replaced, so help them maintain it, but make sure that safety comes first.
Sources: Safety Council
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When needing help with aging parents or older adults living in the Chicago area please contact one of our offices – Home Care Chicago North Side (773) 784-4024, Home Care Chicago Gold Coast and Lincoln Park (773) 463-3500, or Home Care Chicago Downtown, Near West, South Side (312) 348-7238.
